Former president Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate hosted by CNN with President Joe Biden on Jun 27, 2024, in Atlanta. BUSAN, South Korea: In the last few days, former United States president Donald Trump received a substantial boost to his efforts to return to the White House. On Jun 27, he debated sitting US President Joe Biden, whose performance was
The Trump immunity ruling potentially revolutionises the US president’s accountability before the law. The Court has stipulated that the president now has “absolute immunity” for “official acts” performed in his capacity as president. “Official acts” are left undefined, ensuring plenty of future litigation about what is and isn’t “official”.
This will likely activate widespread resistance, as it did in his first term. But this time the stakes will be higher and the conflict sharper. Protests and street violence seem likely. This has often been a problem in US foreign policy: Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and Trump were all too weak or hold to contain staff infighting and freelancing. This seems likely for Mr Biden too, as he would be 86 at the end of his second term.
Trump has signalled that he will retain loyalists who will not countermand him or try to contain him, if he secures a second term. Russia's President Vladimir Putin and then US president Donald Trump attend a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Jun 28, 2019.