Trump sentence delay latest issue to hit election campaign

The delay in the sentencing of former US president Donald Trump in a New York hush money trial is the latest twist in the run-up to the 2024 presidential campaign.

Justice Juan Merchan on Tuesday delayed the sentencing date so he can consider Trump's argument that he should have been immune from prosecution after Monday's landmark US Supreme Court ruling that presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for official acts.

The new sentencing date, if a sentence "is still necessary", Merchan wrote, is Sept 18, around seven weeks before the Nov 5 election.