Trump’s Not Just Testing the Law. He’s Testing Us.
The former president has challenged our political, academic and civic institutions, and now it’s the justice system's turn.
How communities and institutions respond to the former president's malice will say as much about the nation as it does about him.
Photographer: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump is likely to be arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday on criminal fraud charges. He’s a former president, so he may be granted considerations average defendants don’t receive — meaning he may not be handcuffed and perp-walked in front of the media, for example.
Nonetheless, a man addicted to public attention and praise will face a very public humiliation. Do not expect him to go gently, of course. Trump has spent decades weaponizing the legal system against competitors, partners, the government and critics while avoiding lasting accountability in court himself. Even if he slogs through the tarpit of prosecutions and investigations now engulfing him, that air of invincibility has been pierced. He has been indicted.