Only one-third of Americans say they think Donald Trump acted illegally in hush money case

Nearly one-third of American adults said they believe Donald Trump acted illegally in the hush money case, as jury selection in the first criminal trial of a sitting or former president is underway, according to a new poll.

Mr Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to so-called hush money payments given to adult film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence over an alleged affair. She said the affair occurred in 2006, just one year after Mr Trump married Melania.

He has pleaded not guilty and has repeatedly denied that the affair ever happened.

On top of this, if a jury found Mr Trump guilty in the hush money case, 50 per cent of Americans would not consider him fit for office, the AP-NORC poll showed.

A separate poll has found that most voters think Mr Trump committed serious federal crimes.

As many as 53 per cent of survey respondents said in the New York Times/Siena College poll that Mr Trump has committed serious crimes while 39 per cent said he has not and nine per cent said they were unsure or declined to give an answer.

Ninety per cent of Democrats said Mr Trump has committed serious crimes, while 17 per cent of Republicans said the same. Forty-nine per cent of independents agreed with the statement.

In the poll, Mr Biden is closing in on Mr Trump, who has been ahead of the president in recent surveys.

The poll was conducted between 7 and 11 April, and Mr Trump is now just a single percentage point ahead – 46 to 45 per cent, with eight per cent saying they’re unsure or declining to answer the question.

Jury selection is now underway for the second day of the criminal case in New York City. No jurors were selected after the first day of the trial.

In the AP-NORC poll,