Before Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court had never ruled on whether former presidents have criminal immunity.

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The Court had only addressed civil immunity (Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 1982) and subpoenas (Clinton v. Jones, 1997; United States v. Nixon, 1974). In Nixon, the Court said, "the President, like everyone else, is subject to the law"—directly contradicting the immunity ruling. For 234 years, the legal consensus was that presidents could be criminally charged after leaving office; the Founders even discussed this at the Constitutional Convention. The Court invented immunity without historical support.

Before Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court had never ruled on whether former presidents have criminal immunity.

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