Donald Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong after his longtime attorney implicated him in illicit hush payments made before the 2016 election, as experts warned the legal maelstrom swirling around the Republican leader could further threaten his presidency. On perhaps the worst day of Trump's tumultuous time in office, his former fixer Michael Cohen told a federal judge on Tuesday he had made illegal campaign contributions -- in the form of payments to silence women alleging affairs with Trump -- at his boss's request.

Cohen's statements came on a day of head-spinning political drama for Trump, whose former campaign chief Paul Manafort was found guilty within the same hour of federal tax and bank fraud, in the first case sent to trial by the special prosecutor probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election. While the full implications for the real estate mogul-turned-president remain unclear, Cohen's statements -- and the prospect of more revelations to come -- puts Trump in legal peril. But the mercurial US leader yesterday appeared determined to ride out the latest storm.