Trump's trial is about more than sex and money. It's about what presidents 'can get away with'

The trial also raises the matter of Trump's business and political personas — few American presidents in history have been so publicly intertwined with their wealth.

The recent merger of Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, with Digital World Acquisition Corp. was valued at $8 billion. But its stock price quickly fell, losing about 50% of its value in a matter of weeks after news that Trump Media reported losses of $58 million in 2023. It was an indication that the hype around the deal was colliding with business and market realities. The question is how long investors will ride with a struggling Trump brand if his upcoming trials nick away at his political popularity.

Trump has taken to hawking "Victory47" cologne for $99 and "Never Surrender High-Tops" for $399. He has been incensed that his money — and tens of millions of dollars from donors — has gone to legal costs.

"I had to pay New York State in order to appeal a corrupt decision by a biased, crooked and highly overturned judge. It's supposed to be the other way around — you appeal before you pay," he recently posted on Truth Social. "Is a crooked New York Judge allowed to make you pay for the 'privilege' of appealing a wrongful & corrupt decision??? NOT IN AMERICA!!!"

Trump and his outrageousness are built for the voyeurism of our times, but Merchan did not allow video cameras inside the courtroom during the arraignment leading to the trial.

"In an odd sort of way," said Thompson, "there's something so 19th century about this story in its baroque complexity but also, in the age of instantaneous social media, we get the court appearances in pastels and watercolors of sketch artists."

Three U.S. presidents have been impeached — Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Trump — but none has ever before sat at a criminal defendant's table. In 1974, then-President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon from indictment for "crimes he committed or may have committed" in the Watergate scandal that divided and bruised the nation. If Nixon were put on trial, Ford said, "the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost."

America is not tranquil now, and Trump faces four criminal trials. He has portrayed himself as a man persecuted by an unjust and evil government. He has told his followers — including elected officials in Congress and those on county commissions and town councils, that he is both martyr and savior: "They want to take away my freedom," he said at one rally, "because I will never let them take away your freedom."

"There's a messianic quality to all of it," Howell said. "When you think about Trump's legacy, it's about his ability in incredibly short order to entirely remake the Republican Party. That is an extraordinary thing that many politicians have tried but he succeeded at."

"This isn't going away," Howell continued. "There are legions of folk who are ready to carry the mantle forward."