The Supreme Court on Thursday denied President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to delay his Friday morning sentencing in the New York hush money case.
The Court’s order clears the way for Manhattan judge Juan Merchan to impose the long-awaited sentence on the incoming president. Merchan has said he would not give Trump jail time, fines, or probation during the hourlong virtual hearing. Scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday, the sentencing comes ten days before Trump’s inauguration.
In the Supreme Court’s brief order published Thursday evening, five justices denied Trump’s application for postponing the sentencing date. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh — all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents — would have granted the application.
Meanwhile, Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett sided with the liberal wing in denying the application.
The order comes hours after New York’s highest court declined to block Trump’s sentencing. The Supreme Court was Trump’s last resort for pushing back the sentencing date.
The Court’s majority denied Trump’s bid for two reasons: The defendant’s arguments against the verdict can be handled as part of the regular appeals process, and his sentencing won’t be a serious burden before he enters office.
“The burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing,” the document states.
Unconditional discharge means no punishment will be imposed.
In response, Trump said he respects the Supreme Court’s opinion and that he will pursue an appeal that could potentially reach the Court again.
“I respect the Court’s opinion — I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a private dinner while hosting Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago.
Last Friday, Merchan ordered Trump to appear for his sentencing on January 10 in order to bring “finality” to the hush money case before he enters office. If it got pushed past January 20, the sentencing would have likely been delayed until 2029 after Trump leaves the White House.
In May 2024, Trump was found guilty on 34 counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to his efforts to silence pornographic actress Stormy Daniels with $130,000 in hush money. The payment was made in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign to cover up his alleged sexual tryst with the porn star in 2006.
Trump maintained his innocence and said Daniels’s story was false.
Trump’s defense attorneys argued that Merchan should have tossed the verdict because evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated the Supreme Court’s decision that gave Trump absolute immunity from criminal prosecution over “official acts” he committed as president. They claimed the trial was irreparably “tainted” by juror misconduct and evidence related to Trump’s first term.
Prosecutors, however, contended that the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity should not apply in this case because Trump’s alleged hush money payment does not constitute a president’s official act in office.
The defense also argued that, at the very least, the sentencing should be delayed to prevent Trump from becoming distracted during the presidential transition.
The prosecution disagreed, saying there is no reason for the Supreme Court to intervene in the state case now.
Democratic lawmakers and judicial ethics experts called for Alito to recuse himself from deciding on Trump’s sentencing after the justice spoke with the Republican in a phone conversation earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Alito confirmed he spoke with Trump over the phone the day before the president-elect’s lawyers filed their emergency motion before the Court. The justice said he was completely unaware that Trump’s legal team was going to file the motion. Rather, Alito answered the call from Trump to recommend his former law clerk, William Levi, for a job in the incoming administration.
The two did not discuss any upcoming or current cases, Alito said.