Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Celebrity, Crime
Despite being a convicted criminal, the citizens of America have voted Republican leader Donald Trump to be the nation's 47th president - marking his second stint in the position.
Following the shock re-election - which tragically saw Democratic front-woman Kamala Harris miss out on the role - millions of spectators from across the globe have been left with the same question: Could Trump ever actually serve jail time now that he's President once again?
The short answer is, no - or, at least, not throughout the duration of his four-year-long term as President.
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Sadly, presidential immunity means that - despite having countless shocking crimes under his belt, as well as a multitude more accusations - Trump is highly unlikely to see the inside of a jail cell anytime soon.
According to the US Constitution, criminals have every right to seek office, despite the risk that they'll eventually win.
That said, however, the totally unprecedented nature of a convicted felon actually being elected as leader of an entire country - especially one as powerful as the United States - means that nothing can be said with any certainty.
Trump was convicted in New York in May of this year of a staggering 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a bid to conceal a $130,000 payment that he made to to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the days before his first election win in 2016.
He hoped to silence her about an alleged sexual encounter that the pair had enjoyed one decade earlier.
NYC judge Juan Merchan ruled at the time, however, that the sentencing would be delayed until after the 5 November election, but never shut down the notion that Trump could serve jail time.
Even if Merchan does sentence Trump in the coming weeks, however, he's likely to use his power as President to appeal against any charges.
The 74-year-old will not, however, be able to issue himself a special pardon, being that the New York case centres on state charges.
Jury consultant Steve Duffy previously issued an explanation to The Independent about the complex system: "The state and federal systems in the United States are completely separate. The only person who could pardon him would be the governor of New York – who is exceedingly unlikely to do that."
If a sentencing rules that Trump should be serving jail time, this could call for his third impeachment, or attempts to remove him from office by referencing the 25th Amendment.
Trump also faces three other charges - including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of citizens following the 6 January riots of 2021.
In 2020, the father-of-five and 18 other defendants were also accused of criminally conspiring to overturn his defeat of swing state Georgia after losing by a margin.
And in another federal case, Trump was accused of wilful retention of national defence information at one of his properties in Florida - an offence which would usually be punishable with sentences of up to 20 years behind bars.
