Donald Trump buoyed by supreme court’s recent moves

Donald Trump has been jubilant over the US supreme court’s decision to consider his presidential immunity claim in the federal election interference case in Washington, especially as he has been told by his team that it could mean there might not be a verdict before the 2024 election, people close to him said.

The former US president has hoped for months that the trial itself might not occur before November, after his lawyers managed to put the case on hold and scored an extended delay while his immunity appeal worked its way through the US court of appeals for the DC circuit.

But Trump was buoyed last week by the supreme court’s move on Wednesday – he has raised it repeatedly every day since – after his lawyers suggested even if the trial does occur before the 2024 election, a jury might not return a verdict before voters decide whether to give him a second term.

The Trump campaign has long been tracking how a conviction in the four criminal cases Trump faces – the New York hush-money case, the Florida classified documents case, the Washington election case and the Georgia election case – might play with undecided voters.

The fact that there might not be a verdict in the case brought by the special counsel Jack Smith is potentially significant for his electoral prospects because internal and public polling has indicated a conviction in any of his criminal trials could be fatal for his campaign.

In a recent Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll of seven critical swing states, for instance, as many as half of voters said they would be very unwilling or somewhat unwilling to vote for Trump if he was convicted in any one of the criminal cases.

But while the Trump campaign has long been confident that they will be effective in