The Trump Trials

The Trump trials have been flooding the news for months, grabbing the attention of countless people across the nation. Following the events of his unstable presidency, all of the trials address different actions of misconduct by Trump during his presidency such as a potential abuse of power to incitement of insurrection. By looking at past trials of different presidents, we can learn more about the Trump trials and why certain things are happening in them.

Why Trump Is Being Put On Trial

First, it is important to look into the reasons why Trump is getting put on trial. Since 2020, the former president has received four indictments, gaining a total of 91 criminal counts, and becoming the first former president to be indicted. In these trials, Trump has been accused of attempting to rig the 2020 election, attempting to interfere with the transfer of presidency to current president Joe Biden which ultimately lead to the attack on the capitol during January 6, 2021, keeping classified documents past his presidency and storing them for later use, and most recently Trump is being investigated for allegedly buying the silence of Stephanie Clifford about an alleged affair with her and then portraying the expenses to his lawyer as legal expenses. To all four of these charges Trump has pleaded not guilty, but many news stations have been trying to alienate him and make him seem guilty leading to public opinion of the former president deteriorating(DiPietro). To better understand how we ended up at this point, it is also important to understand how Trump made himself appeal before and during his presidency, along with how others were treated during their past impeachments.

Views On Trump Before Trials

Before he announced that he was running for president, Trump was mainly known as a businessman and as a television personality. As a result of this, some people looked onto Trump as a sign of business success, while others criticized his business practices and ethics. His critics mainly pointed to his numerous bankruptcies and legal battles, which still gets brought up today as evidence to further ruin his image. And as Trump entered his presidency, his supporters became much more supportive while his haters became much more against him.(Waterhouse) But the overall public opinion of Trump decreased as a result of his presidency as going into 2017 45% of people said that they agreed with the way Trump conducts business and 47% of people said that they disagreed, but however going into 2021 a much smaller 34% of people said they agreed with the way Trump does business and a much larger 62% of people say they disagreed.(Gallup)

Former Presidents Who Have Been Put On Impeachment Trials

Also, when looking at former presidents such as Andrew Jackson and Bill Clinton and the reasons why they were put on trial along with the public opinion of them after, we can also understand more how this Trump situation is playing out. Starting with Andrew Jackson, he was impeached for removing the Secretary of War from office without senate approval. Similar to Trump, Jackson had a very mixed public opinion, with some looking onto him as a hero while others heavily questioning the ethics of his decisions. Overall, when Jackson ended up making a mistake, all of his haters finally got the solid evidence to turn everyone against him, leading to Jackson getting impeached, similar to how Trump is getting turned on by a mixed crowd.(VOA Learning) In the case of Bill Clinton, he was impeached due to his abuse of power when trying to cover up his affair while in office. Similar to Trump, Clinton had many people who opposed him, mainly Republicans, who were able to take this incident and turn it into Clinton getting removed from office.(Wolf) This trial revealed the impact that public opinion can have on the outcome of an impeachment trial, which explains why people are trying to ruin the public opinion of Trump in the current day, as this can help the impeachment trials end up proving him guilty.

What To Take Away

Overall, by looking at Trump’s history, and comparing it with the outcomes of past presidential impeachments, we can better understand the tactics that are being employed in the Trump trials and can help us learn about the mistakes of the past. Because of public opinion, usually stemming from controversy before or during a person’s presidency, a president can get turned on and impeached out of office due to certain mistakes. Also, as seen in Clinton’s trial, an abuse of power can also give a person a bad reputation with the American citizens. This explains why Trump is being pressured in the way that he is, as he followed a similar trajectory to past failed presidents, and has angered enough people to lead to his punishment. While these past trials don’t offer up a solution exactly, they serve as a warning that can come from poor ethics or abuse of power when in a position as influential as being president.

Works Cited

DiPietro, Jonathon, Robert Cadenasso, and John Baum.

“Former US President Indicted.” (2023).

Waterhouse, Benjamin C., Benjamin C. Waterhouse                    Associate Professor of History University of North Carolina, Benjamin C. Waterhouse, and Associate Professor of History University of North Carolina. “Donald Trump: Life before the Presidency.” Miller Center, January 3, 2024. https://millercenter.org/president/trump/life-presidency.

Gallup. “Presidential Approval Ratings — Donald Trump.” Gallup.com, March 6, 2024. https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx#:~:text=Americans’%20approval%20of%20the%20job,during%20his%20presidency%20was%2041%25.

English, VOA Learning. “Andrew Jackson: Loved/Hated.” Voice of America, April 8, 2023. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/americas-presidents-andrew-jackson/3787327.html.

Wolf, Zachary B. “Why Was Bill Clinton Impeached? | CNN Politics.” CNN, December 17, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/17/politics/bill-clinton-impeachment-explained/index.html.

“Artii.S4.4.8 President Bill Clinton and Impeachable Offenses.” Constitution Annotated. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S4-4-8/ALDE_00000696/.

Quinn, Melissa, and Graham Kates. “Trump’s 4 Indictments in Detail: A Quick-Look Guide to Charges, Trial Dates and Key Players for Each Case.” CBS News, May 9, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-indictments-details-guide-charges-trial-dates-people-case/.

Table Showing Public Opinion Of Clinton Trial. Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, January 18, 1999. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/1999/01/18/senate-trial-little-viewership-little-impact/.

Gallup. Donald Trump’s Job Approval Ratings Trend. Gallup. Gallup Inc, 2024. https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx#:~:text=Americans’%20approval%20of%20the%20job,during%20his%20presidency%20was%2041%25.