Fact check: How many felony cases is Donald Trump currently facing in 2025?

1. Why four cases is the short answer — and why jurisdictions matter

Multiple reporting and legal summaries identify four distinct prosecutions as the unit of count: the New York hush‑money prosecution, the federal classified‑documents prosecution, the federal January‑6/2020‑election prosecution, and the Georgia election‑interference prosecution. Counting “cases” by jurisdiction is standard legal practice because each prosecution proceeds in a separate court with its own charges, discovery, and trial schedule, so the widely cited figure of four felony cases reflects that separation of authority and procedural independence ^{[1] [5]}. This framing explains why some sources report totals by case and others report totals by charges, and it clarifies that appeals or dispositions in one case do not collapse the remaining prosecutions. The jurisdictional split is the reason the headline number stabilizes at four. ^{[1] [5]}

2. The 88 total felony counts — how that number is assembled

Aggregated reporting lists 88 criminal counts across the four prosecutions: the New York matter includes 34 counts tied to falsified business records, the federal classified‑documents indictment lists dozens of counts (including 32 willful retention counts among a 42‑count superseding indictment), and the Georgia and federal election‑related prosecutions add the balance to reach 88 total charges. Counting every distinct criminal count across separate indictments yields the 88‑count figure widely cited in summaries of the cases ^{[2] [5] [4]}. Summing counts across jurisdictions provides a comprehensive inventory of alleged criminal conduct, but it is not the same as the number of separate prosecutions or convictions. ^{[2] [5]}

3. The New York conviction: 34 counts, appeal pending, and contested reporting

One high‑profile development is a 34‑count conviction in the New York hush‑money case, for which sources say Trump has appealed. Some reporting notes that 44 charges were dismissed in related proceedings or prior iterations of the case, which complicates net tallies of active counts versus charges filed at various stages ^{[3] [4]}. At the same time, alternate pieces of coverage describe post‑conviction outcomes differently — for example, one account references an “unconditional discharge” while another treats the conviction as subject to standard appellate processes — indicating divergent characterizations of the same legal outcome in secondary reporting ^{[6] [3]}. Court records and appeals dockets are the definitive sources on remedy and sentence; summaries may compress or emphasize different elements. ^{[3] [4] [6]}

4. Disagreements in secondary sources and possible agendas to note

Secondary summaries and encyclopedic overviews converge on the four‑case, 88‑count tally, but they differ on emphasis — some highlight convictions and dismissed counts, others emphasize the number of indictments or counts still pending. Sources with different editorial missions or audiences may frame developments to underscore legal jeopardy or to stress defenses, and that framing can produce apparently conflicting shorthand descriptions (for example, noting a conviction anniversary versus counting active indictments) ^{[2] [1] [4]}. Readers should note the agenda signals: court documents and indictments present raw legal data, while news summaries interpret procedural changes, which leads to variation in public summaries even when the underlying case count remains four. ^{[1] [5] [2]}

5. Timeline and what to monitor next

Through 2025 the four‑case structure has remained stable even as individual counts shift through indictments, superseding indictments, dismissals, and appellate filings. Key near‑term indicators to watch are appellate rulings in the New York conviction, the schedule and outcomes of trial dates in federal and Georgia dockets, and any further superseding indictments or dismissals that would change the numeric accounting of charges while typically leaving the number of distinct cases unchanged. The most reliable snapshot at any moment is the set of active docket entries in each jurisdiction, which reconcile media summaries with formal court actions ^{[5] [7] [4]}.

6. Bottom line: what the facts support and how to read them

Factually, the consistent and verifiable headline is that Donald Trump is confronting four felony prosecutions in 2025, comprising 88 alleged criminal counts overall, with one of those prosecutions producing a 34‑count conviction that is on appeal and other charges varying through dismissals or superseding indictments. Differences among reports reflect whether they are counting jurisdictions, raw counts, convictions, or dismissed charges; accurate understanding requires distinguishing “cases” (jurisdictions) from “counts” (individual charges) and checking the current court dockets for disposition details ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}.