Have any of Trump's convictions been dismissed, and which courts issued those dismissals?
Executive summary
Several of the criminal matters filed against Donald Trump were dismissed after he won re-election in 2024 and returned to the presidency: federal special‑counsel prosecutions (including the federal election‑interference and classified‑documents inquiries) were dropped by prosecutors, and a long‑running Georgia racketeering case was dismissed by a Fulton County judge after the new state prosecutor declined to pursue it [1] [2] [3]. Trump’s 2024 New York state conviction for falsifying business records remains under appeal and was not dismissed; he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge in January 2025, leaving the conviction intact [4] [5].
1. What was dismissed at the federal level — and who acted
Federal criminal matters that had been brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith — notably the federal election‑interference investigation and the classified‑documents probe — were dropped after Trump’s 2024 election victory and his return to the presidency. Reporting indicates Smith moved to dismiss those cases and that the Department of Justice’s longstanding practice against indicting a sitting president shaped timing; commentators and legal organizations framed the dismissals as tied to executive‑branch transition and prosecutorial decisions [1] [6] [7]. The International Bar Association summarized that Trump “no longer faces federal criminal charges” after his election and Smith’s moves [1]. Forbes and TIME noted Smith sought dismissal “without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors signaled the cases could be refiled after Trump leaves office [6] [7].
2. The Georgia racketeering case — judge and court that dismissed it
The Fulton County (Georgia) racketeering indictment tied to the 2020 election was dismissed on November 26, 2025, after the state prosecutor who took over the case, Peter Skandalakis, moved to drop charges and asked the court to enter a nolle prosequi; Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee then issued a one‑paragraph order dismissing the case “in its entirety” [8] [9] [3]. Multiple outlets—The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNBC, Fox News and The Guardian—reported that Judge McAfee granted the state’s motion to dismiss and closed the last pending state prosecution that had targeted Trump over the 2020 effort to overturn Georgia’s results [2] [10] [8] [9] [11].
3. The New York conviction — what was (and wasn’t) dismissed
The Manhattan criminal case that led to Trump’s May 30, 2024 conviction for falsifying business records was not dismissed by the courts in the reporting provided. After delays and appeals activity, Trump was convicted on 34 counts and later sentenced to an unconditional discharge on January 10, 2025—meaning no further punishment was imposed but the conviction remains on his record—and his legal team has appealed the conviction [4] [5] [12]. Current sources show the conviction stands and is the subject of appellate briefs; available sources do not report a dismissal of that New York conviction [4].
4. Distinguishing “dropped” vs. “dismissed” vs. “without prejudice”
Different terms used in coverage have distinct legal meanings and implications. News outlets report federal cases were “dropped” by prosecutors (Smith) and that some dismissals were sought “without prejudice,” which typically allows refiling later; the Georgia matter was dismissed by a state superior court judge after the state prosecutor filed to nolle prosequi, which ended that specific prosecution at the state‑court level [6] [3] [9]. Sources emphasize context: Jack Smith’s office said the dismissals did not reflect a judgment on the merits of the federal cases but were tied to the fact that Trump was then a sitting president [6].
5. Political and legal contestation — competing viewpoints
Coverage shows competing narratives. Trump’s lawyers and allies called the dismissals vindication and “lawfare” by opponents, while prosecutors and some observers argued dismissals were procedural—driven by presidential immunity rules and prosecutorial discretion—not a wholesale exoneration of alleged conduct; Jack Smith’s report, for example, defended the merits of his investigations even as he moved to dismiss them [6] [1]. The Guardian and PBS noted procedural complications in Georgia (the removal of the original DA and plea changes by co‑defendants) that helped shape the case’s trajectory [11] [3].
6. Limitations in the record and what’s not in these sources
Available sources do not list every charge from every jurisdiction and do not report any court issuing a final, with‑prejudice order extinguishing all future prosecutions on the federal matters; Forbes and other outlets stress some dismissals were “without prejudice,” leaving the door open to future filings after Trump leaves office [6]. Also, available reporting here does not mention other potential civil matters or administrative actions; it focuses on the major criminal prosecutions described above [1] [4] [2].
Bottom line: federal special‑counsel prosecutions were dropped by prosecutors (Jack Smith) after Trump’s 2024 victory and return to the presidency (with some dismissals styled “without prejudice”), and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed the Georgia racketeering case after the state prosecutor moved to drop it; the New York state conviction remains in place and is on appeal [6] [9] [4].