Former President Donald Trump made history on Monday, as he became the first current or former president in the nation’s history to go through trial.
Trump’s hush-money trial, which will be held in a New York City courtroom, will have an immediate impact on his 2024 re-election bid against President Biden.
The former president — who is on trial on 34 state felony charges — is accused of falsifying business records in connection with 2016 election hush money payments he made to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair him to the adult film actor.
Trump has repeatedly denied falsifying business records as well as the alleged affair with Daniels.
COURT REJECTS TRUMP BIDS TO DELAY START OF HUSH MONEY TRIAL
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attends a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on February 15, 2024, in New York City. Trump was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records last year, which prosecutors say was an effort to cover up a potential sex scandal, before and after the 2016 presidential election. (Photo by Jefferson Siegel-Pool/Getty Images)
The former president’s legal team tried several times, unsuccessfully, to further delay or postpone the trial.
The unprecedented trial is the first of Trump’s four criminal charges — including two for his alleged attempt to reverse his 2020 election loss to Biden and another for mishandling classified documents – to go to trial. And it may be the only case to finalize a verdict before the November election.
THE TRUMP TRIALS: THIS IS WHERE EVERY CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST THE FORMER PRESIDENT IS HELD
Here are five key questions about how the trial will affect the presidential campaign:
How long is the test and does Trump have to attend every day?
The trial is expected to last about six to eight weeks, beginning with the start of jury selection on Monday. Proceedings are scheduled to take place weekly on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with a day off on Wednesday.
The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, has indicated that he may postpone the trial for the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins on the evening of April 22.
New York law requires Trump to be present in the courtroom for the entire duration of the trial. But Merchan could give the former president some time, so Trump could attend legal hearings on some of his other charges that will take place during the duration of the hush-money trial.
Will the trial be televised?
While Trump’s trial will attract plenty of cameras, they won’t be inside the courtroom.
The trial is not expected to be televised, as New York State has among the strictest laws in the country in terms of banning cameras in courtrooms and banning live audio or visual broadcasts of trials.
But still photos of the courtroom will likely be allowed. When Trump was arraigned last year, Merchan still allowed photographers to take pictures before the actual arraignment. He also allowed TV cameras in the courthouse hallways.
How much coverage will it generate?
A lot!
Trump is expected to continue his practice of grabbing the media spotlight — both on cable news and online — as he arrives and leaves the courtroom, holding impromptu press conferences.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media in the hallway outside a courtroom in Manhattan court in New York, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Trump can dominate the message environment any time he wants,” longtime Republican strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. “We’ve never seen anything like this where one guy – whatever he says – gets full coverage. It’s a phenomenon. Whether it’s social media or cable TV or even broadcast TV, he just dominates the news.”
Carney, a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, predicted that “there will be such coverage of his court cases that sometimes I’ll bet more reporters will cover his stakeout than cover the president. “
During the Republican presidential primaries, Trump used the many criminal and civil charges he was facing to cast himself as a victim, sparking support among GOP voters and boosting fundraising.
A mug shot of Trump, taken in August in a separate case in which he was charged with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia, helped the former president raise millions of dollars and quickly became an iconic image for his legion of MAGA supporters.
On August 24, 2023, after being indicted on racketeering and related charges, former President Donald Trump voluntarily turned himself in to authorities at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was mugged. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)
When will Trump campaign?
Trump has repeatedly said the trial is “election interference.”
“I don’t know how you can have a trial happening in the middle of an election. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. It’s not fair at all,” he told reporters in New York City recently.
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But sources in the former president’s political orbit tell Fox News that a schedule is being mapped out that includes making the most of Wednesdays, when the court is not in session, as well as weekends, when Trump usually holds of rallies and other campaign events such as fundraisers.
Regardless of the test, Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita 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 on Trump’s criminal charges. The same is true for his re-election campaign team, as they don’t want to give Trump any ammunition as he continues to say the charges against him are politically motivated.
President Joe Biden speaks at the Washoe Democratic Party Office in Reno, Nev., Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“We’re going to let Donald Trump focus on his own problems — our campaign is focused on the American people and getting their vote this November,” Biden’s campaign director of rapid response, Ammar Moussa, said recently.
But don’t be surprised if Biden’s allies or surrogates launch sharper attacks as the trial progresses.
While Trump is in court this week, the president will make campaign stops from Tuesday to Thursday in Pennsylvania, one of six key battlegrounds that Biden nearly carried in 2020 to win the White House.
The swing in the Keystone State — where Biden is expected to spotlight his plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans — is seen as counter-programming to Trump’s trial.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more in our Fox News Digital election hub.
