Donald Trump may have been found guilty on all counts for illegally covering up a hush money payment, but the verdict will not prevent the former president from pursuing his campaign to retake the White House.
Here's what to know about this historic day in US history, and what happens next.
Will Trump go to prison?
The big question now is whether Trump could go to prison.
The answer is uncertain, and it is not yet known what sentence, if any, the judge will impose.
Trump is a first-time offender for a nonviolent crime, and it is rare for people with no criminal history who are convicted only of falsification of business records to be sentenced to prison in New York.
Punishments like fines or probation are more common.
The maximum sentence for Trump's crime of falsifying business records is four years in prison, but in cases involving prison time, defendants are typically sentenced to a year or less.
If punished beyond a fine, Trump could be placed under home confinement or subjected to a curfew rather than imprisoned.
As a former president, he has a lifetime Secret Service detail, and the logistics of keeping him safe behind bars could be complicated.
Trump could also be released on bail while appealing his conviction.
How can Trump be president despite the conviction?
The US Constitution only requires that presidents be natural-born citizens, at least 35 years old and have lived in the country for 14 years.
Neither a criminal conviction nor a prison sentence would affect Trump's eligibility or his ability to become president.
In theory, he could be sworn in from jail or prison if he were to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 election.
Could Trump pardon himself if he were to become president?
No.
Even if he is elected president again, Trump will not be able to pardon himself of state charges in New York.
The president's pardon power applies only to federal crimes, and this case was brought by the state of New York.
How could the guilty verdict affect the election?
While the hush money case is widely seen as the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions Trump faces, the guilty verdict could have implications for the election.
Reuters news agency reports that opinion polls show a guilty verdict could cost him votes in an election that will potentially be decided by just tens of thousands of votes in a handful of battleground states.
One in four Republicans said they would not vote for Trump if he was found guilty in a criminal trial, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters in April.
In the same survey, 60 per cent of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he was convicted of a crime.
What was Trump accused of doing?
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last year charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $US130,000 payment that Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels.
The payment was made in the waning days of the 2016 campaign in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump a decade earlier, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have alleged that was part of a broader "catch-and-kill" scheme to suppress negative news stories about Trump before the 2016 election in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Cohen has also said he and Trump discussed a $US150,000 payment made by American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep quiet about an affair she says she had with Trump.
The tabloid never published a story. Trump denies both sexual relationships and has called the case a politically motivated "witch hunt".
What laws was Trump accused of violating?
According to prosecutors, Trump disguised his 2017 reimbursem*nt checks to Cohen for the Daniels payment as retainer fees for legal services in records maintained by his New York-based family real estate company, the Trump Organization.
Each of the 34 counts stem from a check, ledger entry or invoice from Trump's payments to Cohen.
It is against New York state law to make a false entry in a company's records.
While falsification of business records on its own is a misdemeanour, it is considered a felony punishable by up to four years in prison if it is done to conceal or further other crimes.
In this case, Bragg said that other crime was a violation of a New York state law making it a misdemeanour to conspire to promote a candidacy by "unlawful means".
Prosecutors say Trump, Cohen, and former American Media chief executive David Pecker conspired to pay off people with potentially negative stories about Trump — including Daniels — to remain quiet before the 2016 election.
They say those payments were effectively campaign contributions that exceeded the $2,700 cap on individual donations in 2016.
What was Trump's defence?
Trump's lawyers argued that Cohen acted on his own when paying Daniels, and that the purpose of silencing Daniels and McDougal was to spare Trump and his family the embarrassment of public attention to alleged extramarital affairs, not to help his campaign.
They have also said that his payments to Cohen in 2017 were legal retainer fees.
They sought to undercut Cohen's credibility as a witness, by pointing out that he perjured himself before Congress, pleaded guilty to federal crimes, and frequently stated publicly that he wanted to see Trump punished.
What happens next?
Although Trump will be largely free to verbally attack witnesses, the jury and court staff after the trial, there are still some topics that could be off limits.
A March 7 protective order prohibits Trump or his lawyers from disclosing the names, business and residential addresses of the jurors.
Legal experts said they expected the judge to leave this order in place.
Trump will be sentenced on July 11.
He is likely to appeal the verdict.
Reuters/AP
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