, the presumptive nominee for the November , is no stranger to the courtroom. In January 2024, a jury in ruled that he would have to , a decision that Trump is appealing. That was a civil case.
Now, Trump is about to become the first former US president ever to go on trial for criminal charges. The case, which will be , centers on whether he to protect his 2016 campaign for the White House.
It’s the first of . The other state case centers on alleged in the ; one to try to stay in power; and another charges that he when he left the White House, a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
Can Donald Trump still run for president if convicted?
Yes. No matter how any of these cases end, . The US Constitution sets only three eligibility requirements for persons wanting the job: They must be a natural born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years old, and have resided in the US for at least 14 years. Nowhere does it say that a convicted criminal cannot run for or become president.
“There are several arguments over whether a presidential candidate who is indicted or is involved in an ongoing legal case should still run for office,” Laura Merrifield Wilson, associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis, told DW in December 2023. “But those are based on morals, judgement, and preferences, not overt laws or procedural barriers.”
Could Trump be disqualified under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution?
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution states that people who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking an oath to support the Constitution are disqualified from holding “any office, civil or military, under the United States.”
Activists who want Trump disqualified under this clause say the then-president’s actions in the run-up to the constitue participation in an insurrection. They say his lies about how stole the election from him encouraged the right-wing mob that stormed the Capitol that day.
Attempts have been launched to have Trump removed from primary ballots in a number of states under this amendment, “which was originally used to prevent secessionists from returning to their government positions after the American Civil War,” explained former DW journalist Brandon Conradis, now a campaign editor with political news site The Hill.
But in March 2024, the , saying states do not have the authority to bar individuals from running for federal office.
The “responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress,” wrote the Supreme Court in the opinion that accompanied its verdict. The decision thus voided similar attempts in other states.
Since Congress is split, with Republicans holding the majority in the House of Representatives and Democrats having a one-seat majority in the Senate, it seems highly unlikely that Trump will be disqualified under the 14th Amendment.
Could Trump vote in the US election if convicted?
Probably not. Trump is registered to vote in Florida, where convicted felons are disenfranchised.
“Most felons in Florida regain voting rights after completing their full sentence, including parole or probation, and paying all fines and fees,” politics reporter Maggie Astor wrote in the New York Times.
But Trump’s parole would likely not be up in time for him to regain his right to vote. So, if convicted, Trump could still run for president, but not vote for himself.
But what happens if Trump actually has to go to prison?
No one knows.
“We’re so far removed from anything that’s ever happened,” Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law expert at the University of California, Berkeley, told the New York Times. “It’s just guessing.”
Legally, Trump would remain eligible to run, even from behind bars. But of course a president who’s elected while in prison would present a logistical challenge.
Journalist Astor speculated that “Trump could sue to be released on the basis that his imprisonment was preventing him from fulfilling his constitutional obligations as president.”
But again ― since nothing like this has ever happened in the course of US history, it is impossible to say how things might play out.
If elected, could Trump dismiss the cases against him or pardon himself?
In theory, Trump could commute his prison sentence and leave his conviction in place, or even try to fully pardon himself, but these would be extreme assertions of presidential power that would likely go before the Supreme Court (where conservative justices hold a 6-3 majority) to be vetted for their constitutionality. Alternatively, could pardon a victorious Trump on his way out the door so that the man elected by US voters could govern the country.
Such actions, however, would only apply to Trump’s federal cases, not the upcoming New York state hush money trial, nor the Georgia election interference case, as presidents do not have the power to grant pardons for state convictions.
Edited by: Jon Shelton
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