Mr Trump was charged with illegally retaining classified government documents after leaving office and conspiring to obstruct justice by trying to hide the documents from investigators. He is the first former US president to face criminal charges.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon scheduled the Trump trial to begin on May 20, 2024. Prosecutors had previously asked for a trial in December, while Trump’s defense attorneys had asked for a trial after the November 2024 election. Cannon said she chose May to give both sides time to process more than 1.1 million pages of evidence and address issues.

Former US President Donald Trump. Photo: AP

The trial will be held in a federal court in Fort Pierce, about 210km north of Miami, in Florida - where Mr. Trump easily won the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Mr. Trump, 77 years old, is the leading presidential candidate of the Republican Party. The trial is expected to begin near the end of the primary campaign to choose the candidate of this party. According to the survey results conducted by Ipsos and Reuters news agency in 7 days, as of July 17, former US President Trump is leading in the support rate for the candidate to be the Republican representative to run for US President in 2024. Accordingly, the support rate within the Republican Party for Mr. Trump is 47%, much higher than the second candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 19%.

VNA

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