When are Donald Trump's trials? His 2024 schedule is on a campaign collision course

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's schedule for 2024 is getting mighty crowded − complete with conflicts between campaign events and court dates.

While Trump's legal team is trying to delay all of his trials until after Election Day, the former president currently faces a tight campaign-and-court calendar heading into next year. That includes:

• A civil defamation trial is scheduled for the same day as the Iowa caucuses, on Jan. 15.
• The trial in the federal case accusing Trump of trying to steal the 2020 election is scheduled to start the day before what's known as Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen Republican delegate contests are scheduled.
• A prosecutor's request to start a Georgia election fraud trial on Aug. 5, is less than three weeks after the Republican convention and on the cusp of the fall general election.

Trump, the former president and current Republican frontrunner, often claims without evidence his indictments and trials are designed to derail his campaign.

But Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, echoing other prosecutors, said she doesn't "consider any election cycle or an election season" in making decisions about law enforcement.

"What goes into the calculus is: This is the law," Willis said during a forum sponsored by The Washington Post while discussing the Georgia case accusing Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 election in the Peach State.

While many of these dates could change − and probably will − Trump's 2024 campaign schedule currently has multiple legal-political scheduling conflicts. Here's a look at the former president's current timeline.

Will December bring another fraud ruling?

Right now, Trump is in the midst of a civil trial involving bank fraud allegations brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Judge Arthur F. Engoron, who has already ruled in James' favor on most of the allegations, is holding a trial over damages that's expected to run through mid-December. Engoron's eventual ruling could gut the family's business empire.

Trump, who testified during the trial, plans to appeal adverse rulings, a process that could last throughout the election year.

Jan. 15: Iowa and E. Jean Carroll

Jan. 15 may turn out to be one of the most unique days in American political history.

As Iowa kicks off the Republican nomination process with caucuses, a defamation trial against Trump begins in New York City. Writer E. Jean Carroll, who won a $5 million judgment against Trump in May after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, sued Trump again for defamation over comments he made as president.

A judge has already ruled in Carroll's favor, and the January defamation trial is designed to determine damages.

Trump, who does not have to attend any civil hearing, did not show up for Carroll's first trial and has denounced her accusations as politically motivated.

March 4: A trial in D.C., a campaign across the country

Trump's first criminal trial, on federal election fraud charges is currently scheduled to start jury selection on March 4, per an order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is prosecuting a case that charges Trump with engineering an effort to steal the 2020 election from President Joe Biden.

On March 5, the day after Trump is expected in court in Washington, more than 15 states are scheduled to hold Republican primaries on so-called Super Tuesday, the busiest delegate haul of the campaign.

Will March heat up the Republican race?

By the time early March rolls around, Trump could have the GOP presidential nomination locked up - or he could be in a historic fight for his political life.

After Iowa on Jan. 15, Trump and his Republican rivals compete in the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23, Nevada caucuses on Feb. 8, and the South Carolina primary is on Feb. 24. If Trump wins those contests, it's over.

If an opponent like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis break through in one or more of those states, it could be a months-long fight for delegates.

March 25: Hush money trial begins

Trump also faces state charges in New York over hush money payments designed to buy pre-election silence from adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The fate of that case is uncertain.

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan has set a trial date for March 25, 2024 but has also suggested he may push that back because of the federal election conspiracy trial.

May: Trump's classified documents trial, maybe

There is also uncertainty over Trump's federal trial on his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, has proposed the trial for a still-to-be-determined date in May. But she also continues to consider Trump's request to push it back until after Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024.

A hearing on the schedule for the documents trial is scheduled for March 1, four days before Super Tuesday.

Trump is accused of defying grand jury subpoenas for documents he removed from the White House when he departed on Jan. 20, 2021. Some of those documents contain classified information, and Trump is accused of disclosing some of that information to third parties.

Aug. 5: Georgia on his mind

In Georgia, where Trump is accused of violating state conspiracy laws in trying to overturn his loss of the state to Biden, Willis has asked a judge to set a trial date of Aug. 5, when Trump could be the official presidential nominee of the Republican Party.

Trump and his lawyers are pushing to delay the trial, lest he be forced to sit in a courtroom while the general election campaign is continuing at full speed.

Noting that Trump could have more than a dozen co-defendants in the case, Willis said in her request for the trial date that it "balances potential delays from Defendant Trump's other criminal trials in sister sovereigns and the other defendants' constitutional speedy trial rights."

Gag orders and campaigning

These legal dates aren't set in stone, and Trump could face sudden hearings while on the campaign trail.

Opponents say Trump's constant attacks on prosecutors and jurists violated limited gag orders imposed by judges Chutkan and Engoron. Trump has appealed those gag orders, but they could spell further court proceedings as Trump hits the campaign trail.