Trump, a front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been indicted on four counts, including conspiring to defraud the U.S., obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiring to deprive voters of fair elections.

The 45-page indictment accuses Trump of an extensive, multi-state conspiracy based on repeated false claims of widespread fraud in Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory. According to prosecutors, Trump ignored advisers who said the election was not fraudulent and organised false slates of electors in states he lost.

The Trump campaign responded by accusing the Biden administration of political targeting, comparing the proceedings to tactics used in Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union.

Jack Smith, former chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, and now U.S. Special Counsel, filed the indictment. This is the third indictment this year for Trump, who is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges.

Despite these legal battles, public polls show Trump maintains a wide lead in the 2024 Republican presidential race. While the charges might strengthen his support among Republican voters, strategists suggest they could prove damaging among independent voters.

Meanwhile, Trump's chief rival for the Republican nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, pledged to end 'the weaponisation of the federal government', but declined to comment on the specifics of the indictment.