On March 30th, a historic and controversial event occurred in the US. The Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump. The indictment of Trump was due to his major involvement in covering up hush money to actress Stormy Daniels in order to save his 2016 presidential election campaign. The Manhattan Grand jury charged Trump with 34 felony counts. 

Trump responded by pleading not guilty to all charges. If Trump is found guilty of all 34 felonies, he could be sentenced to a striking 136 years in prison. The crime Trump committed specifically was falsifying business records to cover up three payments. These payment records consisted of $130,000 that Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid to Stormy Daniels. No president in America’s history has ever been through anything like this. Despite many believing it’s an embarrassment for our nation that a former president might be arrested, Trump has used the charges as a strategy to win the next election, he is using this controversy as part of his presidential campaign. 

Trump’s indictment has split the nation more than it already has been. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has stated that he “will not assist in an extradition request.” Despite DeSantis being a Republican rival in the next primary, as they stand as the top two candidates, DeSantis has protected Trump since the indictment started.  He has publicly stated that he will always strongly stand for what he believes in for the US, without political rivalry influencing him. 

Even though Trump has been seen by many as indestructible, he seems to always be facing backlash for his words and actions. The indictment isn’t the only thing on his plate. An additional investigation that could bring charges against Trump is a probe by a pair of U.S. Justice Department investigators from Georgia about his actions involving inciting the events on Jan. 6.

Despite many across the country believing a president cannot be arrested,  the University of Washington political science professor James D. Long tells Morning Edition that not only is it possible but that this is something that should have happened long before now. He states: “A president has faced arrest before Trump for carriage speeding, 150 years ago. We’ve allowed a lot of bad behavior and looked the other way with presidents and previous administrations, and I think now this really is the first time that it appears a president, or former president, may be held to account for actions that they did before, during, or after, being in office.” Former President Donald Trump is the first U.S. president to face criminal charges, but it is not the first charges Trump himself has faced. Trump has survived a lot prior to his indictment and could very easily get out of this alive and possibly even be elected again as the next president of the United States.