Back on the trail: Donald Trump resumes campaigning in South Dakota and Iowa after his fourth indictment
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail this weekend, beginning political life while facing four criminal trials but nevertheless remaining the Republican presidential frontrunner for 2024.
“They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom,” Trump told South Dakota Republicans in kicking off a weekend of campaigning that includes a stop in Iowa. “This battle is for all of us, and for history.”
On Friday night, nearly four weeks after an Atlanta grand jury indicted him on charges of trying to steal the 2020 election, Trump will appear at a "Monumental Leaders Rally" sponsored by the South Dakota Republican Party in Rapid City.
On Saturday, Trump returns to Iowa, where Jan. 15 caucuses begin the Republican presidential nomination process; Trump and some of his GOP rivals plan to attend the Iowa-Iowa State football game.
While Trump holds huge leads in national and state polls, he must begin to figure out how to run a presidential campaign in 2024 while preparing for as many as seven criminal and civil trials throughout the election year.
A Noem endorsement
The South Dakota event saw a formal endorsement of Trump by Kristi Noem, the state's governor and a possible vice presidential nominee.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Noem said "I do feel pretty confident that President Trump will be the Republican nominee for president." She said Republican primary rivals "may be good people, but their record isn’t...as impressive."
Trump remains the front-runner
Despite the indictments, Trump has built a huge lead over his GOP opponents, in national polls and in statewide surveys in the early contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Some opponents will also attend the Iowa-Iowa State game, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
"We are working from the bottom up to compete in all 99 of Iowa's counties," DeSantis said in a local media interview.
Most of the Republican candidates have been loathe to criticize Trump over the various criminal charges. An exception has been former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who argues that Trump's legal problems will render him unable to win a general election against President Joe Biden.
"He’s going to be sitting in a courtroom in March and April next year," Christie said on the X social media site. "Whether you agree or not with the charges, his conduct is reprehensible."
The trials of Trump
Trump has not made an overt public campaign appearance since dropping into the Iowa State Fair on Aug.12.
Two nights later, an Atlanta grand jury returned racketeering charges against Trump and 18 co-defendants, accusing them of illegally trying to overturn his election loss to Biden in Georgia.
The next week, Trump flew to Atlanta to be processed and have his mug shot taken.
Along the way, Trump has campaigned on social media and in media interviews. He has also hosted private events, including a Thursday fundraiser for the legal bills racked up by his former attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
A crowded schedule of trials
Trump also faces federal election theft charges handed down by a grand jury in Washington, D.C.
The judge in that case has scheduled a trial for March 4, the day before a "Super Tuesday" slate of primaries in more than a dozen states. Trump's attorneys are seeking to delay that trial, and others.
Trump has a March 25 trial date in New York City, where a state grand jury indicted him on charges related to hush money payments.
There is also a May 20 trial date in Florida on federal charges alleging obstruction of justice in the handling of classified information.
Scheduling for the Atlanta case is in process. Some defendants want an early trial and some want to move the case to federal court, while Trump will likely seek to delay everything until after Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024.
Civil trials
The former president is also dealing with civil lawsuits, though he does not have to be present in court for any of those proceedings.
One civil trial is set for Oct. 2. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit accusing Trump, members of his family, and his business of inflating their assets by billions of dollars.
Trump also faces a damages trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll over a sexual assault during the 1990s.
That trial is scheduled for Jan. 15 - the same day as the Iowa caucuses.