Was trump indicted yesterday?
Executive summary
No — there was no newly unsealed indictment of Donald J. Trump yesterday; reporting from Feb. 4, 2026 describes a federal judge set to hear arguments after an appeals court ordered a fresh look at Trump’s effort to erase his 2024 hush‑money conviction, not a new charging action [1] [2] [3].
1. What actually happened yesterday: a court hearing, not an indictment
Multiple news outlets reported that on Feb. 4, 2026 a federal judge was scheduled to hear arguments after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directed U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to reconsider his earlier ruling to keep the Stormy Daniels–related case in state court rather than moving it to federal court — a procedural remand that could allow Trump to press presidential‑immunity defenses and potentially undo his May 2024 conviction, but these stories describe court argument scheduling and appellate direction, not the filing of any new indictment [1] [2] [3].
2. The case at the center: the hush‑money conviction being challenged
Reporting reiterates that Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records tied to a 2016 hush payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels; the current litigation is about whether those state charges should be moved to federal court for consideration under presidential‑immunity theories — an appellate remand to revisit venue and immunity questions, not a fresh criminal filing [1] [4] [5].
3. Why some readers might think an indictment occurred
The contemporary news cycle is saturated with court dates, appeals, and references to prior indictments and convictions across multiple jurisdictions, and outlets note a string of Trump criminal matters stretching from 2023 through 2025 (state and federal), which can blur timelines for casual readers; but the Feb. 4 coverage cited is narrowly about a judge hearing arguments on remand from the appeals court, not prosecutors bringing charges [6] [7] [5].
4. The broader indictment landscape: what already exists
Background reporting in the assembled sources documents several existing prosecutions and filings from 2023–2025 — including Trump’s May 2024 New York conviction on falsifying business records, federal cases over classified documents in Miami, and the D.C. election‑interference indictment with immunity litigation — all of which are part of the context that fuels ongoing litigation over immunity and venue [7] [8] [6] [4].
5. Legal mechanics at play: remand, venue and immunity
The appeals court ordered Hellerstein to reassess whether the case belongs in state or federal court, a determination that would affect Trump’s ability to invoke presidential‑immunity arguments and could lead to dismissal or transfer; this is a legal procedural contest rather than the initiation of new criminal charges [1] [2] [9].
6. Alternative viewpoints and implicit agendas in coverage
Some outlets and commentators emphasize the possibility the remand could erase the conviction — a narrative that benefits defenders by suggesting vindication — while prosecutors and other outlets stress the narrow procedural posture and the uphill burden to overturn a jury verdict; readers should note that pieces framed as breaking legal reversals may in fact be reporting scheduled hearings or remands, a distinction that serves different political narratives [1] [3] [6].
7. Limits of the reporting provided
The sources supplied cover the Feb. 4, 2026 reporting cycle and summarize prior indictments and convictions through 2025 and early 2026, but they do not include any statement from prosecutors on that specific date announcing new charges, and no source in the set reports a new indictment filed yesterday; if an indictment had been filed, it would be a discrete, documentable event not described in these pieces [1] [2] [3] [5].