Trump guilty - latest: Biden responds to Trump conviction - after US networks cut away when ex-president makes untrue claims about Congo and cars (2024)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said it would "not be appropriate" for him to comment after the criminal conviction of Donald Trump.

Speaking to media, Mr Sunak said he couldn't comment on another country's judicial and political system but said the US "has always been a key partner and ally to the United Kingdom".

He said he'd always had a good relationship with his opposite number, something that "any British prime minister should prioritise".

"It's also not been subject to conclusion," the prime minister added. "You don't know if someone is going to appeal or not, and I wouldn't comment on judicial processes while they are ongoing in our own country."

He said there was a separation between politicians and judicial systems, and we should "let judicial systems do what they need to do separate to politics".

Joe Biden has begun his remarks from the White House by commenting on the trial which found Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records.

"The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed," he said.

He said Trump was given the opportunity to defend himself, the jury was chosen like any other jury in America and after careful deliberation, reached a unanimous verdict.

The president said Trump would now be given the opportunity to appeal the decision "like anyone else" who has been convicted.

He went on to say it was "dangerous" for anyone to call a trial "rigged" - as Trump has done numerous times - and that justice "should be respected".

President Joe Biden is expected to give a speech from the White House shortly.

It is not yet known if he will address the Trump trial - but any questions taken after may quiz the US leader on the actions of his presidential election opponent.

We will bring you all the updates here.

A criminal defence attorney has claimed she has it on "good authority" that Donald Trump will be sentenced with prison time on 11 July.

Deborah Blum told Sky News the judge would be more inclined to hand down a custodial sentence because Trump has failed to take any kind of responsibility or show remorse for his conviction.

"The judge's sentencing will not be based on contempt, it is more likely he will hang this on Trump failing to accept responsibility," Ms Blum said.

"He has said countless times he is not guilty.

"When somebody fails to accept responsibility for a crime that they have been convicted of, that can and usually is used against them at sentencing."

She said that if the former president was handed a prison sentence, the Secret Service "is prepared" to let him enter a prison - meaning he would be running for president from jail.

"I am not going to disclose my source but I have heard rumblings of this," Ms Blum said.

"But I can't guarantee if that is going to happen, we will have to wait to see what the judge does."

Nigel Farage, the honorary president of Reform UK and long-time Trump supporter, has said he backs the ex-president "more than ever" after his criminal conviction.

Commenting on what's happening stateside during a walkabout in Skegness, Lincolnshire, Mr Farage said the American judicial system "stinks" and is formed on plea bargaining.

He said: "98% of people who get charged plead guilty. They make it impossible for you.

"They say, even for white collar crime, your legal fee will be $3m and it will be 88 years in prison, but if you plead guilty to this minor charge we will let you go.

"I think a lot of what happened here was the use of plea bargaining to get people to say things about Trump that they would rather not have said.

"The judge, utterly political. When you politicise judges, in a sense it feels like even juries are politicised."

Mr Farage then repeated claims made by Trump that his presidential campaign had raised $39m in the last 10/12 hours and quoted a poll by the Daily Mail showing him six points up on approval.

"I think what the Democrats have done through their sheer hatred of him and their twisting of the law is to guarantee him victory," Mr Farage said.

A number of lies were told by Donald Trump throughout the news conference, prompting some US networks to cut away before it ended.

US correspondent Mark Stonenotes lies such as a claim that criminals have been released from jail in the Republic of Congo and sent to the US.

While TV networks in the US are partial, and some always repeat his statements, others threw back to the studio on this occasion.

"The likes of CNN and others came off his speech before the end. They have got to be able to present what he is saying but also counter the lies."

On the claim about Congo and immigration, Stone says that, objectively, it is correct to say the southern border of the US is a "mess", and it has got worse under Joe Biden, but beyond that "he is saying things that are simply false".

"He said Congo is emptying its prisons and sending criminals to the US - and that is simply not true. Statements from the Congolese governments say it is absolutely baseless.

"Experts on the DRC have said that fact is not true."

Other untrue claims

Stone continues: "Trump says that the Democrats will ban cars.

"Of course they won't, what he will do is what plenty of governments around the world have said they want to do - increase taxes on petrol cars to persuade more people to drive electric cars.

"He spoke about crime around the country being terrible. Yes, there is a crime problem in the US, but crime is actually coming down.

"This is all about perception and reality. I have spoken to many people around the country, in rural parts of Middle America that feel New York is a frightening 'no go' zone, but they have never been.

"They are feeding off what they are told by Donald Trump through news channels like FOX, News Max and others."

Dr Laura Ellyn Smith, a presidential historian, tells Sky News that although Donald Trump has been a public figure for decades, "the context has changed" around him for good.

"This is classic Donald Trump," she says. "He came out fighting. The individual hasn't changed. He's concerned about his legacy.

"He wants to have the last word - he even referenced George Washington, who may be turning over in his grave. But the context has changed: Richard Nixon infamously said, 'I am not a crook.'

"And now we officially have an ex-president who is a crook. So this has changed things."

Dr Smith says Trump is "probably banking on the idea that it's not going to really matter to his base".

James Matthews, US correspondent, said the former president's "40-minute monologue" showed a "sense of the Donald Trump strategy" in the wake of his guilty verdict.

"Donald Trump did what he did: a lengthy news conference," he said.

"We didn't hear anything we hadn't heard before. And to an extent, that is a tactic aimed at battering the audience into submission to a large degree.

"When it comes to Donald Trump, the same old notes, but the same notes from which he gets a tune with the American electorate."

Matthews also notes Trump's attacks on district attorney Alvin Bragg, which "goes to the heart of the criticisms and the accusations of political bias".

Our correspondent points out Trump did not take questions from the media - questions that could have been "uncomfortable".