Donald Trump plans to immediately return to work Friday, a day after becoming the first ex-president ever convicted of felony criminal charges — while warning President Biden to “buckle up” now he can focus on the campaign trail.
The former president, 77, is scheduled to speak at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan at 11 a.m. Friday, where he is expected to again rip what he called a “rigged, disgraceful trial” that ended Thursday with him convicted of 34 felonies over “hush money” payments..
His campaign also had a warning for his 2024 rival.
“Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats confined President Trump to a courtroom for more than eight hours a day for more than six weeks, and he’s still winning,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News.
“Now that he is fully back on the campaign trail, Biden and the Democrats better buckle up.”
The campaign rep added that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was still able to generate “billions of dollars” in media coverage throughout the high-profile trial, as well as host rallies and campaign stops, and “increased his lead over crooked Joe Biden in the polls.”
Follow the latest on Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush money trial
“Not even a witch hunt trial could slow him down. In fact, it only made him stronger,” Leavitt said.
It comes after a sour-looking Trump slammed the trial as “rigged” and “disgraceful” after the Manhattan jury found him guilty on all 34 counts Thursday.
“The real verdict will be Nov. 5 by the people … I’m a very innocent man,” he said as he left the courtroom, blaming the ordeal on Biden, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the judge who oversaw the trial.
“I’m fighting for our country, I’m fighting for our constitution,” Trump said. “We’re a nation in decline.”
Trump also accused Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan of being “conflicted” and “corrupt,” claiming his decision not to grant Trump’s bid for a venue change outside Manhattan — a district that overwhelmingly polls in Biden’s favor — directly led to the guilty verdict.
“Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden administration in order to vote to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent. And I think it’s just a disgrace,” Trump said.
His remarks came just minutes after he launched a fundraising memo on his Truth Social page, calling himself a “political prisoner.”
What happens next after Trump is found guilty in hush money case
- Donald Trump, who was found guilty on all counts, will remain free until his scheduled sentencing on the morning of July 11.
- The former president also does not face any travel restrictions until the sentencing.
- Trump’s attorneys said they plan to appeal the verdict “as soon as we can.”
- If Trump loses an appeal with the mid-level appeals court, he’ll likely seek to have the state’s highest court hear his case, which could take another additional year.
Here you can read more about what happens next following the historic guilty verdict and what Trump potentially faces.
Trump’s fundraising website crashed and one of his campaign committees reportedly secured an $800,000 donation in the wake of the guilty verdict.
“So many Americans were moved to donate to President Trump’s campaign that the WinRed pages went down,” the Trump campaign wrote on X.
Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 “hush money” payment his former “fixer” lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
He is set to be sentenced on July 11 — just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest updates on Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial
