What is the timeline of Donald Trump’s criminal cases and their statuses as of January 2026?
Executive summary
Donald Trump entered 2026 with the major criminal cases that once shadowed his public life in three distinct outcomes: a New York criminal conviction stemming from the “hush‑money” case that reached a guilty verdict in 2024 and proceeded toward sentencing, two federal indictments related to classified documents and the January 6 effort that were dropped after his 2024 election victory, and a Georgia election‑interference prosecution that was hobbled by the disqualification of the lead prosecutor and lingered with procedural fights [1] [2] [3].
1. The Manhattan “hush‑money” case: conviction, sentencing schedule and civil fallout
The prosecution out of Manhattan over alleged falsified business records tied to reimbursements around Stormy Daniels culminated in a criminal trial in spring 2024 that produced a conviction on dozens of counts; the trial began in April 2024 and a jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts in May 2024, with sentencing set and later delayed as post‑trial procedures and appeals were pursued [1] [4] [5]. That criminal case sits apart from separate civil judgments — including a large defamation judgment in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll — that have compounded Trump’s legal and financial exposure even as he contests outcomes in court [5].
2. The two federal prosecutions (classified documents and January 6): dropped after reelection
Two federal indictments — one over retention of classified documents in Florida and another brought by special counsel Jack Smith for efforts to obstruct the 2020 transfer of power in D.C. — were pursued through 2023–2024 but were dismissed after Trump’s 2024 presidential victory, with prosecutors citing longstanding Justice Department guidance against indicting a sitting president; Chief among those developments, Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the D.C. case without prejudice on Nov. 25, 2024, and the special counsel later moved to dismiss the counterpart matter as well [1] [6] [3]. Those dismissals left open political debate and congressional scrutiny — and prompted public defense by the special counsel in 2026 — about prosecutorial judgment, separation of powers and whether decisions were legal or political [3].
3. Fulton County, Georgia: indictment, procedural turmoil and prosecutorial disqualification
Georgia prosecutors indicted Trump in 2023 on state counts tied to alleged schemes to overturn the Georgia 2020 result; the case hit a major procedural roadblock when the Court of Appeals of Georgia granted a motion to disqualify district attorney Fani Willis in December 2024, a decision that undercut the office’s immediate ability to pursue the matter and sent the case into a period of motion practice, appeals and disputes over fees and legal strategy [2]. The Georgia fight morphed into parallel litigation over the scope of prosecutorial authority and aggressive defensive filings by Trump seeking fees and arguing constitutional defects — a battle that, as of January 2026, remained an active, unsettled frontal of his legal exposure [7] [2].
4. How the pieces fit: consolidation, appeals and the political overlay
Taken together, the four major criminal matters that defined 2023–2024 produced three different legal endpoints by early 2026: a state criminal conviction in New York that survived trial and entered the appellate and sentencing track, two federal prosecutions that prosecutors voluntarily dropped after Trump’s election and cited DOJ policy in doing so, and a Georgia state case that continued in procedural limbo after the lead prosecutor’s disqualification [1] [6] [2] [3]. Reporting from Lawfare, Ballotpedia and major outlets documents both the legal rationales and the competing narratives — prosecutors frame decisions as legally grounded, while Trump and allies frame them as politically motivated — meaning public perception and congressional politics remain entwined with courtroom timetables [2] [6] [3].
5. Limits of the public record and what remains contested
Available reporting through January 2026 provides clear moving parts but leaves open specific outcomes: ongoing appeals, potential retrials or re‑referrals in Georgia, the practical effect of federal dismissals on collateral civil exposure, and any future decisions by investigating officials or Congress; the sources here document dismissals, disqualification and conviction but do not resolve all subsequent appellate or administrative steps, which means further developments remain likely and contingent on court rulings and prosecutorial choices [2] [1] [6].