Why Donald Trump won't go to prison as he prepares for Stormy Daniels hush money payment sentencing

Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States after beating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election.

But the victory comes during a turbulent personal time for Trump, with the 78-year-old just weeks away from his sentencing for 34 felonies he was found guilty of earlier this year.

This included a hush money payment of $130,000 (roughly £101,112) to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The outcome of this sentencing has been severely limited, though, following on from the election result.

Going in to the election, pollsters could not separate Trump or Harris, with the two presidential candidates polling around the same numbers every day in the weeks, and then hours, leading up to polling day (5 November).

But with these polls having a margin of error of up to 3.1 percent, the reality of the situation was just that: significant space between the two candidates, with Trump receiving more support than Harris across the country and, critically, in the swing states needed to win the keys to the White House for the next four years.

Trump will be sworn in as president at his inauguration on 20 January, 2025, where Joe Biden will officially hand over power.

But what about the sentencing taking place in late November? Well, it's complicated.

Trump in court during the trial over hush money payments (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The 45th and 47th POTUS has already been convicted for 34 felonies for falsifying business records, including the hush money payment to Daniels during the 2016 election.

On top of that, he was set to face eight pending civil cases relating to his alleged role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol building.

US attorney Benjamin Chew told 9News in Australia that those pending charges are all but dead in the water, with Trump able to appoint his own attorney-general who can cast them aside.

"He won't necessarily have to pardon himself. What he can do and what he's already said he would do, is he will have his attorney-general just stop the prosecutions against him that are pending in Washington before the judge," Crew said.

Trump will likely not be sent to prison (Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)

"In any event, his new attorney-general can stop both of those criminal prosecutions. What he can't stop is the sentencing that's happening later this month in New York."

Sentencing for the 34 felonies takes place on 26 November; something Trump cannot stop from happening.

The New York Times reported that 42 percent of convictions relating to the felonies do result in prison time.

Dancing his way to an historic victory (John Moore/Getty Images)

But, now that Trump has won the 2024 election, it is highly unlikely he will face any jail time due to federal law prohibiting any sitting president from being prosecuted in such a way.

According to Politico, if a prison sentence is put upon Trump, it would not be served until he left the office of POTUS in January 2029.

And for punishment that falls short of going to prison - such as community service - there is a good chance Trump's legal team will fight it due to the potential impact it would have on Trump carrying out his duties as president, whether those be logistical or constitutional.