A federal judge in Florida, US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, is contemplating the possibility of postponing former President Donald Trump's upcoming trial on charges related to hoarding classified documents and obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them. The trial, initially scheduled to begin on May 20, could potentially be delayed until after the 2024 election, as requested by Trump. This delay would allow him to exercise his presidential powers to possibly shut down the case if he were to win the election.

During a hearing on Wednesday in Fort Pierce, Judge Cannon expressed skepticism about the feasibility of adhering to the current schedule, considering the challenges faced thus far, particularly with sensitive documents related to the case. Cannon, appointed by Trump to the federal bench in 2020, did not immediately rule on the request for a postponement but indicated her inclination towards making "reasonable adjustments" to the schedule, such as setting new deadlines for pretrial filings.

While prosecutors urged the judge to keep the trial date unchanged, any delay in the pretrial proceedings could potentially ripple into postponing the trial itself. Cannon assured that she would establish a new timeline as soon as possible. However, she did not discuss the potential impact of Trump's candidacy on his legal proceedings or the intersection with other ongoing cases.

Trump is currently faced with multiple criminal and civil trials throughout the first half of 2024, as he simultaneously pursues the Republican presidential nomination. The charges in question in Florida are part of two criminal cases brought forth by special counsel Jack Smith. The first involves the hoarding of classified documents, while the second focuses on election subversion in Washington, D.C. If Trump were to return to the White House while these federal cases are still pending, he could potentially influence their outcomes by appointing an attorney general willing to drop the charges or attempting to pardon himself.

During Wednesday's hearing, Trump's legal team argued for a delay in the documents case, citing clashes with the federal election case that is set to go on trial on March 4 and potentially last for several months. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asserted that the indictment in the election case disrupted the schedule initially set by Judge Cannon. Another Trump lawyer, Chris Kise, joined the hearing via phone from a New York courthouse, where Trump is currently undergoing a civil trial against his business empire.

While one of Jack Smith's deputies urged Judge Cannon not to modify the trial date, highlighting the uncertainty of the D.C. trial's timeline, the judge expressed doubts about keeping two separate legal proceedings running concurrently without potential collisions.

Logistical matters also took precedence during Wednesday's court session. Prosecutors have already handed over more than a million pages of documents to the defense team. The intelligence community has implemented special protocols for handling the classified information allegedly stored by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, along with relevant records. Trump's attorneys accused the special counsel of delays in providing evidence, while Smith's team argued that Trump misrepresented their efforts to transport and safeguard the classified materials, partially causing the delays themselves.

Alongside the documents case and federal election-subversion case, Trump is also facing two other criminal cases, one in Georgia and another in New York. The Georgia case accuses Trump of election subversion, while the New York case relates to alleged hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. As president, Trump would not have the authority to interfere with these state-court prosecutions.