Trump's High

Former President Donald Trump may be a master of the art of the deal, but he may soon have to learn to master another art if he wants to become president again: how to be in two places at the same time.

Appearing in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday amid an ongoing criminal trial around alleged wrongdoing in his business practices, Trump's campaign team learned the candidate will be required to return to court for the formal start of his trial on March 25, 2024—a date that falls smack dab in the heat of a critical stage of the Republican primaries for president.

While crucial early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina will be long behind him, the March 25 start date—assuming other candidates are still competitive at that juncture—comes just two days after the scheduled date of the Louisiana primaries. But it also comes at a time at least 25 states will have already held their presidential primary contests, a date at which the election is traditionally already all but decided.

At this point in the race, that could very well be the case: Trump is by and large the frontrunner in most polls, showing him with a clear majority in the race both against the entire field as well as each of the individual candidates in a hypothetical head-to-head scenario.

If other candidates manage to surge in the polls, however, Trump could be in some trouble.

Trump's team will likely be preparing him for trial the same week he faces elections in critical Republican battlegrounds in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio—places with critical constituencies that will be essential to winning the electoral vote in the general election later that year.

And unlike a recent civil trial involving defamation allegations brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll—who claimed Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s—Trump will not be able to skip out on the proceedings.

In April, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict the former president on 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records, making him the first sitting or former U.S. president to face criminal charges in history. And while he was saved the indignity of handcuffs or a "perp walk," the arraignment was no different than any other person accused of similarly severe financial crimes.

While Trump appeared at Tuesday's hearing virtually, Justice Juan Merchan has a wide berth to compel him to be in court any time he sees fit or face arrest under the conditions of his arraignment earlier this year.

However, the prosecution themselves sought to compel Trump to testify virtually on Tuesday for fear he could use it to his political advantage and potentially violate the terms of a gag order imposed by the court to keep him from releasing confidential information around the case.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's campaign team via email for comment.