Trump faces critical legal day in hush money trial and before the Supreme Court

For most people, sitting in court at their own criminal trial would represent a defining moment of their life.

But Donald Trump’s return to his hush money trial Thursday does not even represent the most critical courtroom drama of his day.

The ex-president’s attention is certain to stray from what he has repeatedly complained is a “freezing” court in New York to the neoclassical splendor of the US Supreme Court. Justices will be hearing oral arguments in his sweeping immunity case that could have profound implications for his legal fate and poses never-before-resolved questions about the powers of the presidency.

The double court date will represent yet another unfathomable twist in the saga of the presumptive Republican nominee who is again stretching America’s judicial and constitutional systems to their limits as he runs to reclaim the White House.