A federal judge in Florida on Friday refused to delay Donald Trump’s trial over classified documents, following a request from the former president’s premature defense lawyers to delay the date. But she pushed back other deadlines in the case and indicated she would return to the trial date later.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon means the trial will begin, at least for now, on May 20, despite efforts by the Trump team to delay it until after next November’s presidential election.

Trump’s lawyers had argued that they needed more time to review the large amount of evidence presented to them, and also cited scheduling issues arising from the other lawsuits against Trump, including three other criminal charges for which he is awaiting trial. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s team had strongly opposed this position by urging the judge to leave the trial date intact.

Cannon indicated at a hearing this month, and again in her written order Friday, that she was sympathetic to the defense’s arguments. She noted the unusually large amount of classified and unclassified evidence involved in the case, as well as the fact that Trump will face both a federal trial in Washington and a trial on state charges in New York in March.

While the Special Counsel is correct in saying that the trajectory of these cases may remain in flux, the schedules as they currently stand overlap significantly with the deadlines in this case, creating additional challenges in ensuring that Defendant Trump is adequately has time to prepare for the process and to assist in the process. his defense, Cannon wrote.

She postponed several deadlines for filing and responding to preliminary motions but kept the trial date intact, although she said she would reconsider the defense’s request at a scheduling conference in March.

The Florida case includes dozens of charges accusing the Republican former president of illegally keeping classified documents at his Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, and hiding them from government investigators. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Trump is currently scheduled to go on trial in Washington on March 4, 2024, on federal charges that he planned to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. He also faces charges in Georgia accusing him of trying to undermine the vote in those states, as well as another state case in New York accusing him of falsifying company records related to hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 elections.

In addition, Trump has been charged in a business fraud case in New York, where a trial is taking place. Trump has denied wrongdoing in all cases, claiming without evidence that they are part of a politically motivated effort to prevent him from returning to the White House.