A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump's final bid to put his New York hush-money case on hold, clearing the way for him to be sentenced for felony crimes days before he returns to the presidency.

President-elect Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to stop the sentencing, citing the conservative majority’s explosive immunity opinion.

The US Supreme Court has rejected Trump's last-minute bid to halt his Friday sentencing in his hush money criminal case. The president-elect had urged the top court to consider whether he was entitled to an automatic stay of his sentencing.