Donald Trump learns when his first criminal trial will go ahead, as he attends a pre-trial hearing in New York. The former US president also has a bond reduced in his separate fraud case, with hours before a deadline for payment.
Monday 25 March 2024 22:47, UK
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Donald Trump faced two major developments involving his various legal cases today.
The first related to a civil fraud judgment, in which he was ordered to pay a $454m (拢365m) fine for grossly inflating his net worth to get favourable loans.
The deadline for paying the fine expired today.
Here's what happened:
A New York appeals court agreed to hold off collection of Trump's $454m civil fraud judgment - if he puts up $175m within 10 days.
If he does, it will stop the clock on collection and prevent the state from seizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's assets while he appeals.
The appeals court also reversed other aspects of a trial judge's ruling that had barred Trump and sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr from serving in corporate leadership for several years.
What about the hush-money case?
In a separate case, Trump was told when his criminal trial in the hush money case involving adult film star Stormy Daniels will begin.
His trial was meant to be starting today, but instead his lawyers will be arguing for a lengthy postponement - or even a dismissal of the charges.
Judge Juan M Merchan ruled it will begin on 15 April with jury selection.
The case, filed last year by prosecutors in Manhattan, has taken on added importance given that it is the only one of the prosecutions against Mr Trump that appears likely for trial in the coming months - as he attempts to campaign ahead of the presidential election.
Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is social networking site Truth Social, will start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange tomorrow.
Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded shell company, approved a deal to merge with Mr Trump's media business on Friday.
In midday trading, shares of Digital World soared nearly 22% to $45.10.
Former president Donald Trump is set to own most of the combined company - or nearly 79 million shares.
Mr Trump will not be able to cash out the deal's windfall immediately, unless the company's board makes changes to a "lock-up" provision that prevents company insiders from selling newly issued shares for six months.
The common stock of Trump Media & Technology Group will trade under the ticker symbol "DJT".
Donald Trump's news conference has ended after around 25 minutes.
The former US president's team reiterated that they would appeal the court's decision to start his hush-money criminal trial on 15 April.
Trump also welcomed the decision to reduce his bond from $454m to $175m, saying he "greatly respects it" and will pay it "very quickly".
Unsurprisingly, he used the conference to take aim at Joe Biden, calling him the "worst president" in US history.
We've also heard from one of Donald Trump's lawyers, who says they will "continue to fight" the 15 April trial date.
Todd Blanche tells reporters that starting the trial before the US presidential election is "completely unfair".
"April 15 is not a date we should go to trial, and we're going to continue to fight," he says.
Trump earlier confirmed he would be appealing the decision.
Reporters are now asking Donald Trump some questions at his news conference.
One person asks how he is going to pay his $175m bond.
The former US president replies: "I have a lot of cash."
He adds that he would like to use some of his money in the election, but that the court doesn't want him to use it for his campaign.
"I don't need to borrow money. I have a lot of money, I have built a great company," he adds.
Donald Trump is now holding a news conference in Wall Street.
The former US president begins by saying the court is "dying" to get his criminal trial started and there has been "tremendous corruption".
"The judge cannot go faster. He wants to get it started so badly," he says.
He goes on to lash out at various other familiar targets, saying Joe Biden "can't win an election", and that he is the "worst president" in US history.
He adds that he would have stopped the Ukraine war, Israel invading Gaza and inflation, if he was president.
He goes on to accuse the FBI of violating the fourth amendment by raiding his Mar-a-Lago home, and says proceedings should have been started against him after he first left office.
"There is no crime. It's a sad day for this country when you have something like this," he adds, criticising the timing of the proceedings due to it being an election year.
"November 5 will be the most important day in this country's history," he says.
He adds that today's appellate decision - to pause his $454m civil fraud judgment if he posts a smaller $175m bond within 10 days - is "fair" but still a lot of money.
The ruling is a victory for the former president because it blocks New York state authorities from taking steps to seize his assets.
He says he "greatly respects" the decision and he will abide by the ruling.
"We'll put up cash or bond very quickly," he says.
Trump made history back in April last year when he became the first former US president to face criminal charges.
He personally pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts as he appeared in a New York court on allegations relating to him allegedly falsifying business records in the run-up to the 2016 election.
The Manhattan criminal case centres around alleged "hush" money sent to former porn actress Stormy Daniels after she said they had an affair.
Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which the former US president denies.
In 2016, when he was running for president, she offered to sell her story to the press.
Trump's then lawyer Michael Cohen was notified of her plans, resulting in a $130,000 (拢105,000) payment allegedly being made to keep Ms Daniels quiet.
Once he was elected, Trump reportedly reimbursed Mr Cohen by paying him more than double the original amount. He continued to deny the affair, however.
New York investigators have been looking into the former president's finances for years - originally led by former District Attorney Cyrus R Vance Jr.
But when he was replaced with Alvin Bragg in 2022, Mr Bragg decided to drop the grand jury investigation into claims the Trump empire fraudulently inflated its real estate value.
Instead, he decided to focus on the silence money case last summer, impanelling a grand jury (one assembled in secret to determine whether there's enough evidence to prosecute) in January.
Soon after, Mr Cohen, who was jailed on several counts in 2018, was summoned by prosecutors.
According to court documents, Trump falsely listed his former lawyer's reimbursement as "legal services".
Trump has described the investigation as a politically motivated "witch hunt".
Donald Trump will hold a news conference at 5pm UK time.
The former US president says it will be held in Wall Street.
It comes after a New York court ruled his criminal trial over hush money-related charges would begin on 15 April - before the presidential election.
Earlier today, a separate court also handed down a decision, reducing Trump's fine in a civil fraud case from $464m to $175m.
He has 10 days to post this bond.
We'll bring you the latest updates from the conference...
Addressing cameras outside the courtroom in New York, Donald Trump says he will be appealing the judge's decision to start his criminal trial on 15 April.
He claims the ruling is "voter intimidation" and calls it a disgrace, our US partner site NBC News reports.
Judge Juan Merchan has given Trump's lawyers the chance to file a motion seeking to delay the trial based on pre-trial publicity concerns.
