Donald Trump’s hush money trial to clash with Republican primaries

Donald Trump’s trial over alleged hush money payments to a porn star will take place during the Republican presidential primaries.

Former president Donald Trump at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York on April 4. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump was told not to make any commitments when a New York judge set his trial over alleged hush money payments to a porn star for March next year, during the primary contests to decide the Republican presidential candidate.

The former president and front-runner for the nomination shook his head during his appearance at the hearing via video link when judge Juan Merchan announced the date was March 25 and warned all parties not to plan any other engagements.

Afterwards, in a post on his social media platform, Mr Trump claimed that the trial was part of an effort to derail his presidential campaign. “They forced upon us a trial date of March 25th, right in the middle of primary season. Very unfair, but this is exactly what the Radical Left Democrats wanted,” he said.

Mr Trump appeared at the hearing from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, seated in front of two American flags, his lawyer, Todd Blanche, at his side.

Mr Trump was charged in April with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to stop her talking about an alleged affair with him.

Mr Trump, who flew to New York to be arrested and pleaded not guilty, was warned by the judge at the time “to refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest” and from anything that jeopardises “these proceedings in this courtroom”.

Prosecutors said that they were concerned that Mr Trump would use his platform to release evidence they had turned over to his lawyers before the trial.

An order agreed by both sides and signed by Judge Merchan restricts him from doing so and requires that some material be kept by Mr Trump’s lawyers and not by Mr Trump himself.

The judge said it was not a gag order and was not intended “to impede Mr Trump’s ability to campaign”.

The trial is due to take place in a state criminal court in lower Manhattan at a time when candidates for the presidency would typically attend rallies and events before the Republican national convention in July.

THE TIMES