Emperor Trump? Supreme Court Just Expanded the Imperial Presidency

In a sweeping decision that constitutionalizes the modern reality of the imperial presidency, the US Supreme Court has established near-total criminal immunity for Donald Trump’s official acts while he was president. It’s an outcome that would have astonished the nation’s founders, who feared precisely that if the chief executive amassed too much power, the republic would turn into an empire.

The conservative majority in the 6-3 decision left a little bit of room to prosecute Trump for unofficial or private acts committed while in office. But it defined such acts narrowly and said lower courts...