By: Derrick Chen

Former president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on June 13th in Miami to 37 criminal charges relating to documents hidden in his home. 31 of these charges relate to the withholding of national defense information and 5 of them relate to concealing classified documents.

When Donald Trump left the presidential office in 2020, he took a lot of top secret documents to his estate in Florida – Mar-a-Lago. These documents contained information on nuclear programs, weapon capabilities of the US, and a pentagon “attack plan.” If these documents were leaked, it could put US soldiers and spies at risk, harming how the US gathers intelligence on other countries. These documents were found in the white and gold ballroom, a bathroom and shower in the “Lake” Room, and in the hall near the bedroom.

Trump is accused of mishandling the top secret documents. Some of these charges could lead up to over 20 years in prison. Even with the mounting evidence, no one can say for sure what will happen, as this is the first time an US president has ever been in a criminal trial.There is still a lot of support for Trump and as we have seen, the former president has a way of getting out of tricky situations. People gathered outside the Miami courthouse to rally in support for Trump.

Trump is off for now, until a trial determines his fate. It is expected to happen in early 2024. Even if Donald Trump is convicted, he can still run for president. If Trump wins the election and is convicted, we would have a current president in prison. How would Trump rule a country from a prison cell? We don’t know yet and we don’t know if he will be convicted on any of these 37 charges in Florida. That still leaves a lot of other charges against Trump, like attempting to change the 2020 election results in New York.