Is Donald Trump a felon

1. The core legal fact: a felony conviction in New York

A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, a felony under New York law as charged by the Manhattan District Attorney, who framed the case as concealing payments to influence the 2016 election; the DA publicly announced the all-count conviction ^{[2] [1]}. Court documents and contemporaneous coverage confirm the jury verdict and the formal entry of conviction ^{[1] [6]}.

2. Sentencing: conviction without traditional punishment

At sentencing, a New York judge granted Trump an unconditional discharge, a rare outcome that leaves the conviction intact while imposing no jail time, fines, or other penal consequences; multiple outlets and the court audio/decision materials report that disposition and explain that the discharge does not erase the guilty verdict ^{[3] [4] [6]}. Reporting explains that an unconditional discharge affirms the legal status of being a convicted felon even as it spares ordinary sentences ^{[4] [3]}.

3. Appeals and legal arguments in play

Trump’s legal team has appealed the conviction and raised doctrines such as presidential immunity and claims of political motivation by the prosecutor; filings and subsequent appeals are on the public record and reported by news outlets describing those defense positions ^[5]. The appeal process means the conviction can be challenged in higher courts, and legal scholars note appeals can affect the final, long-term status of convictions ^[5].

4. Other indictments: numerous charges but not felonies proven

Beyond the New York case, Trump has faced multiple indictments in federal and state matters — for example, classified-document counts and Georgia election-related charges — that include felony allegations but, as of the documents provided, have not resulted in convictions reported here ^{[7] [8] [9]}. Those pending or separate prosecutions are relevant to the broader “Is he a felon?” question insofar as they could add convictions in the future, but they do not change the current factual record about the New York conviction ^{[7] [8]}.

5. The semantics and politics of the label “felon”

Advocates and criminal-justice organizations caution against casually using stigmatizing labels, arguing terms like “criminal” or “felon” dehumanize people who have contact with the justice system; this debate surfaced explicitly in responses to Trump’s conviction, including commentary urging restraint even as the legal fact of a conviction exists ^[10]. Simultaneously, political actors have used the conviction both to attack and to defend Trump — the DA characterized it as election corruption, while Trump’s allies call it politically motivated — highlighting how legal facts are deployed for political ends ^{[2] [5]}.

6. What can’t be concluded from the sources provided

The material presented here documents the New York conviction, the unconditional discharge, and the existence of appeals and other cases ^{[1] [3] [5] [7]}. These sources do not permit definitive conclusions about the outcome of pending appeals, the long-term legal status of other indictments, or any post-appeal changes to the New York conviction; those remain contingent on future court rulings and are outside the scope of the cited reporting ^{[5] [7]}.

Conclusion

On the narrow legal question of whether Donald Trump is a felon, the record in the sources supplied is clear: he was convicted by a New York jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, making him a convicted felon under current law, even though a judge later imposed an unconditional discharge and appeals are underway ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}. The political context, public debate about labels, and ongoing appeals are integral to understanding what that legal status means in practice and for the future ^{[10] [5]}.