Former President Donald Trump’s grand finale in his hush money scandal has been postponed. That’s right, guys—just when you thought things were heating up, the microwave ding goes off, and the popcorn’s gonna have to wait a little longer.
Trump, a youthful 78 years old, was convicted back in May 2024 on a whopping 34 counts of “I Swear My Business Records Are Totally Legit, You Guys.” These charges are connected to his attempt to hush up what we can only assume was a rather awkward relationship with Stormy Daniels. Spoiler: It did not go well.
Originally scheduled to make his courtroom debut (well, his sentencing debut anyway) on September 18, the former president was looking at the possibility of up to four years of quality time in jail for each charge. That’s a potential sentence longer than most people’s attention spans for watching The Apprentice reruns. But fear not, Trump fans, because in a move that shocked absolutely no one, the sentencing has been delayed until after the election. You know, just in case a criminal conviction would somehow mess with his plans to reclaim the Oval Office.
The new date? November 26—just in time for a post-Thanksgiving digestif of courtroom drama. The election showdown against Vice President Kamala Harris on November 5 is still on, because nothing says democracy like waiting to find out if one of the candidates will be sentenced to jail a few weeks later.
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan, the MVP of this legal reality show, made the call to postpone the sentencing. His reasoning? He wanted to make sure there was no “appearance” — because appearances are everything — that the trial was trying to crash the election party.
“The Court is fair, impartial, and apolitical,” Judge Merchan assured the masses, probably while wearing sunglasses and sipping tea. After all, nothing screams neutrality like pushing the sentence of a presidential candidate to just after Election Day.
Naturally, Trump’s legal squad was all about the delay, implying that a sentencing might interfere with the important democratic tradition of… well, running for president while being on trial. They’re also not-so-quietly trying to have the entire case thrown out like a batch of bad tweets.
So, grab your popcorn. The courtroom drama of the century is just getting started—again.
