Trump legal cases tracker: What’s next

by Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld - 03/28/24 10:40 AM ET

Former President Trump is enmeshed in a tangled web of legal troubles set to play out in courtrooms across the country this year amid his campaign to return to the White House.

As Trump continues to mount his 2024 presidential campaign, now as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, as at least one criminal trial is fast approaching.

Trump faces 88 criminal charges across four indictments, including one case that could go to trial as soon as April. It remains unclear whether any of the other cases will reach a jury before November’s election.

In addition, he has already been ordered to pay more than $500 million across multiple civil lawsuits.

Here is the status of each criminal case and what comes next.

Georgia election interference case

What it is: Trump, along with 18 other defendants, were charged with entering an unlawful conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in the state. Each defendant was charged under Georgia’s racketeering law and faced additional charges. Four of the defendants have since struck plea deals, including agreements to testify truthfully in future proceedings.

What’s next: A Georgia appeals court must decide whether to hear the defense’s appeal of Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling denying their motion to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) and her office from the case over a romantic relationship she had with now-former special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The judge previously gave defense attorneys the green light to appeal.

5 key milestones:

8/14/23 — Fulton County district attorney announces the long-awaited indictment.
8/24/23 — Trump is booked in Fulton County Jail and makes history as the first president, current or former, to take a mug shot.
10/24/23 — Jenna Ellis becomes fourth defendant to plead guilty, quickly following plea deals struck by fellow ex-Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro. Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall took a plea deal weeks earlier.
3/13/24 — Judge dismisses six of the 41 charges contained within the indictment, including three of Trump’s counts
3/15/24: McAfee ruled that either Willis or Wade would have to step down from the case after their relationship created the appearance of a conflict of interest. Wade resigned later that day. The judge later allowed the defense to appeal.

Federal 2020 election interference case

What it is: Trump is accused of engaging in multiple criminal conspiracies to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty to four felony counts that allege he pressured state legislators, developed false slates of electors, leveraged the Justice Department, pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence and exploited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

What’s next: The Supreme Court will hold oral arguments April 25 to decide how to proceed with Trump’s immunity claims, which have so far been rejected by every judge that has considered them. The former president’s appeal has sidelined his trial date, and the trial proceedings won’t move forward until the Supreme Court’s decision, which is expected by the end of June. If they allow Trump’s prosecution to move forward, the timing is poised to force special counsel Jack Smith and the judge to decide whether to put Trump on trial during the heat of the general election campaign.

5 key milestones:

8/1/23 — Smith charges Trump.
8/3/23 — Trump appears in court for his arraignment, pleading not guilty.
1/23/24 — An appeals court declines to have Trump’s challenge to a gag order in the case reheard by the full court. The order was largely upheld in December by an appeals court panel, though its terms were narrowed.
2/2/24 — U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan officially suspends Trump’s trial date, previously scheduled for March 4, amid his presidential immunity appeal.
2/28/24 — Supreme Court agrees to take up Trump’s immunity claims after he lost in a lower court, further delaying the trial.

Federal classified documents case

What it is: Trump faces 40 charges that he mishandled classified records and attempted to obstruct the government’s retrieval of those records after he left the White House at the end of his first term in 2021. The files allegedly contained national defense and weapons information, including some that had top secret markings. The government’s retrieval of the records included an unprecedented FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

What’s next: The judge is expected to issue a written ruling pushing back the currently scheduled May trial start, though the new date remains unclear. The judge is also weighing several efforts by Trump to get his charges dismissed.

5 key milestones:

6/8/23 — Special counsel Jack Smith indicts Trump and aide Walt Nauta.
6/13/23 — Trump appears in court for arraignment, pleads not guilty.
7/27/23 — Smith brings additional charges against Trump for allegedly attempting to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage.
2/22/24 — Trump files seven motions to dismiss the case on grounds including selective prosecution and immunity.
3/1/24 — U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signals she’ll push back the May trial date.

New York hush money case

What it is: In what marked his first indictment, Trump is accused of falsifying business records when he reimbursed his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who had paid porn actress Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump, who denies the affair but has acknowledged the reimbursements, pleaded not guilty to his 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

What’s next: Judge Juan Merchan has scheduled the trial to begin April 15, refusing to push it back further over new documents turned over to the parties. Trump still has multiple motions seeking a last-minute delay, however, that the judge has yet to rule on.

5 key milestones:

3/30/23 — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) charges Trump, marking the first indictment of a former U.S. president. On April 4, Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges.
11/14/23 — Trump drops bid to move case to federal court.
2/15/24 — Merchan refuses to dismiss charges, enabling case to move ahead to trial
3/15/24 — Trump’s March 25 trial date was delayed by a few weeks after new evidence was turned over in the case.
3/25/24 — Merchan resets trial for April 15, rejecting further delay