Sentencing in Donald Trump’s hush money trial delayed indefinitely

Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial have made a huge call, as the President-elect’s bromance with billionaire Elon Musk gets stronger by the day. Follow updates.

Donald Trump’s sentencing over his hush money conviction could be delayed until he leaves the White House in 2029.

A week before the President-elect was due to be sentenced, the Manhattan prosecutors who brought the unprecedented charges against him suggested freezing the case until the end of his second term in power.

Mr Trump faces up to four years in prison after he was convicted earlier this year of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to silence porn star Stormy Daniels’s claim that they had an affair on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.

“The People deeply respect the office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” the prosecutors wrote to Judge Juan Merchan.

“We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”

US President-elect Donald Trump, seen here in his mugshot, has had his sentencing adjourned indefinitely. Picture: Fulton County Sheriff's Office.

Mr Trump’s lawyers last week indicated they wanted the case dismissed completely to “avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern”.

Next week’s sentencing hearing has been adjourned as Mr Merchan decides how to proceed, three months before the former president is inaugurated.

Mr Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung said the suggestion by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was “a total and definitive victory for President Trump”.“The Manhattan DA has conceded that this witch hunt cannot continue. The lawless case is now stayed, and President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all,” he said.

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TRUMP ATTENDS SPACE X LAUNCH WITH MUSK

SpaceX aborted an attempt to catch the first stage booster of its Starship megarocket in the “chopstick” arms of its launch tower, opting instead for an ocean splashdown, a live feed showed.

The hitch came as President-elect Donald Trump joined SpaceX chief Elon Musk at the company’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas to watch the test flight, the latest sign of the budding bromance between the two billionaires.

It marks the company’s second attempt to catch its descending booster stage in the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms, an engineering marvel it first pulled off last month, cementing its dominance in reusable rocketry.

US President-elect Donald Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives in Brownsville, Texas. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The billionaire and President-elect hugged. Picture: Getty Images via AFP)

The duo’s bromance appears to be getting stronger by the day. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

“It was a beautiful thing to see,” Mr Trump declared in his election night victory speech, dramatically recounting the feat.

Sporting a red MAGA hat, Mr Trump greeted Musk warmly on Tuesday afternoon local time as the pair headed off to view the launch from the control room.

A 30-minute launch window opens at 4pm local time from the company’s Starbase in Boca Chica.

Elon Musk gives a tour to Donald Trump and other politicans of the control room before the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

US President-elect Donald Trump speaks alongside Elon Musk (R) and Senate members including (L-R) Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Picture: Getty Images via AFP

US President-elect Donald Trump looks on during a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

SpaceX founder and CEO Musk has been a constant presence at Trump’s side since the Republican’s election victory, joining him at a meeting with Argentina’s President Javier Milei and even at a UFC bout.

Mr Trump’s decision to travel to Musk’s home turf is the latest sign of the burgeoning bond between the billionaire duo, which has raised questions over possible conflicts of interests given SpaceX’s lucrative contracts with NASA and the Pentagon.

Donald Trump with Elon Musk (C) and Senate members including (L-R) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Rep. Ronny Jackson. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

Tuesday’s launch marks the quickest turnaround between test flights for the world’s most powerful rocket, a gleaming, 121-meter-tall (400-foot) stainless steel colossus central to Musk’s ambition of colonizing Mars and making humanity a multiplanetary species.

NASA is also counting on a specialized version of Starship to ferry astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade under its Artemis program.

SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, for its sixth flight test. Picture: AFP

It marks the company's second attempt to catch its descending booster stage in the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. Picture: AFP

Starship's Super Heavy Booster approaches for a splashdown water landing off the coast of, Texas. Picture: AFP

Starship's Super Heavy Booster splashes down for a water landing off the coast of, Texas. Picture: AFP

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS A ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’

It comes as President-elect Donald Trump confirmed he will declare a “national emergency” to deport illegal migrants using “military assets” once he steps back into office early next year.

Mr Trump made the statement on Truth Social, responding “TRUE!!!” to a post from Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton citing reports he would do so.

“GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program,” Fitton wrote on the social media platform.

Trump has vowed to enact the largest deportation in history, starting when he takes the oath of office January 20.

National Guard soldiers patrol at the entrance to Shelby Park on March 12, 2024 in Eagle Pass, Texas. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

However, any attempt to use active-duty troops would be subject to legal challenges, as the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 limits the federal government from using the military to enforce domestic policy.

The act does not prohibit the National Guard from serving in a law enforcement capacity.

Migrant people try to get to the US through the Rio Grande, which is reinforced with a barbed-wire fence, as seen from Matamoros, state of Tamaulipas, Mexico on May 10, 2023. Picture: AFP

The president-elect has also said he would invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to dismantle criminal gangs operating on American soil.

The act — which requires Congress to declare war — would allow Trump to detain and remove dangerous foreign nationals that are deemed a threat to the US.

Trump has yet to say whether he would declare war on a specific country — such as Venezuela — to authorise the removal of migrants.

Tom Homan, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, answers questions in front of gang related photos from the MS-13 gang during a daily briefing at the White House July 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

The former president is prioritising the border in his transition plans and has created a new “border czar” position for former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Tom Homan, who will work with government agencies to secure both the south and northern borders.

A surge of migrants occurred at the US-Mexico border cities after President Biden’s administration officially ended its use of Title 42, the strict protocol implemented by previous president Donald Trump to deny entry to migrants and expel asylum seekers based on the Covid pandemic emergency.

Latin American migrants take part in a caravan towards the border with the United States, in Huehuetan, Chiapas state, Mexico, on June 7, 2022. Picture: AFP

Homan has said he will work to remove illegal immigrants in the US illegally without regard for Democrat-run cities like New York claiming “sanctuary” status.

“I’ve been clear. President Trump’s been clear. Public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority because they have to be, they pose the most danger in this country,” Homan told “Fox & Friends” last week after being tapped for the czar position.

Migrants gather around a US border patrol vehicle between border fences waiting to be processed by US authorities, as seen from Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico. Picture: AFP

Homan told New York Post he hopes Trump will use his authority to squeeze sanctuary cities by cutting off federal funding and filing legal action. “If they’re not willing to do it then get out of the way — we’re coming,” Homan said.

‘THREAT TO SECURITY’: CONTROVERSY OVER TRUMP’S INTELLIGENCE PICK

Donald Trump’s nomination of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence has raised questions over the politicisation of Washington’s spy agencies and their subservience to the White House.

A strident opponent of US military interventionism, the former Hawaii congresswoman has roiled the intelligence community with past comments supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

“Her appointment would be a threat to the security of the United States,” said Tom Nichols, a professor at the US Naval War College.

Tulsi Gabbard has raised concerns as Donald Trump’s pick as Director of National Intelligence. Picture: AFP

“A person with Gabbard’s views should not be allowed anywhere near the crown jewels of American intelligence.”

Gabbard, 43, who switched sides from the Democrats to back Trump’s re-election, has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.

But politicians’ approval would see a woman with no experience in the field take on the eminently political role of US intelligence chief and overall responsibility for the 18 US intelligence agencies, come January.

Gabbard’s views have sparked controversy over the past several years, including when she talked up “Russia’s legitimate concerns” over Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO.

Or when she met with Assad in Syria, accusing American political elites of warmongering and asserting her desire to avoid conflict.

“Her opposition to a no-fly zone over Syria came not from a desire to avoid war, but from a desire to protect the regime of Bashar Assad,” according to Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland.

“What if the US is about to become an ally of Putin? That is a question we can ask ourselves.”

Originally published as Sentencing in Donald Trump’s hush money trial delayed indefinitely