Judge in Trump classified documents case tells prosecutors that a mid-December trial date would be too soon

US District Judge Aileen Cannon signaled she is likely to push back the start of a trial in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case beyond the mid-December date proposed by federal prosecutors - but appeared deeply skeptical of arguments from Donald Trump's lawyers that he couldn't get a fair trial while running for president.

During the hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, Cannon told the prosecutors that their timeline was "compressed" and said that cases like this take more time.

Cannon did not decide on a trial date but said she plans to "promptly" issue an order on the matter.

Special counsel Jack Smith's team and lawyers for Trump appeared Tuesday for the first time in front of Cannon, who will preside over the criminal case Smith has brought against the former president.

The judge also pressed the Trump legal team to commit to a timeline for at least some of the steps in the pre-trial process. The defense attorneys told Cannon that they believed they would be able to review enough discovery by November to be able to suggest a potential trial date.

An attorney for Trump claimed that the public viewed the special documents case as a top 2024 contender and the administration of his chief political rival "squaring off" in the courtroom - prompting aggressive push back from a lawyer for the special counsel.

"The government says the claim is flat out false," said prosecutor David Harbach, who pointed to the appointment of the special counsel and how that removed the potential for "political influence."