New York's highest appeals court declined to block Donald Trump's sentencing in his felony conviction, leaving the Supreme Court as Trump's likely last option.

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.

In their Thursday response to the defense’s Court of Appeals filing, Manhattan prosecutors claim Trump counsel is relying on federal procedure and federal cases that do not apply in a New York state criminal proceeding in their attempts to assert sentencing is precluded by presidential immunity.