Most of the charges Trump faces relate to the “wilful retention” of classified material in violation of the Espionage Act, a national security law that has been used to target leakers of government secrets, which comes with a maximum 10-year jail term.

The documents were taken after Trump left the White House in 2021 and were stored in boxes all over his Mar-a-Lago resort, including “in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room”.

They included information relating to nuclear programs and military vulnerabilities, to intelligence that should have only been shared with key allies.

On a number of occasions, Trump also allegedly shared information with others, and then tried to obstruct federal authorities from retrieving the information, including by moving boxes out of a storage room; suggesting one of his lawyers hide or destroy documents; and causing another person to make false statements about whether all the classified documents had been produced.

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However, he insists that he had every right to take the documents, which he claimed contained “all types of personal belongings.”

“Many things. Shirts and shoes. They were full of newspapers, press clippings, thousands of pictures,” he said.

“I hadn’t had a chance to go through all the boxes. It’s a long, tedious job. Takes a long time, which I was prepared to do, but I have a very busy life.”

With 17 months until the next election, Trump remains the overwhelming frontrunner to win his party’s nomination, and is double digits ahead of his main rival, Ron DeSantis, in most polls. Other candidates – including former vice president Mike Pence; former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and US Senator Tim Scott – are still regarded as longshots.

But while many Republicans still stand by Trump, others started to shift their rhetoric in recent days as more details came to light.

“If he is convicted of these charges of mishandling this information, of knowingly concealing his actions, I certainly won’t support a convicted felon for the White House,” said Freedom Caucus Congressman Ken Buck, in a rare split from other conservative hardliners.

Trump’s former ambassador Nikki Haley, who was initially reluctant to criticise her former boss, said this week: “If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security.”

And New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, a moderate Republican, added on Tuesday: “This is not like the other indictments” – a reference to the state-based New York indictment over alleged hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

“It’s been said by other folks out there: if just half of the evidence that we’ve seen is true, it is absolutely damning,” he said.

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Trump’s lawyers are expected to file a motion to dismiss the case for a number of reasons, partly by invoking his claim that he declassified the documents and was therefore authorised to keep them.

If that doesn’t succeed, it is also widely expected that the president will seek to delay the case for as long as he can – but this in itself could end up creating a political crisis if he were to be convicted in the heat of a campaign, or if he happens to be elected president again.

Asked on Tuesday if Biden would consider pardoning Trump, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre replied: “no comment”, laughing slightly as she answered.

Others however, are already flagging the idea. Outside court in Miami on Tuesday, for instance, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – who is also seeking the Republican presidential nomination but is deemed a longshot – said he would pardon the former president if he won in 2024 and urged all other candidates to do the same.

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