This understanding of the law as a form of politics is manifest in Mr Trump’s legal appointments—together they resemble a personal-defence bar. Pam Bondi, his nominee for attorney-general, represented him during his first impeachment trial in Congress.

Trump’s election was a death knell for the two federal criminal cases against him, as Smith asked the court to dismiss the two cases against Trump in light of his pending inauguration, and Trump’s criminal case in Georgia is expected to be postponed until at least 2029 — leaving Trump’s New York conviction as the only charges against him that have been holding up,