Why 2025 will bring a reckoning for the rule of law in America

By Adam O’Neal, Washington correspondent, The Economist

Countless policy consequences follow from Donald Trump’s victory. But the result is also deeply personal for the new president. The election was, in part, a referendum on Mr Trump’s guilt in numerous court cases against him (in May he had been found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records). The Department of Justice (DoJ) began winding down federal cases against him the day after his election, and it became clear that he would not face sentencing for his existing convictions. But the first year of Mr Trump’s second term will bring a reckoning for the rule of law in America.