Start of Donald Trump's 'tiger money' trial confirmed for March

The former president is accused of paying to keep quiet about his extra-matrimonial ties during his 2016 presidential campaign. A New York judge on Thursday ruled that Trump's legal fees trial will proceed as scheduled, with jury selection beginning March 25, despite requests from the president's former attorneys to delay the case. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan took advantage of the delay in a separate case against Trump, which was filed in Washington, D.C., over his attempts to influence the outcome of the 2020 election.

The former president is accused of trying to shut down news of extramatrimonial affairs that arose during his 2016 presidential campaign. The case involves payments to two women - porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal - as well as a Trump Tower doorman who claimed Trump had a child out of wedlock. Trump says he has not had sexual relations with any of these women.

Trump's lawyer at the time was Michael Cohen, who paid $130,000 (120,800 euros) to Daniels and arranged a $150,000 payment to McDougal through the publisher of the National Enquirer science fiction supermarket in a practice known as "trap and destroy." Trump's company then paid Cohen $420,000 and listed those payments as legal fees, not restitution, prosecutors claim.

“This is a blatant interference in the elections to say ‘you will sit in this hall in Manhattan,’” said attorney Todd Blanche.

For the first time in the history of the United States

While Trump has already faced several civil cases before and after his presidency, this trial will be the first instance in which a former U.S. president becomes a defendant in a criminal case. The trial in New York will be the first of four criminal trials that Trump will have to face before the elections in November. Other cases accuse him of attempting to overturn the 2020 federal elections, interfering with the results in Georgia, and unlawfully retaining classified documents at his estate in Florida.

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