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Miami, Florida: Donald Trump stared down one of the most damning days of his political career with the kind of bravado and bluster he’s shown for years.

He waved to fans who stood for hours in Miami’s searing heat hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite president as he left court.

Donald Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster after his court appearance.Credit: AP

He made a pit stop at the iconic Cuban restaurant Versailles where he offered to buy food for everyone and posed for photos with adoring customers.

And he ended the day with a feisty speech and a fundraising blitz, portraying himself as a victim of political persecution by a corrupt administration.

“This is called election interference and yet another attempt to rig and steal a presidential election,” he said, of the Justice Department’s indictment against him over his handling of classified documents. “They ought to drop this case immediately because they’re destroying the country.”

But Trump’s showmanship belies the significance of what played out on the 13 floor of the Southern District Court of Florida shortly after 3pm today.

Anti-Trump protester Domenic Santana, dressed as an inmate and towing a fake ball and chain, is arrested after throwing himself in front of the former president’s car.Credit: AP

Never before has a former US president been charged with a federal crime, let alone a former US president who is currently the overwhelming frontrunner to run as the Republican candidate in the 2024 election.

After years of skirting accountability and shattering norms, Trump now faces a legal reckoning that could end up in an explosive trial and potential jail time. As his own former attorney-general Bill Barr said this week: “If even half of it is true, then he’s toast.”

Trump’s strategy, unsurprisingly, is to derail the case, knowing that the clock is ticking.

His best hope is to push things out to the next election or beyond because if he wins, he can pardon himself; if he doesn’t, he’ll hope someone might do so for him.

To that end, Trump’s lawyers are expected to file a motion to dismiss the case, and if that doesn’t work, expect them to use the delay tools at their disposal: haggling over legal process; fighting over documents provided in discovery; seeking to see classified material that requires clearance.

Trump also lucked out by drawing Judge Aileen Cannon, who he appointed to the bench when he was president.

After all, it’s Cannon’s job to set the pace and guidelines for how the proceedings will unfold, but critics aren’t convinced she’ll expedite the process – particularly after she issued a ruling last year that initially slowed the FBI review of the classified documents.

And the former president also has something else in his favour: one single juror and the concept of reasonable doubt.

Donald Trump speaks as he visits Versailles restaurant after his court appearance. Credit: AP

As damning as the indictment may be, Special Counsel Jack Smith would still have to convince 12 people that the former president not only took classified documents but then showed them to others, moved them around, and deliberately obstructed the attempts to retrieve them.

The fact that the jury would be drawn from Trump’s home state of Florida, a once Democratic stronghold that now leans Republican, makes Smith’s challenge all the harder.

As for Trump’s expected defence? In the court of law, he will argue that he had presidential authority to take the documents from the White House under the Presidential Records Act. And in the court of public opinion, he will claim that he’s the victim of selective prosecution and a two-tiered justice system that favours Democrats over Republicans.

After becoming the first former US president to face federal charges over national security, Trump is now making his legal issues central to his campaign for another shot at the White House. It’s quite a strategy.

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