Donald Trump shortly before being sworn in: Will he be allowed to do anything soon?

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” After Donald Trump publicly claimed this during the 2016 election campaign, the internet was abuzz. Comment columns overflowed and a flood of memes swept across social media. It was still there back then, the bewilderment at what was supposedly unspeakable.

It’s been a long time. Today, the outrage following such a statement would stem less from the fact that Trump is spewing such nonsense and more from the fact that it may not be nonsense at all. Because one term in office, 30,573 lies (the ), one storming of the Capitol and dozens of court appearances later, the question arises: Is Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th President of the USA in two weeks, still liable or already untouchable?

When thousands of modern torchbearers violently stormed the heart of Western democracy on January 6, 2021, the man in whose name they committed this crime, who had incited them to fight “like the devil,” did exactly that for hours: nothing. Five people lost their lives and the symbol of American democracy lost its dignity. Instead of being branded a traitor, at least to his own office, perhaps to his own country, Trump wallowed in the role of victim he had imagined.

Exactly four years later, with the official confirmation of his election victory, he celebrates “the most amazing political comeback in the history of the USA” and reminisces. On a “day of love,” as he calls the storming of the Capitol. On the first day of his second term in office, he promises the poster boys and girls of the attack absolution (). Self-absorbed. Because the indictment (including conspiracy) against him is ongoing at the federal level, Trump’s designated Attorney General Pam Bondi can and will simply drop it. “Is the law now for idiots?” asked the question.

Trump wanted to be re-elected not just to take revenge on his enemies, but to avoid dying behind bars. The 78-year-old has to answer for so many trials that at one point it seemed entirely realistic that he would spend the rest of his life in an orange jumpsuit. His return to the White House ends up being a “get out of jail free” card.

But it’s not just his new job that protects him from American blinders. In the summer, Trump’s Supreme Court, which had a majority of ultra-conservatives, retroactively issued the US President a blank check. The fear of the consequences of his actions could ultimately restrict the head of state, goes the crude reasoning.

He basically has nothing to fear from the outcome of the New York hush money trial, in which Trump has already been found guilty on 34 counts and from which he was unable to escape with the Supreme Court ruling. On Friday, Judge Juan Merchan will finally announce the sentence after being postponed twice. However, he has already stated that he wants to let the president-elect get away with it. That is “the most viable option”.

Now that his freedom is secured, what does he do with it?

Trump has become lazy. Not that he ever made much effort to install a filter between what he thought and what he said. But even before his big inauguration party on January 20th, he no longer even pretends to respect law and order. Even before the start of his second term, he is flirting with an illegal third term and is questioning the constitutional birthright to US citizenship. Constitutional lawyers are likely to despair in advance about what his alliance with troll king Elon Musk will bring about.

In his first run, Trump was still a bull in a china shop. On roller skates. Completely unprepared, surprised by his own triumph. Now, on his second attempt, he knows exactly what he can smash and who he can break. Trump will probably be the most powerful president in US history because he is no longer even threatened by a counter-wind from within his own ranks. The Republicans, who are superior in both chambers of parliament, the once proud Grand Old Party, have degenerated into a bunch of obsequious courtiers. The rare and if half-hearted resistance to Trump’s sometimes absurd cabinet nominations was deeply insightful. Likewise the fact that Trump, a non-sworn person, and his foster son Musk, a non-elected person, almost plunged the country into a budget crisis via tweet – because the representatives, in their eagerness to please the patriarch, stumbled over their own stance .

After all, the renowned magazine. “Sure, the law is not a magic wand that can save America – but it is not completely useless either,” writes author Quinta Jurecic. It remains to be seen whether that will be enough against You-Know-Who.