Trump's March 25 trial date in Manhattan pushes the election interference case back to May at the earliest

Judge Juan M. Merchan's decision to start former President Donald J. Trump's hush-money trial in Manhattan next month opens the possibility that Trump's federal trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election could be delayed could take place in spring or early summer.

But the scheduling of the election interference case, which is taking place in Washington, is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. The justices will soon have to decide whether — and how soon — they will hear Trump's arguments about dismissing the underlying charges with a sweeping claim of executive immunity.

The election process in Washington was initially scheduled to begin on March 4. But the judge who oversaw it, Tanya S. Chutkan, recently scrapped that date as Trump continued his immunity claims.

Judge Merchan set the hush money trial for March 25 in Manhattan, noting Thursday that the trial could last about six weeks. He also said he had spoken with Judge Chutkan about the timing of their cases, stating almost certainly that the Washington case would not go to trial until May at the earliest.

If the Supreme Court quickly decides to ignore the hearing on Trump's immunity appeal, it is theoretically possible that the election interference case could go before a jury in late May. But if the court chooses to hear the challenge, even if it moves quickly to resolve it, the case is more likely to go to trial sometime this summer.

However, there is one option that won't see the case go to trial until after the election, and that is if the Supreme Court decides to hear Mr. Trump's immunity appeal but takes its time to rule.