We’re trumps felonies dropped?
Executive summary
Donald Trump’s federal criminal cases were dropped after his 2024 election victory and resignation of prosecutors in some matters, and as of mid‑2025 he has received large-scale executive clemency for many allies; however his New York conviction on 34 counts was not simply “dropped” — it was appealed and has seen litigation over jurisdiction and possible vacatur [1] [2] [3] [4]. Available sources show multiple separate outcomes across federal and state matters, not a single blanket erasure of all convictions [5] [3].
1. What “dropped” means here — different cases, different outcomes
Reporting shows distinct legal paths: the two federal prosecutions led by Special Counsel Jack Smith were abandoned after Trump won the 2024 election, in part because DOJ policy disfavors indicting a sitting president; that left Trump without federal charges [1] [6]. By contrast, the New York state case that produced a 34‑count conviction for falsifying business records proceeded differently — it was appealed and subject to motions to move the appeal into federal court and to seek dismissal or vacatur, not a simple post‑election “drop” [2] [3] [4].
2. The federal picture: prosecutions ended after election and transitions
Sources report Special Counsel Smith dropped the election‑subversion and classified‑documents federal prosecutions after Trump’s November victory, citing DOJ practices around charging a sitting president; the practical result in the federal arena was that Trump “no longer faces federal criminal charges” once he was president again [1] [6]. International and domestic outlets describe that as the federal cases being dismissed or wound down following the election and transition [1] [6].
3. The New York conviction: not “dropped,” but litigated and appealed
Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York; sentencing and appeals have followed. Multiple outlets note that his legal team has pursued moves — including asking appeals courts to transfer review to federal court and to argue the conviction should be thrown out — and judges have considered those questions; that legal process is distinct from a prosecutor simply dropping charges [2] [4] [3].
4. Pardons, clemency and political patronage — wide grants and controversy
After January 2025, Trump’s second presidency issued large numbers of clemency grants. Government records and reporting document more than 1,600 executive clemencies by July 2025 and a mass pardon tied to January 6 defendants of roughly 1,500 people, while critics and reporting say the pardon process favored political allies and bypassed normal Office of the Pardon Attorney procedures [5] [7]. The Wikipedia summary and DOJ clemency page describe scope; reporting points to political staffing changes in the pardon office [5] [7].
5. The Georgia state case and other state‑level outcomes vary
State prosecutions followed their own trajectories. Sources indicate the Georgia racketeering case faced prosecutorial turmoil — removal of Fulton County’s DA and ultimately a later prosecutor dropped remaining charges in November 2025 — illustrating that state cases moved independently of federal decisions and presidential clemency [3] [8]. Available sources do not treat all state files the same way; outcomes depend on procedural events and particular prosecutors [3] [8].
6. Why confusion and misinformation spread
Multiple factual threads explain the public confusion: (a) different legal doctrines apply to state vs federal prosecutions and to sitting presidents; (b) DOJ policy on not indicting a sitting president led to dismissal or winding down of federal cases after the election, which some readers interpret as all charges being “dropped”; (c) appeals, motions to transfer jurisdiction, and high‑profile pardons create overlapping headlines that are easy to conflate [1] [4] [5]. Fact checks at the time flagged social posts wrongly asserting the New York felonies had been vacated automatically [9] [10].
7. Bottom line — a patchwork of legal results, not a single erasure
Current reporting shows federal charges were dropped or wound down after Trump’s election and clemency for many allies expanded dramatically, but the New York conviction remained a live appellate dispute rather than an automatic dismissal, and state cases followed varied courses with separate procedural outcomes [1] [2] [3] [5]. Available sources do not say that all felonies were universally “dropped” without legal process [3] [4].