Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Has Trump appealed his 34 felony conviction and what's the status?
Executive summary
President Trump has formally appealed the Manhattan conviction that found him guilty on 34 felony counts in May 2024 and is pursuing multiple parallel paths to erase or remove that verdict: a state-court appeal filed in New York’s Appellate Division and an effort to shift the case to federal court to press presidential-immunity arguments—most recently getting a 2nd Circuit order sending the removal question back to a district judge for reconsideration [1] [2] [3].
1. What Trump has filed: a direct state appeal and an immunity-focused federal push
Trump’s legal team filed a detailed, 96-page appeal in New York state court asking judges to overturn the 34-count falsifying-business-records conviction and calling the trial “fatally marred,” while simultaneously pursuing a distinct strategy to move the matter into federal court so a federal judge can consider whether the Supreme Court’s 2024 presidential-immunity decision compels vacatur of the conviction [1] [4].
2. The federal-route development: 2nd Circuit gives the strategy new life
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled that the district judge did not adequately analyze whether evidence admitted in the state trial implicated “official acts” covered by the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, and remanded the removability question to U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein for further consideration—reviving Trump’s bid to get federal judges to assess whether immunity should erase the conviction [2] [3] [5].
3. What that remand does — and doesn’t — mean for the conviction
The appeals court explicitly left open the underlying merits and “express[ed] no view” on whether the immunity arguments will ultimately prevail; it ordered only that the district court more fully consider whether evidence was improperly admitted as relating to immunized official acts and whether that could change the removability analysis [6] [5]. In short, the remand reopens a procedural pathway but does not itself overturn the verdict [5].
4. Parallel state appellate track likely to take years
Separately, Trump’s conventional state-court appeal of the 2024 conviction is underway in New York’s Appellate Division; that ordinary appellate process is expected to be lengthy and could take years before final resolution, even as the federal-removal question proceeds on a faster, interlocutory track in some respects [7] [8].
5. Core legal argument: evidence of “official acts” and immunity
Trump’s lawyers argue the Manhattan trial admitted testimony and exhibits tied to his actions as president (for example, testimony from former aide Hope Hicks cited in filings) and that the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling protecting certain official acts from criminal prosecution means the conviction should be set aside or otherwise handled in federal court where those constitutional issues can be resolved [4] [9].
6. How commentators and courts frame the stakes
News outlets and legal analysts emphasize the procedural complexity and high stakes: some observers view the 2nd Circuit ruling as a significant procedural win that could make it easier to challenge or even erase the only felony conviction against Trump; others note the panel did not endorse Trump’s immunity claim and merely found the district court’s analysis incomplete [9] [8] [3].
7. What is presently pending and what to watch next
At present, the state appeal remains pending, and the 2nd Circuit’s remand requires the district court to re-evaluate whether removal is justified under the Supreme Court’s immunity framework; outcomes to monitor include the district court’s new assessment, any renewed push back up the federal appellate ladder, and the state Appellate Division’s timeline for the direct appeal [5] [7] [10].
8. Limitations in available reporting and unresolved questions
Available sources do not mention any final ruling that vacates the conviction—reporting to date describes filings, the remand, and ongoing appeals [1] [5] [2]. Also not found in current reporting: a definitive timetable for all decisions or how the Supreme Court might ultimately rule if the issue reaches it again [7] [5].
9. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas
Trump’s team frames the filings as vindication of constitutional protections and calls the prosecution politically motivated; prosecutors and critics emphasize that the conviction was obtained under New York law for pre-2016 conduct and that the remand is procedural, not substantive vindication. Media outlets vary in emphasis—some highlight the potential to erase the conviction, others stress the appeals court expressly refrained from deciding the merits [1] [3] [9].
10. Bottom line for readers
Trump has both appealed the 34-count conviction in state court and secured a procedurally significant reopening of a federal path to press immunity defenses; the 2nd Circuit remand keeps the possibility alive that a federal judge could reconsider removal and immunity questions, but no source reports that the conviction has been overturned or vacated as of now [1] [5] [2].