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The Trump Organization on Friday announced President-elect Donald Trump will not have any involvement in managing his real estate and branding empire during his second term and appointed an outside ethics adviser to monitor major company actions.
It’s part of several measures the organization said it was taking to avoid conflicts of interest as Trump prepares to return to the White House later this month.
The provisions, for the most part, mirror steps announced during the first Trump administration.
Under its plan, the company pledged not to enter into any new deals with foreign governments and voluntarily donate to the US Treasury any profits from foreign governments that it can identify flowing into its hotels and other properties.
The ethics pledge, however, is silent on how the company will handle overseas business deals. And Trump’s son Eric Trump, the company’s executive vice president, has previously said that the firm will continue to pursue foreign business during his father’s second term, relaxing a self-imposed restriction that the company has said was in place during the first term.
In a statement, the Trump Organization noted that the incoming president is not required either by federal law or the US Constitution to remove himself from his business interests. Even so, Eric Trump said, the company “is dedicated to not just meeting but vastly exceeding its legal and ethical obligations during my father’s Presidency.”
Read more about the Trump Organization’s pledge.
A number of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are expected to get confirmation hearings next week before the Senate. Here’s what has been scheduled so far:
Tuesday, January 14:
Wednesday, January 15
Thursday, January 16
- Pam Bondi (Day 2)
- Scott Bessent for secretary of treasury
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is voicing support for a key government surveillance authority she once sought to dismantle.
The shift comes amid lingering uncertainty about Gabbard’s path to confirmation despite spending the last several weeks meeting with senators on both sides of the aisle in an effort to win their support.
In a new statement to CNN on Friday, Gabbard said she will support FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Section 702 — an intelligence gathering tool passed by Congress after September 11, 2001 — if confirmed as Trump’s spy chief, marking a dramatic shift from her previous attempts to repeal the same authority and comments raising deep concerns about domestic surveillance.
“Section 702, unlike other FISA authorities, is crucial for gathering foreign intelligence on non-U.S. persons abroad. This unique capability cannot be replicated and must be safeguarded to protect our nation while ensuring the civil liberties of Americans,” Gabbard said in the statement to CNN.
“My prior concerns about FISA were based on insufficient protections for civil liberties, particularly regarding the FBI’s misuse of warrantless search powers on American citizens. Significant FISA reforms have been enacted since my time in Congress to address these issues. If confirmed as DNI, I will uphold Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights while maintaining vital national security tools like Section 702 to ensure the safety and freedom of the American people,” she added.
Gabbard also met Friday with the current director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, according to a source familiar with the matter, who declined to provide additional details about what was discussed.
The meeting comes as Trump was sentenced to unconditional discharge for his conviction last year on 34 charges of business fraud related to hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Punchbowl was first to report Gabbard’s statement regarding FISA Section 702.
Read more about the scrutiny that Gabbard faces.
President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced today after his conviction last year on 34 charges of business fraud related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge. The sentencing, which was expected, means Trump will remain a felon but faces no jail time, penalties or probation for his conviction in the hush money case.
Merchan said that “never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstance.”
Friday’s sentencing cements the fact that Trump will be the first convicted felon to become president.
Here’s what happened in court on Friday:
Prosecutor’s recommendation: Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass recommended a sentence of unconditional discharge for Trump.
“Your honor indicated an inclination to impose an unconditional discharge under all the circumstances of this case, this unique posture and the defendant’s status as president-elect, the people recommend a sentence of unconditional discharge,” he said.
Steinglass listed off things he said Trump has done post-verdict to undermine the jury’s verdict, while Trump leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, shaking his head side to side. The prosecutor told the court that Trump has been “far from expressing any kind of remorse for his criminal conduct” and “encouraged others to reject the jury verdict.”
He acknowledged that any other conditional discharge has the potential to interfere with Trump’s obligations to the office of the presidency, saying in court, “We must be respectful of the office of the presidency” and his pending inauguration.
Plans to appeal verdict: Following Steinglass’ comments in court, Trump attorney Todd Blanche said, “A lot of what the government just said presupposes that this case is legally appropriate,” while noting that Trump’s lawyers intend to appeal the verdict.
Blanche, who is Trump’s pick for deputy attorney general, argued for the president-elect, saying he disagrees with prosecutors, while Trump looked forward without reacting to what his attorney was saying to the judge.
“I very, very much disagree with much of what the government just said about this case, about the legitimacy of what happened in this courtroom during the trial, and about President Trump’s conduct fighting this case,” Blanche said.
Trump’s statement: Trump began his statement at today’s hearing saying that “this has been a very terrible experience” and insisted he is innocent.
“It’s been a political witch hunt, it was done to damage my reputation,” Trump said.
Trump went after the indictment and the charges of falsifying business records — after he chose not to testify at the trial. He said legal fees were not put down by him, but by his accountants. The president-elect also discussed his 2024 election victory, saying in court that he won the popular vote by “millions and millions of votes.”
Trump also released a statement via social media, calling the sentencing “a despicable charade.”
Listen to the hearing: The court released audio of the proceedings shortly after today’s hearing. Listen to Trump and Judge Juan Merchan in the recording here.
How we got here: The president-elect successfully used the courts to delay the hearing, which was originally set for July, and urged the US Supreme Court to pause his sentencing in the case — a highly unusual request that relies in part on the court’s decision last year to grant him broad immunity from criminal prosecution. On Thursday, the high court rejected Trump’s emergency request to delay the sentencing.
