The President has survived one impeachment, twenty-six accusations of sexual misconduct, and an estimated four thousand lawsuits. That run of good luck may well end, perhaps brutally, if Joe Biden wins.

No American President has ever been charged with a criminal offence. But, as Donald Trumpfights to hold on to the White House, he and those around him surely know that if he losesan outcome that nobody should count onthe presumption of immunity that attends the Presidency will vanish. Given that more than a dozen investigations and civil suits involving Trump are currently under way, he could be looking at an endgame even more perilous than the one confronted by Nixon. The Presidential historian Michael Beschloss said of Trump, If he loses, you have a situation thats not dissimilar to that of Nixon when he resigned. Nixon spoke of the cell door clanging shut. Trump has famously survived one impeachment, two divorces, six bankruptcies, twenty-six accusations of sexual misconduct, and an estimated four thousand lawsuits. Few people have evaded consequences more cunningly. That run of good luck may well end, perhaps brutally, if he loses toJoe Biden. Even if Trump wins, grave legal and financial threats will loom over his second term.

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Jane Mayer

Jane Mayer has been a staff writer at _The New Yorker_since 1995. The magazines chief Washington correspondent, she covers politics, culture, and national security.