Former President Donald Trump makes history Monday by becoming the first current or former president in the country’s history to go on trial.
Trump’s trial, set to begin in a New York City court, will have an instant impact on his 2024 election rematch with President Biden.
The former president, who is on trial on 34 state felony counts, is accused of falsifying business records in connection with hush payments during the 2016 election to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the adult film actress.
Trump has repeatedly denied falsifying business records, as well as the alleged sexual encounter with Daniels.
COURT DENIES TRUMP’S OFFERS TO DELAY START OF HUSH MONEY TRIAL
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attends a pretrial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 15, 2024, in New York City. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records last year, which prosecutors say was an effort to cover up a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 presidential election. (Photo by Jefferson Siegel-Pool/Getty Images)
The former president’s legal team has tried numerous times, without success, to further delay or postpone the trial.
The unprecedented trial is the first of four Trump criminal cases, including two over his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and another over mishandling of classified documents, to go to trial. And it may end up being the only case that concludes with a verdict before the November elections.
THE TRUMP TRIAL: HERE IS EVERY CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST THE FORMER PRESIDENT
Here are five key questions about how the trial will affect the presidential campaign:
How long will the trial last? Does Trump have to attend every day?
The trial is expected to last approximately six to eight weeks, beginning with the start of jury selection on Monday. Procedures are scheduled to take place weekly on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Wednesday being a day off.
The judge in the case, Juan Merchán, has indicated that he may postpone the trial for the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Pesach, which begins on the afternoon of April 22.
New York law requires Trump to be present in the courtroom throughout the trial. But Merchan may give the former president some leeway, so Trump can attend legal hearings in some of his other cases that will take place during the duration of the hush money trial.
Will the trial be televised?
While Trump’s trial will attract dozens of cameras, they will not be inside the courtroom.
The trial is not expected to be televised, because New York state has one of the most restrictive laws in the country in terms of banning cameras in courtrooms and banning live audio or visual broadcasts of trials.
But photos of the courtroom will probably be allowed. When Trump was impeached last year, Merchan allowed photographers to take pictures before the actual impeachment. He also allowed television cameras in the courthouse hallways.
How much coverage will it generate?
A lot!
Trump is expected to continue his practice of capturing media attention (both on cable news and online) with his arrivals and departures from the courthouse, through impromptu press conferences.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media in the hallway outside a courtroom at a Manhattan courthouse in New York, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Trump can dominate the messaging environment whenever he wants,” veteran Republican strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. “We’ve never seen anything like this where a person, whatever he says, gets full coverage. It’s a phenomenon. Whether it’s social media, cable TV or even broadcast TV, he just dominates the news “.
Carney, a veteran of numerous presidential campaigns, predicted that “there will be so much coverage of his court cases that sometimes I would bet there will be more reporters covering his surveillance than the president.”
During the Republican presidential primaries, Trump used the multiple criminal and civil cases he faces to portray himself as a victim, building support among Republican voters and boosting fundraising.
A mug shot of Trump, taken last August in a separate case in which he is accused of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia, has helped the former president raise millions of dollars and quickly became an iconic image for their legions of MAGA supporters.
On August 24, 2023, after being charged with racketeering and related charges, former President Donald Trump voluntarily surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, where his mugshot was taken. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)
When will Trump campaign?
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the trial is “election interference.”
“I don’t know how you can have a trial that happens right in the middle of an election. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. It’s not fair at all,” he recently told reporters in New York City.
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But sources in the former president’s political orbit tell Fox News that a schedule is being drawn up that includes making the most of Wednesdays, when the court is not in session, as well as weekends, when Trump typically holds rallies and other events. campaigns and fundraising events. .
Regardless of the trial, Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, recently predicted that “we have the message, the operation and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5.”
How will the Biden campaign react?
The president has largely avoided making direct comments about Trump’s criminal cases. The same goes for his reelection campaign team, as they don’t want to give Trump ammunition while he continues to claim that the cases against him are politically motivated.
President Joe Biden speaks at the Washoe Democratic Party office in Reno, Nevada, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“We will let Donald Trump focus on his own problems; our campaign is focused on the American people and winning their vote this November,” Biden campaign rapid response director Ammar Moussa said recently.
But don’t be surprised if Biden’s allies or surrogates launch much harsher attacks as the trial progresses.
While Trump is in court this week, the president will make campaign stops Tuesday through Thursday in Pennsylvania, one of six crucial battleground states that Biden narrowly won in 2020 to win the White House.
The stop by the Keystone State, where Biden is expected to highlight his plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, is seen as counter-scheduling to Trump’s trial.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 election campaign, exclusive interviews and more in our Fox News Digital Election Center.