President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to unconditional discharge this morning for his conviction last year on 34 charges of business fraud related to a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
To put it simply: Unconditional discharge means Trump will not be imprisoned, fined or face probation. However, his conviction still stands, and he will enter office as a convicted felon.
Prosecutors had recommended the sentence, saying in court Friday, “we must be respectful of the office of the presidency” and Trump’s pending inauguration.
Trump has vowed to keep fighting the conviction through the appeals courts.
CNN’s Kara Scannell, who has been inside the courtroom throughout President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money trial, said that the trial today was different from other court appearances because the public was able to hear from Judge Juan Merchan.
“One thing that you never hear from, the public never hears from, is the judge. So for the first time today, the public was able to see the demeanor of Judge Juan Merchan. Trump has launched numerous attacks throughout the course of this trial, and you were able to hear Merchan’s demeanor,” Scannell said.
She continued, “That is the tone he carried throughout this entire trial, even while Trump was making statements about Merchan and his family in the hallways. The person, the voice you heard on the bench today, is the judge who presided over this case, keeping an even keel. And, as you could hear, being very judicious in his statements and thoughtful on them.”
Scannell also painted a picture of what the courtroom looked like from her point of view.
“When Trump did speak, it was that image of him side by side with his attorney that we, the members of the media, saw in there and the members of the public that were allowed into the courtroom. The judge was looking at that screen as Trump was giving his statement. And then when the judge handed down his sentence, he was directing his attention fully to that screen, looking directly at it, speaking to Donald Trump,” Scannell described.
President-elect Donald Trump responded to his hush money sentencing in a post on Truth Social, railing against Democrats and promising to appeal.
“The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt,” he said in the post.
Trump argued “there was never a case.”
“The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this ‘case’ had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference,” Trump said.
“Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice,” he continued.
During the sentencing: Judge Juan Merchan said the legal protections of the presidency “do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way,” adding that “one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict.”
The court is now releasing audio of today’s sentencing, which was not allowed to be broadcast live by media.
The audio recording will provide an opportunity to hear Donald Trump speaking as he was sentenced for his hush money conviction, meaning he will enter the presidency as a felon, but receive no penalties.
President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have the same conditions as other convicted felons who have probationary periods, but instead has to maintain his role as president, CNN anchor Laura Coates said.
“Donald Trump right now is in a league of his own for the reasons that my colleagues have described. But an unconditional release, normally, if somebody is convicted of a crime and does not have a jail sentence imposed, a probationary period comes in,” Coates said.
Coates described responsibilities including checking in with a probation officer, engaging with drug testing and community service “in order to make sure that they don’t have the ability to be actually brought into a jail.”
“Donald Trump doesn’t have any of those conditions. The condition he now has is to maintain his role as the commander in chief and president of the United States,” Coates said.
Trump will take office on January 20.
Judge Juan Merchan has sentenced Donald Trump to unconditional discharge.
“The only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment or conviction without encroaching upon the highest office of the land is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan told Trump.
The sentencing, which was expected, means Trump will remain a felon but faces no jail time, penalties or probation for his conviction in the hush money case.
“Sir, I wish you godspeed as you assume your second term in office,” Merchan said in his final statement to Trump.
Trump did not react as Merchan concluded the hearing.
Judge Juan Merchan says he need not repeat the aggravating factors that he has already articulated in his recent orders.
“However the considerable, indeed extraordinary, legal protections afforded the office of the chief executive is a factor that overrides all others,” he says.
“They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way,” Merchan says of the legal protections for the office of the presidency.
“One power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict,” Merchan says.
Merchan noted that voters ultimately decided to bestow Trump the protections of the office once again.
“Ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections. It is the office of the president that bestows those to the office holder. It is the citizenry of this nation that recently decided that you should once again receive the benefits of those protections,” he says.
Judge Juan Merchan is speaking to Donald Trump and is noting that it’s the office of the presidency that is extraordinary, not the occupant of the office.
“It is the legal protections afforded to the office of the president of the United States that are extraordinary, not the occupant of the office,” he said.
Merchan says that once the courtroom doors closed, the trial was not different from any other in the courthouse.
Judge Juan Merchan says, “never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstance.”
“This has been a truly extraordinary case,” he adds.
As Judge Juan Merchan speaks, President-elect Donald Trump is leaning forward.
Trump is alternating between looking ahead at Merchan and looking down and away from the screen.
President-elect Donald Trump just finished speaking in court.
“Thank you Mr. Trump,” Judge Juan Merchan says.
“The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult and significant decisions that any criminal court judge is called upon to make,” Merchan adds.
Merchan says he believes that Trump needs to hear his reasoning for his sentence though he indicated his inclinations ahead of time.
Donald Trump is insisting he is innocent at his sentencing hearing this morning. “The fact is I’m totally innocent. I did nothing wrong,” he says.
Donald Trump mentioned his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, referring to past remarks.
“He was allowed to talk like he was George Washington, but he’s not George Washington,” Trump said.
President-elect Donald Trump is now discussing his 2024 election victory, saying in court that he won the popular vote by “millions and millions of votes” and noting that he won all seven swing states.
“They’ve been watching your trial, so they understood it,” Trump said of the voters.
President-elect Donald Trump said legal fees were not put down by him, but by his accountants.
“Legal fees were put down as legal expenses by accountants; they weren’t put down by me. They didn’t call them construction, concrete work,” Trump said. “They called a legal expenses a legal expense and for this I got indicted. It’s incredible actually. “
