Donald Trump

Donald Trump is to surrender on racketeering charges at a Georgia jail on Thursday, setting the stage for a fourth criminal trial next year as he campaigns to recapture the White House.

The 77-year-old former president will be arrested at Atlanta's notorious Fulton County Jail, accused of conspiring with 18 co-defendants to try to overturn the 2020 election result in the key southern state.

The booking of the billionaire real estate tycoon, which may feature a mugshot for the first time, comes just hours after he spurned a primary debate featuring eight of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Trump may have been absent from the stage of the televised debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but he still stole the spotlight and was the focus of questions posed to the candidates seeking to be the Republican standard-bearer next year.

A television journalist reports from outside the Lewis R. Slaton courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday. AFP

Asked if they would support Trump as the party's nominee even if he were convicted in one of the four criminal cases he is facing, every candidate raised their hand except former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

Instead of the debate, Trump opted for an interview with Tucker Carlson, a conservative former Fox News talk show host.

During the rambling pre-recorded interview, which aired on X, formerly known as Twitter, at the same time as the debate, Trump said it did not make sense for him to take part while he was leading his rivals by "50 to 60 points" in the polls.

"Do I sit there for an hour or two hours, whatever it's going to be, and get harassed by people that shouldn't even be running for president?" he said.

Trump dismissed the four criminal indictments filed against him as "nonsense" and said the Justice Department had been "weaponized" under Democratic President Joe Biden to hamstring his White House bid.

Agence France-Presse