US federal judge sets date for historic trial of former President Donald Trump

On Monday, a federal judge set a date for a trial that will undoubtedly be one of the most historic in American history, in a case brought by the United States against its former president, Donald Trump.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith requested the scheduling of the start date for the trial of the 45th US president on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election on January 2, 2024.

In contrast, Trump's lawyers requested the trial to begin in April 2026, about a year and a half after the November 2024 elections, in which the billionaire Republican is vying to return to the White House.

Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to listen to arguments from both sides on Monday at 10:00 AM (14:00 GMT) in a federal court in Washington before deciding on the date.

Her decision could have a decisive impact on Trump's aspirations for winning the Republican Party's nomination for the presidential elections and securing a new term as the country's leader.

Criminal charges were filed against Trump (77 years old) in four cases this year, two in Washington, one in New York, and the fourth in the state of Georgia.

However, the case before Judge Chutkan poses the greatest risk to him, especially if it becomes the first case he is tried for within an extensive judicial calendar awaiting the former president.

Political consultant Whit Ayres affirmed that "the sequence of these trials is of great significance."

Bill Kristol, a conservative Republican analyst who has become one of Trump's fiercest critics, stated in an online interview, "If the trial date is set for January 2, then, if that is the case, I think it will become a very important event in the presidential race."

Ayres explained, "This would allow, if the trial lasts four to six weeks, for it to conclude before Super Tuesday (March 5, 2024), before the vast majority of voters cast their ballots in the Republican primary elections."

Trump is set to be tried in March in New York on charges of lying about payments to a pornographic film actress to buy her silence before the 2016 elections, and in May in Florida for charges of concealing classified government documents.

Additionally, along with 18 other defendants, Trump faces charges in Georgia related to extortion and conspiring to overturn the results of the recent presidential election in the southern state.

Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over this wide-ranging case, has not yet set a date for the trial to commence.

In the case before Judge Chutkan, Trump faces charges of conspiring against the US government and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, stemming from his role in the attack carried out by his supporters on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to disrupt the Congress session to certify Joe Biden as president after the 2020 elections.

Within this case, in which he is representing himself, Trump is also accused of disenfranchising American voters through his false claims of election victory.

Ayres believed that if Trump is acquitted in this first case, he is likely to win his party's nomination for the presidential race, given his current lead in Republican candidate polls.

He said, "I don't see what could stop him."

He continued, "But if he's convicted of a serious criminal charge, I don't know what people's reaction to that would be, because we've never faced anything remotely like this."

Judge Chutkan (61 years old), who was appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, has imposed some of the harshest penalties on participants in the attack on Congress. Trump accused her of being "extremely unfair" and "very biased."

The judge has a history with Trump, having ruled against him in November, when she filed a lawsuit to prevent the delivery of documents from the National Archives related to his tenure in the White House to a congressional committee investigating the Capitol attack. At the time, she declared, "Presidents are not kings and prosecutors are not presidents."



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