Donald Trump’s trial in his bid to overturn his 2020 election defeat will begin on March 4, 2024 in federal court in Washington, a federal judge ruled on Monday, setting up a busy schedule for the former president next year as he campaigns for a comeback. of the White House, Reuters reports.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling means Trump will likely have to stand trial in at least three separate criminal cases amid the Republican domestic race for the presidential nomination. A court date in the fourth criminal case has not yet been set.

Trump’s lawyers had pushed for the trial to begin in April 2026, well after the November 2024 presidential election, saying they needed time to sift through the 12.8 million pages of evidence gathered by the government.

But Chutkan said they didn’t need that much. “The defense’s proposed date of April 2026 is far beyond what is required,” she said.

It will be recalled that Donald Trump appeared on Thursday at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta to fulfill as a defendant the strict legal requirements stemming from the charges brought against him in connection with his attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 state elections. Georgia, which is the fourth criminal case opened against the former president this year. He was fingerprinted and photographed.

Trump’s trial is scheduled to begin a day before Super Tuesday, when several states vote in primary elections for the presidential nominee.