Trump’s Trial Delay Strategy Seems to Be Working

The Supreme Court’s decision to weigh immunity claims means a trial on election interference charges can’t start for months.

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Donald Trump could go on trial only once before Election Day.

Trump’s delay strategy seems to be working

The schedules for Donald Trump’s criminal trials are still coming into focus, but one thing seems clear: His strategy of seeking delays is paying off.

The Supreme Court gave him a victory of sorts yesterday by deciding to take up his long-shot argument: that he is all but immune from prosecution for any actions taken while in office. The practical effect was to push back, by several months at least, the start of his federal trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. Whether the trial can get underway before Election Day remains uncertain.

Last year, when Trump was charged in New York, Florida, Washington and Georgia, it seemed as if he might spend much of 2024 in front of a jury. Now, if events break his way, he could face only one trial before the November election.

Tomorrow, the timetable for another case will get some clarity. Judge Aileen Cannon will set a new date for the start of Trump’s trial on federal charges of mishandling classified documents after he left the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them. That trial was originally scheduled to start May 20, but the judge has indicated that she is inclined to make some “reasonable adjustments” to the timing.

Trump’s legal team has in the past asked that the trial be delayed until after the election. And the former president will be in the courtroom tomorrow in Fort Pierce, Fla., to hear whether Cannon, whom he appointed toward the end of his term, will go along.

The timing of a third criminal case facing Trump is also in flux. That case, in Georgia, where Trump has been charged with trying to subvert his election loss in the state in 2020, is mired in pretrial proceedings, right now focused on an effort by the former president and some of his co-defendants to disqualify the district attorney who brought the case.

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