Trump faces 4 March 2024 trial just a day before Super Tuesday
Donald Trump, seeking a return to the White House in 2024, already had a crammed political calendar. Now, with multiple legal dramas set to unfold, it is approaching the point of pure chaos.
A federal judge has scheduled the trial for his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election for 4 March, the day before Super Tuesday, the biggest voting day in the Republican race.
That trial - in Washington DC - would pull Mr Trump off the campaign trail for a pivotal stretch of his campaign, when he could be securing himself as the Republican standard-bearer or engaged in an extended struggle with one or more remaining rivals.
Mr Trump's lawyers have already vigorously complained about proposed trial schedules conflicting with the presidential campaign, which the former president and his supporters have branded "election interference" by his enemies.
Mr Trump has vowed to appeal the trial date ruling. In a post on his social media site, he derided the judge as "biased" and "Trump hating" and said the timing was "just what our corrupt government wanted".
Mr Trump's legal team had initially proposed an April 2026 date for the federal trial - a timeline the judge said was unacceptable.
While the first presidential nomination contest, in Iowa, isn't until January, the Republican presidential race has already begun in earnest. The party has started holding monthly debates for qualifying candidates. The first took place in Wisconsin in August - and Mr Trump stayed away, saying an appearance was not necessary given his large polling lead over his rivals.
The schedule, however, provided an early indication of how his legal concerns could factor into his political calculations. The former president appeared in an Atlanta jail the day after the debate, where he was formally booked on charges of interfering in the Georgia 2020 election.
While much of Mr Trump's legal - and political - drama will take place in 2024, there's already one trial scheduled for later this year. On 2 October, New York state's civil fraud lawsuit against Mr Trump and his business empire is scheduled to go to trial. Mr Trump is not required to appear in court, but it still could be a distraction - and it comes just five days after the second scheduled Republican primary debate.
When the calendar flips to 2024, things start to really heat up. The Iowa caucuses - the first Republican presidential selection contest - are scheduled for 15 January, the same day a defamation trial against Mr Trump begins. It is the second case brought by writer E Jean Carroll, who has already won a $5m (£3.9m) judgement from the former president after a jury found he sexually assaulted and defamed her.
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