Donald Trump will face the first ever criminal trial of a former US president on 15 April, a judge has ruled, over hush money payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Mr Trump faces four criminal cases, but this may be the only one to make it to a courtroom before November’s election.
The presidential candidate’s lawyers had aimed to delay or dismiss the case.
Mr Trump, 77, faces fraud charges over payments he made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 election.
He has pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges, arguing the claims do not constitute “a crime”.
During his bid to retake the White House, the former president and his legal team have sought to delay as many of his trials as possible.
But Justice Juan Merchan ruled on Monday that there was no reason to delay Mr Trump’s hush money trial any further, despite the defence’s arguments, and ordered the case to begin on 15 April.
After spending much of Monday morning sitting next to his attorneys inside the courtroom, Mr Trump told reporters that the case should be considered “election interference”.
“It’s a disgrace, and we will obviously be appealing,” he said. “But this is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”
