to pick candidates for the 2024 presidential election. mr trump has since said in a social media post that he ll appeal the trial start date though legal experts say such appeals are not usually successful. our correspondent in washington sean dilley sent this update. trump s legal team had hoped to push this trial back until april 2026. whereas the prosecution said that they were ready to start in january next year. both dates were unacceptable to the judge who said that seven months would be the appropriate time. the defendant was entitled for a reasonable time to prepare but that is not unlimited. the trial has been set for the 4th of march. it s always possible that with any trial that could slip for some reason but for the moment, that will be set for the day before super tuesday when various huge states, including california, go to the polls to vote for their favourite candidate