Sentencing a president-elect ahead of Inauguration Day would be unprecedented in US history, and legal experts believe a delay would be swiftly granted pending an appeal.
Meanwhile, officials at the US Department of Justice (DoJ) spent Wednesday reviewing how to wind down the two federal cases against Trump.
They have been spearheaded by Jack Smith, the independent special counsel who has been doggedly pursuing Trump through the courts for the last two years.
Sources within the DoJ said the cases would be shuttered because of the department’s long-standing policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump had already threatened to fire Mr Smith if he regained the White House, telling a radio host last month he would sack the special counsel “within two seconds” of being sworn in as the 47th US president.
One of the cases was brought by Mr Smith in Washington and centred on Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The second was filed in southern Florida over the former president’s alleged retention of classified documents after leaving office.
Both had faced significant delays after Trump appealed to the US Supreme Court, which partly agreed with his claim that he had enjoyed broad immunity while president.
As president, Trump will have less control over the New York hush money case or an election interference case in Georgia, given both are brought by state prosecutors.
But his legal team has already said they will argue that a president should not face the burden of criminal prosecution while in office.