Trump’s Return to White House Amid Guilty Trials

by Elaine Ruiz

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is reuniting with a familiar face. Following the 2024 Presidential Election, Donald Trump has become President again. However, this time, he walks into the White House as a convicted felon.

 This comes after Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies regarding the falsification of New York business records in order to conceal his illegal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election.  He received an unconditional discharge for his criminal conviction on January 10, after depleting legal avenues available to him, after the Supreme Court justices refused to intervene in his case. 

This minimal sentence allows for a finality to be presented to the trial and jury’s verdict, while not posing as an obtrusion with Trump’s right to govern. This makes Donald Trump the first person to hold the position of President while having a criminal record.  

During his Inaugural Speech, Trump did not shy away from attacking the criminal prosecutions that have been attached to him, stating “The vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end” continuing “Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history…. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed, to take my life.”. 

The flurry of orders passed by Trump on his first day of presidency show the erratic and dangerous nature of his newly-minted second term, using his conviction as leverage against other claims. This was shown throughout his presidential campaign, stating that he would act like a “dictator” on Day 1 of his presidency. 

With a record-breaking 46 executive orders filed on his first day of presidency, including the pardoning of approximately 1,500 individuals who were convicted for their presence at the Jan. 6th riot. Another executive order that he signed is titled “Initial Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders And Actions,” in which he rescinds all executive orders signed by former President Biden, among others.