Former President Donald Trump wasted little time pivoting to the next big question before the U.S. Supreme Court, sending a message that he expects the nation’s high court to also agree with him that presidents require “total immunity.”
Trump made the comments from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday. After praising the court for its “unifying” decision in the 14th Amendment case, Trump turned his focus to the federal trial in Washington, D.C., in which he’s accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results.
SCOTUS said last week it would hear the case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit early last month ruled 3-0 against Trump’s immunity claim.
“I hope that the justices, because they’ll be working on some other cases, but one in particular, presidents have to be given totally immunity,” Trump said Monday, according to The Hill. “They have to be allowed to do their job. If they’re not allowed to do their job, it’s not what the founders wanted, but perhaps even more importantly it will be terrible for the country.”
The Court of Appeals ruled that Trump’s efforts were not connected to doing his job, rather they were focused on political efforts to remain in office. The court rejected “unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results.”
“If a president doesn’t have full immunity, you really don’t have a president,” Trump said. “They have to make decisions, and they have to make them free of all terror that can be rained upon them when they leave office.”
The Supreme Court said it would hear oral arguments the week of April 22, paving the way for a decision by the end of June at the latest.
The first of four criminal trials facing Trump is set to begin later this month with opening arguments in the hush money case in New York.
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