No, the Supreme Court has not turned Trump into a king

The US Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump and other former presidents are immune from prosecution for alleged crimes committed as part of their official duties as president. Delivered on Monday this week, the ruling has dealt a near fatal blow to the attempt to prosecute Trump for trying to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.

As the court put it, a president cannot be prosecuted for things he did as part of his role as president, and no evidence that relates to his role can be used in any trial against him.

This ruling has stripped away key parts of the case against Trump over his alleged attempts at ‘election obstruction’, including any involvement in the ‘January 6’ riots. In particular, Trump’s attempts to pressure Justice Department officials to open investigations into electoral fraud – which included threats to fire the then attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, and the then acting deputy attorney general, Richard Donoghue – are now immune from prosecution, because overseeing the Justice Department is a core function of the president.

Likewise, the allegations that Trump pressured his vice-president, Mike Pence, to reject electoral votes for Joe Biden in Congress on 6 January 2021 are no longer viable. That’s because discussions about vice-presidential responsibilities are also part of the role of president.

Prosecuting Trump for electoral subversion now looks very difficult.

The ruling could also spell the end of other cases against him. It has already delayed Trump’s sentencing in the Stormy Daniels ‘hush money’ case until September, because evidence that went before the jury relates to Trump’s time in office. The sentencing judge in that case has said he will only sentence Trump ‘if [it] is still necessary’.

The Supreme Court’s decision has sent many in the Democratic Party into meltdown. President Joe Biden said the court’s decision undermined the rule of law and did Americans a ‘terrible disservice’. He said that there were now ‘virtually no limits on what a president may do’. The largely anti-Trump media have reacted in similarly hysterical fashion, claiming that the ruling has turned the ‘president into a king’. ‘This is an emergency’, declared the Guardian.

The anti-Trumpers’ reaction is over-the-top and completely misleading. The Supreme Court simply extended an immunity already enjoyed by members of Congress when exercising their legislative duties to presidents when exercising their executive duties. Presidents will not suddenly stand ‘above the law’, they will remain liable for actions unrelated to their office. Plus, far from creating a quasi-monarchy out of the office of president, the Supreme Court ruling is actually a good thing for American democracy.

In short, the court found that the US Constitution granted significant protection to the office of president so as to ensure that decisions could be taken efficiently. The court described how the framers of the constitution had ‘designed the presidency to provide for a “vigorous” and “energetic” executive’. It warned that the risk of being prosecuted for actions taken while performing presidential duties could have a chilling effect, and prevent the president ‘from taking the “bold and unhesitating action” required of an independent executive’. In other words, to prosecute Trump for actions undertaken in his capacity as president would inhibit the ability to act of all future presidents. The threat of prosecution would loom over them as they executed the functions of their office.

In many ways, Trump’s detractors are more dangerous than Trump himself. They are so desperate to see him prosecuted that they fail to consider the consequences of their crusade, and the negative impact it could have on the American legal system and the offices of state.

The reaction to the Supreme Court ruling also highlights the hypocrisy of the Democrats. Every time Trump has criticised the attempts to prosecute him over recent months and years, Democrats have castigated him as a threat to the rule of law. But now that the Supreme Court ruling has gone against them, they are only too happy to call the independence of the judiciary into question and challenge the rule of law.

Anyone who believes in democracy should hope that this decision marks the end of the lawfare against Donald Trump. The succession of lawsuits against him have been brought by those who are too scared to fight him at the ballot box. It’s right that he is judged for his actions as president. But this judgement must come from voters, not judges and juries.

Luke Gittos is a spiked columnist and author. His most recent book is Human Rights – Illusory Freedom: Why We Should Repeal the Human Rights Act, which is published by Zero Books. Order it here.