Judge Juan Merchan has indefinitely delayed President-Elect Donald Trump's sentencing. 

Merchan, according to the Washington Examiner, did so on Friday.

Background

This all has to do with the case that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought against Trump in New York.

This is the one in which Bragg alleged that Trump falsified business records by mislabeling a "hush money" payment that Trump allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump has denied all wrongdoing, and he has insisted that this was a coordinated effort by the political left to undermine his 2024 presidential campaign. Legal experts on both sides of the political aisle have agreed with this assessment.

Nonetheless, after a highly controversial sequence of events, a jury did find Trump guilty, and all that is left in the case - at least at this lower court level - is for Merchan to sentence Trump.

The big question is whether Merchan will put Trump in prison. It appears that the answer is "no," at least not at the current moment.

The latest

On Friday, Merchan issued a ruling in which he indefinitely postponed the sentencing phase of the case. He did so after Trump's legal team demanded that the case be thrown out.

Trump's legal team submitted a filing to Merchan, which read, "On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s "People." This case must be immediately dismissed."

Trump's legal team went on to argue:

The immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election.

It was not long after this filing that Merchan decided to postpone the case. Postpone, however, does not mean dismiss.

The question going forward is whether Merchan will try to imprison Trump at some point in the future, such as when Trump's second presidential term is over. Time will tell.

Team Trump responds

Trump, through spokesman Steven Cheung - the incoming White House communications director - has released a statement on Merchan's latest ruling.

Cheung, according to Fox News, wrote:

In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned. President Trump won a landslide victory as the American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases. All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again.