US President-elect Donald Trump/SCREENGRABUS President-elect Donald Trump is being sentenced in Manhattan, New York, for falsifying business records.
Trump is not attending his sentencing in person, instead appearing via video with attorney Todd Blanche. He appears stony-faced as he sits alongside his lawyer, a BBC reporter in court says.
The judge has indicated he will not send Trump to prison, and there will be no probation or fine. Last May, Trump was convicted on 34 counts relating to hush money paid to adult-film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump sentenced
Merchan has just given Trump his sentence: unconditional discharge on all 34 charges, as expected.
“I wish you godspeed as you assume your second term in office," he says.
Trump reminded of unsuccessful immunity bid
Justice Merchan acknowledges the issue of presidential immunity - but also lays out for Donald Trump the parameters of those protections.
Though the protections for the office are "extraordinary," he said, "one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict”.
Trump has argued a very broad view of presidential immunity to try and get this case dismissed or the sentencing stopped. Those efforts have been unsuccessful.
What was Trump convicted of?
Last May, Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
A jury of New Yorkers found him guilty of all counts in connection with a hush-money payment made to an adult-film star.
The case centred on a payment made to the adult-film actress, Stormy Daniels, shortly before the 2016 election.
Daniels was paid $130,000 (£105,000) to keep quiet about her claim that she had sex with Trump, which he denies they did.
Providing so-called hush-money is not illegal. Instead, this case was more technical and centred on how Trump's former lawyer, who paid Daniels, had his reimbursement recorded as legal fees in Trump's accounts.
Could Trump go to prison?
Though Donald Trump theoretically could have faced prison time for his felony conviction, Justice Juan Merchan has already indicated he will not sentence the president-elect to time behind bars.
In a legal filing setting the 10 January sentencing date, Merchan said he would likely give Trump an "unconditional discharge" - meaning no jail time, monetary fine, or probation—calling it "the most viable solution” in such an unprecedented situation.
Neither a former president nor a president-elect has ever been convicted of a felony.
A historic case with an unusual finale
The sentencing in Manhattan’s criminal court marks the culmination of a historic criminal case, the first one ever brought against a former or sitting US President.
But there’s very much a sense that it’s ending in a whimper rather than a bang.
During the trial, which played out in the middle of Trump’s successful presidential campaign, the big questions were whether the case would be consequential in both holding Donald Trump to account and impacting his chances at retaking the White House.
Today, the answers to those questions are debatable. Did the case actually help Donald Trump win the election? What will the jury and Americans make of the sentence?
Trump will enter the White House as a felon but will almost certainly not face punishment. And the other criminal cases against him have all but vanished.
Demonstrators are outside court
On one side are Trump's loyal supporters, with banners and posters in the president-elect's favour.
On the other is a small protest against him, with signs reading "liar" and "justice matters.".
There are far fewer demonstrators than we saw during the trial, but that could also be down to the weather in New York today—it's currently -1C (31F) with very frosty gusts of wind.