The chosen trial date, set by Aileen Cannon, a US district judge for the Southern District of Florida, comes as a compromise between the prosecutors' request to begin the trial in December and the defense lawyers' bid to postpone it until after the 2024 presidential election.

If the May 20 date remains unchanged, the trial will follow a separate New York trial for Trump on numerous state charges related to falsifying business records concerning an alleged hush money payment to a porn actor. Furthermore, the trial will likely take place well into the presidential nominating calendar and before the Republican National Convention officially nominates the party's candidate.

Judge Cannon pushed back the trial from the December 11 start date that the Justice Department had proposed. She explained that the government's suggested schedule was unusually accelerated and could compromise the fairness of the trial. Agreeing with the defense lawyers, she acknowledged that a significant amount of evidence, including classified information, needed to be thoroughly examined before the trial, and this process would likely increase as the trial date approached.

Considering the extensive evidence and complex nature of the case, Judge Cannon ruled that the interests of justice would be better served by granting the continuance, outweighing the public and defendants' interests in a speedy trial.

In 2021, the Justice Department charged former President Donald Trump with unlawfully retaining hundreds of classified documents after he left office. The documents were found in a number of locations, including Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The charges against Trump carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges. (ILKHA)