A grand jury in the Manhattan borough of New York City has voted to convict former US President Donald Trump , making him the first person in US history to serve as US president and then be charged with a crime, as he paves the way for his rival in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

According to The New York Times, the indictment has been sealed, meaning that the specific charge or charges are not known to the public, but the grand jury was hearing evidence about money paid to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, allegedly because Trump and his presidential campaign prevented her from saying She had a sexual encounter with Trump years ago in exchange for money.

Trump's advisers were discussing a possible surrender on Tuesday and a court appearance, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

For his part, former US President Donald Trump rejected the accusation against him in the case of "buying silence" porn star Daniels, with whom she alleged he had an affair, and poured out his anger on the public prosecutor and his political opponents. Republican leaders condemned the decision.

"This is a political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history," Trump said in a statement, adding, "I think this persecution will backfire on (President) Joe Biden."

"Even before I was sworn in as President of the United States, the radical left-wing Democrats, the enemies of the toiling men and women of this country, engaged in a witch hunt against me," he added.

In a five-paragraph statement, released within minutes of news of the indictment breaking, Trump vowed revenge as he plans to return to the White House in the 2024 election.

"The Democrats lied, cheated, and stole in their obsession with trying to bait Trump, but now they have done the unthinkable, indicting someone who is completely innocent, in scandalous election interference," Trump said.

He added, "It is the use of our judicial system as a weapon in order to punish a political opponent, who happens to be the president of the United States (formerly) and the most prominent Republican candidate for president (in the upcoming elections), and this has never happened before." He continued, "I think this prosecution will rebound." Massively counterproductive to Joe Biden."

Trump's lawyers, Joseph Takopina and Susan Nickellis, said they would "fight vigorously" the charges, while another attorney, Alina Haba, expected him to be acquitted.

Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, considered that the decision had caused "irreparable damage" to the United States, at a time when allies of the former president launched a fierce attack on Democrats and judicial officials.

McCarthy said Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg "has irreparably damaged our country by trying to interfere with our presidential election."

He added, "The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg accountable for his unprecedented abuse of power."

The 76-year-old Trump became the first former or sitting president to be charged with a felony, on the cusp of the presidential election that Trump seeks to run in 2024.

In turn, Ron DeSantis, Trump's main competitor for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, criticized the accusation of the former president, describing it as "contrary to American values."

DeSantis, the governor of Florida, Trump's residence, said he "would not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances" of the indictment, which he described as part of a "political agenda".

It is noteworthy that the investigation in Manhattan is one of several legal challenges facing Trump, and the charges may harm his efforts to return to the presidency. About 44 percent of Republicans think he should drop out of the race if indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week.

The porn star's attorney, Stormy Daniels, said Thursday that the indictment of Trump shows that "no one is above the law".

The charges rely heavily on testimony from Michael Cohen, a former Trump aide who said he paid $130,000, on Trump's orders, to "keep Stormy Daniels quiet."

Cohen said, according to The New York Times, that Trump ordered him to buy Ms. Daniels' silence, and that Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization, helped cover it up.