US election stumbles into new territory after Trump's conviction

Presidential hopeful faces potential jail term for falsifying business records

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Donald Trump, the first US president convicted of a crime, will face a new milestone in his historic effort to regain the White House when a judge decides in July whether to send him to prison or not after a guilty verdict on May 30.

The verdict catapults the United States into unexplored territory ahead of the Nov 5 vote, when Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will try to win back the White House he lost in 2020 to Democratic President Joe Biden.

The charge Trump was convicted of falsifying business records carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Others convicted of that crime often receive shorter sentences, fines or probation, but the judge in the case said during jury selection that Trump faces a potential jail sentence.

The stakes are high, but incarceration would not prevent Trump from campaigning, or taking office if he were to win.

Trump quickly tried to frame the verdict against him as not about himself but about all Americans.

"If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone," he said in his first public comments after the verdict was handed down on May 31.

In his typically rambling style of speaking, he criticised the criminal case and the judge who oversaw it.

He derided the trial as "rigged", but that he was "honoured to be involved" in it, claiming he is fighting to uphold the Constitution. He said he will be appealing against the verdict, as was expected.