Donald Trump

Donald Trump has announced his intention to run for the presidency in 2024, following his 2020 defeat to incumbent Joe Biden.

Last Thursday, a Manhattan grand jury formally indicted former U.S. President Donald Trump for violation of election laws.* Although the indictment is sealed,* the charges are thought to be related to the case of a payment Trump made back in 2016 to silence a porn star. Everything seems to indicate that it is not just a simple extramarital affair but more likely a crime related to the financing of his presidential campaign.

This makes the Republican real estate tycoon the first former president to be charged with a crime. Trump faces other federal charges related to illegitimate possession of classified documents, the attack on the Capitol in 2021 and attempted election fraud, among others.

In a statement, Trump denied the payment made to Stephanie Gregory (aka Stormy Daniels), which would have been made by his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2018. The payment scheme allegedly developed during the 2016 presidential campaign,. Trump won the election beating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The extramarital affair allegedly took place 10 years earlier.

Trump has declared his candidacy for president in the 2024 election aft3er losing the race against Joe Biden in 2020. Although going to trial would not interfere with Trump’s candidacy, it would be a heavy burden for the Republican Party with respect to primaries and nominating Trump as the party’s candidate. However, there are those who believe Trump could use a trial to position himself as a martyr and encourage his supporters in the presidential election next year.

On the other hand, in the Democratic Party has doubts about nominating Biden for a second term, given his age and health. Last November, Biden turned 80, becoming the oldest sitting president in recent U.S. history. It remains uncertain whether Trump and Biden will face each other again.

This week, it is anticipated that a judge will unseal the indictment and pronounce the specific charges against Trump. He will to appear before the court in Manhattan.* It is likely that Trump will not be taken into custody and given the right to post bail, but he will have to be officially fingerprinted and photographed.

Trump will seek to make the most of this situation and will surely rouse his followers to demonstrate against what he has called “high-level interference” to remove him from the upcoming elections. For the time being, it remains to be seen whether he still has their support or not.

*Editor’s Note: Some 34 felony charges against Trump were unsealed in court on April 5, 2023, and alleged that Trump falsified business records to conceal damaging information before the 2016 presidential election.