Will Trump's hush money conviction stand? A judge will rule on the president-elect's immunity claim

“It’s a well established fact that being president changes a man. Therefore the Trump who committed the crime is a different person from the Trump who was convicted. The conviction cannot stand.”

Trump was almost certainly never going to prison. Now it is completely certain.

I don't think he'd automatically take over. They'd probably have to use the 25th Amendment to allow the cabinet to transfer power, because god knows he'd never give it up himself.

But Trump would not be eligible for another term. The 22nd Amendment says "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice".

Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if there's another Trump assassin soon after the inauguration, maybe even at the inauguration, but this one is strangely successful and then Vance becomes president.

He's not sworn in yet. So I don't think Vance could take his place. I would think they'd have to trigger another election.

For the first question, I don't know. It's uncharted territory.

And as per the second question, it's dependent on what exactly happens. Term limits apply to the elections, not time spent in office or anything else. The clock only starts ticking when someone is sworn into office. So Trump getting sent to jail could actually give him a third term if he only serves two years. But there's like a 90% chance he doesn't survive the next four years.