Trump’s disaster diary for 2024: The former president will have to fit in his many criminal trials amid a busy campaign schedule

Election years are busy enough, but now former President Donald Trump may have to appear in court again and again during his campaign for the presidency.

With Monday’s indictment in Fulton County, Georgia — tied to Trump’s efforts to nullify the 2020 election there — the ex-president’s 2024 calendar is filling up.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said she would like to see Trump’s trial start within the next six months, which means it could take place right in the middle of the presidential primary season.

Additionally, one of Trump’s trial dates – for the original libel suit of E. Jean Carroll – scheduled to take place on January 15, 2024, the exact same day as the Iowa caucuses.

Here are the key dates to watch as Trump runs for president and tries to stay out of jail:

August 23, 2023: first Republican primary debate

For weeks, Trump has teased that he might skip the first debate, to be held next Wednesday in Milwaukee and hosted by Fox News Channel.

That being said, he also hinted that he might headline the counterprogramming instead.

Trump said he’s made up his mind, but won’t announce it until next week.

August 25, 2023: Georgia deadline for Trump to surrender

Willis gave Trump and the 18 other people charged in Fulton County, Georgia, 10 days to surrender or be arrested.

August 28, 2023: 2020 Federal Election Hearing and January 6 Case

Trump’s lawyers will return to federal court in Washington, DC, to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is expected to use the hearing to set a trial date.

Trump’s legal team has been pushing for the trial to take place after the 2024 election, while prosecutors want a “speedy trial.”

Next, nominee Donald Trump (center) appears at a GOP primary debate in February 2016. There are debates scheduled for September and October that Trump will easily qualify for — but the ex-president didn’t not yet announced if he will appear at the first debate. next week in Milwaukee

September 27, 2023: second debate of the Republican primary

The Republican hopefuls of 2024 are set to take to the stage for the second primary cycle debate. It is scheduled to take place at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

October 2, 2023: Trial date for Trump Organization civil fraud suit

The $250 million civil lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James goes to trial. In September, James sued Trump, his company and his three oldest children for fraud.

She said the ex-president “grossly exaggerated his net worth by billions of dollars”, while manipulating real estate appraisals to obtain tax breaks and better terms on loans and insurance policies.

January 2, 2024: Proposed start of 2020 federal election and January 6 trial

Special Counsel Jack Smith has proposed that date as the start date for the federal trial on charges related to Trump’s attempts to nullify the 2020 election and his Jan. 6 role.

The Iowa caucuses are scheduled to take place on January 15, 2024. This is the first contest of the 2024 primary cycle. Trump (left) is pictured campaigning in Iowa in 2016 alongside Senator Joni Ernst (center) and now former Rep. Steve King (right)

January 15, 2024: The Iowa caucuses

The official kick off date for the 2024 election. The Iowa caucuses are the official start of the Republican primary season. Voters across Hawkeye State will congregate at caucus sites and hear a speech from each candidate or an alternate for each candidate before casting their ballots.

Iowa gave candidates the momentum to ultimately win the party’s nomination – as with Barack Obama in 2008 – or shattered candidates’ presidential dreams.

Trump lost the Iowa caucus in 2016 to Senator Ted Cruz.

January 15, 2024: start of the defamation trial of E. John Carroll

The initial libel suit of E. Jean Carroll v. Trump is on trial — but luckily for the ex-president, with the Iowa caucuses happening on the same day, the 2024 Republican hopeful doesn’t have to appear in person.

Carroll sued Trump in November 2019 for defamation after she publicly denied her allegations that she was raped by him in 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York. Trump said Carroll was “totally lying” and “not my type.”

In a separate lawsuit that went to trial earlier this year, jury members found that Trump did not rape Carroll but sexually assaulted her and awarded her $5 million in the lawsuit, which Trump disputes.

Trump complained about all his upcoming court dates on Tuesday as he tries to retake the White House

January 23, 2024: The tentative date for the New Hampshire primary

The Granite State will hold its first primary in the nation a week after the Iowa caucuses. In 2016, New Hamphire gave Trump his first primary victory. In current polls, he is 40 points ahead of second-place contender, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

January 29, 2024: Pyramid class action lawsuit

Another trial will begin in January. This federal class action lawsuit was filed just before the 2018 midterms and alleged that Trump and his three oldest children convinced consumers to invest in a get-rich-quick scheme. “The investments did not – and could not – offer a reasonable probability of success,” the lawsuit said.

February 8, 2024: Nevada Caucuses

The third primary contest of the year takes place in Nevada. Trump won the Nevada caucuses in 2016.

February 24, 2024: South Carolina primary

The fourth primary contest will be in South Carolina, where two of Trump’s Republican rivals are from.

February 27, 2024: Michigan Primary

The fifth primary contest next year will be in Michigan, a state Trump won in the 2016 general election, helping him win the White House over Hillary Clinton.

Since then, the state has had a blue streak, with a Democratic governor, Democrats controlling state government, and President Joe Biden winning the state over Trump in the 2020 race.’

March 5, 2024: Super Tuesday

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia will hold their primaries next year on Super Tuesday.

March 25, 2024: Hush Money case goes to trial

About a year after Trump’s first indictment, on New York State charges related to silent money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, the case will go to trial.

If GOP voters coalesce around a Trump rival, the Republican primary could still be in the works.

During his last competitive cycle, Trump did not become the presumptive GOP nominee until May 3, 2016.

The classified documents case is set to go to trial in mid-May despite Trump lawyers pushing Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen M. Cannon to postpone it until after the 2024 presidential election.

May 20, 2024: start of the trial of classified documents

Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen M. Cannon chose mid-May for the start of the trial of the classified documents.

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team had originally wanted the Florida-based case to go to trial in December, while Trump’s lawyers have asked for it to be postponed until after the 2024 presidential election.

July 15 to 18, 2024: Republican National Convention

Republicans will formalize their top pick at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Democrats were supposed to hold their 2020 convention in the Midwestern city, but instead held a scaled-down version in Wilmington, Delaware due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

November 4, 2024: election day

Americans will vote for president on the first Tuesday of November next year.