How Donald Trump could face Aussie travel restrictions

Donald Trump may be hit with visa issues for multiple countries after his criminal hush money conviction. Here’s what could happen if he returns to power.

Donald Trump will need special approval from the federal government to visit Australia if he is sentenced to more than a year behind bars after his criminal hush money conviction.

And Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sidestepped questions about whether he would be granted a visa, saying: “I’m not going down that rabbit hole.”

The former president’s travel may be similarly restricted by visa rules in other countries including China, Canada and the UK, potentially causing headaches if he returns to power in November’s US election.

Donald Trump’s ability to travel could be restricted if he is sentenced. Picture: AFP

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sidestepped queestions about Donald Trump. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Amid the fallout from last week’s stunning verdict, Mr Trump will also have to surrender any firearms he owns. But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – his former rival for the Republican nomination – confirmed he would ensure the 77-year-old felon’s voting rights.

Mr Trump will be sentenced on July 11, with legal experts divided over whether he will face a prison term or instead be placed on probation or slapped with a fine. The outcome could affect whether he would pass Australia’s strict character test if he travelled down under.

“You will not pass the character test if you hold a substantial criminal record,” according to the Department of Home Affairs, with its definition of substantial covering anyone sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more.

“If you don’t pass the character test, you will not get a visa to enter Australia.”

Despite that blunt message to foreigners, the government retains ministerial discretion under the Migration Act to grant a visa to someone who fails the character test.

Mr Albanese, asked on the ABC in the wake of Mr Trump’s conviction if he would be let into Australia, said: “Those are hypotheticals that I’m not going down that rabbit hole.”

“There are a range of processes underway in the United States,” he said, adding that it was “a matter for the American people” to decide whether the convicted felon would be returned to the White House.

Mr Trump did not visit Australia during his first term in power, with former prime minister Scott Morrison instead being feted by the president in Washington DC at a state dinner.

Immigration lawyer Karin Wolman told the New York Post that if Mr Trump were re-elected, his conviction “would almost certainly affect his ability to travel for diplomatic purposes”.

He was found guilty of falsifying 34 business records to cover up a $US130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, silencing her claim that they had a brief affair on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Trump vowed to appeal the jury’s decision, arguing the trial in the Manhattan Criminal Court was “rigged”.

BIDEN BLASTS DONALD TRUMP’S ‘DANGEROUS’ CLAIM

US President Joe Biden blasted Mr Trump’s “dangerous” claim that his criminal trial was rigged as his opponent stoked anger about his conviction to smash fundraising records.

The ugly war of words broke out after the stunning verdict in the former president’s hush money trial, with Mr Biden saying it reaffirmed “the American principle that no one is above the law”.

“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous and it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” he said.

But Mr Trump declared he was “going to fight”.

Showing no sign of the remorse that could be required to help him avoid jail, he vowed to appeal as he unleashed on the judge in the case as a crooked and corrupt tyrant.

“It’s my honour to be doing this,” he said in a 35-minute speech to reporters before he refused to take questions.

“It’s a very unpleasant thing, to be honest, but it’s a great, great honour.”

Former US President Donald Trump has come out swinging. Picture: AFP

The Republican is the first president in history to be tried and convicted of a crime.

A snap YouGov poll revealed 51 per cent of Americans agreed with the verdict, 30 per cent disagreed and 19 per cent were not sure.

Mr Trump’s campaign team raised $US34.8m ($A52.3m) after the verdict, almost doubling their previous daily record. Nearly a third of the cash came from first-time donors.

The former president, speaking at Trump Tower, acknowledged the charges against him sounded “so bad” but maintained he never slept with Ms Daniels and there was nothing illegal about paying her to keep quiet.

He appeared to breach a gag order that remains in place by attacking Michael Cohen, the star witness in the case against him, as a “sleazebag”. Mr Cohen was Mr Trump’s lawyer in 2016 who arranged the payment to Ms Daniels.

The Republication presidential candidate was convicted of 34 criminal charges. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump did not testify during the trial, despite having publicly vowed to give evidence, and yet he argued after the verdict that he “would have liked to have testified”.

“The theory is you never testify … If it was George Washington, don’t testify, because they’ll get you on something you said slightly wrong and then they sue you for perjury,” he said.

“But I didn’t care about that – I wanted to.”

Confirming his plan to appeal, Mr Trump vented about Judge Juan Merchan blocking one of his witnesses from giving evidence in the Manhattan Criminal Court, and said another witness was “literally crucified by this man who looks like an angel but he’s really a devil”.

Mr Trump complained the case was not moved out of Manhattan – his former hometown – to another venue “where we could get a fair trial”.

US President Joe Biden says Trump’s claims are “dangerous”. Picture: AFP

Biden says his opponent had every opportunity to defend himself. Picture: Getty Images

He also argued his actions were not illegal, as he said of Ms Daniels’s salacious claims of a brief fling in 2006: “Nothing ever happened. There was no anything.”

“It’s not hush money – it’s called a nondisclosure agreement … Totally legal, totally common, everyone has it,” he said.

“I paid a lawyer a legal expense, and a bookkeeper without any knowledge from me correctly marked it down in the books … This is what the falsification of business records were.”

At the White House, Mr Biden defended the jury’s verdict, saying his opponent was given “every opportunity to defend himself”.

Originally published as How Donald Trump could face Aussie travel restrictions