New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the New York Police Department will protect peaceful protest in the wake of Trump's conviction -- but not "lawlessness."

"Today, a jury of 12 New Yorkers registered their verdict," Adams' statement read. "Our criminal justice process must be respected. As we await the next steps, New Yorkers should rest assured that the NYPD stands ready to respond to any and all circumstances, including large-scale protests. While peaceful protests and assembly will always be protected, we will not be a city of any form of lawlessness."

At a post-verdict news conference, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against Trump, thanked the jurors.

"We should all be thankful for the careful attention that this jury paid to the evidence and the law, and their time and commitment over these past several weeks," Bragg said.

"Twelve everyday New Yorkers, and of course our alternates, heard testimony from 22 witnesses, including former and current employees of the defendant, media executives, book publishers, custodians of records and others. They reviewed call logs, text messages and emails. They heard recordings. They saw checks and invoices, bank statements and calendar appointments," Bragg said.

"Their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt," Bragg said.

"While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial -- and ultimately today at this verdict -- in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors: by following the facts and the law, and doing so without fear or favor," Bragg said.

When former President Donald Trump returned to Trump Tower after court, he greeted those standing outside the Midtown building, waving and pumping his fist.

In a written statement, Trump called Judge Juan Merchan "corrupt" and twice called him "conflicted."

"This was a rigged decision right from Day 1," Trump said.

"We didn't do a thing wrong. I'm a very innocent man," he said.

Trump will attend a fundraiser in New York Thursday night for his 2024 campaign. The former president will stay at Trump Tower Thursday night, then is scheduled to hold a news conference there at 11 a.m. ET Friday.

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, one of the star witnesses for the prosecution, is "relieved" the case is over, her attorney Clark Brewster said in a statement.

"No man is above the law, and the selfless hardworking service of each of these jurors should be respected and appreciated," Brewster said.

Daniels, whose hush money payment was at the center of the case, provided some of the most gripping testimony of the trial, describing in detail her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump, which he denies.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche told jurors that while both Trump and Stormy Daniels denied the affair, the allegations came back in 2016 so Daniels and others could extort Trump.

"There were a group of people that wanted to take advantage of a situation and ultimately wanted to extort money from President Trump," Blanche said.

Blanche argued that Daniels' claim of a sexual tryst with Trump was known in 2011, so the hush payment could not have been meant to influence an election five years later.

"The idea that when Ms. Daniels surfaced in 2016 that it caused some sort of panic amongst everybody is not true. It's just not true," Blanche said.

Blanche hesitantly used the word extortion in his opening statement to describe the Daniels payment -- calling it "almost an attempt ... to extort" -- but the defense appears to have leaned into the argument in their closing.

Blanche also suggested that Trump may not have known about the Daniels payment at the time, telling jurors they only have Michael Cohen to rely on for that evidence.

"There's no way that you can find that President Trump knew about this payment at the time it was made without believing Michael Cohen. Period," Blanche said. "And you cannot believe his words."