# Will Trump see prison? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 9, 2019, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255 "2019-04-09T02:13:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/21 "2019-04-09T14:47:31Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > > > And I predict that once he is out of office and can do no more harm, the desire to keep after him will fade away. The left will move on to the current Republican who presents a threat. > > Prosecuting Trump wouldn’t be a partisan issue undertaken by Democrats, it would be about upholding the rule of law, and be undertaken by the Department of Justice. The left wants to see Trump out of power, and once he is they won’t care what he’s doing. But that will be poor consolation to Trump, because it’s the law-and-order types who want to prosecute him and put him away. I expect that once we have a new president (of any party) the political powers will be pressuring the justice system to drop charges. They’ll want to remove the distraction (if on the left) or the embarrassment (if on the right). But the justice system will retain enough independence to continue prosecuting Trump because his criminality offends law-and-order types at a fundamental level. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/22 "2019-04-09T15:19:58Z")
He’s made it this far in life without being prosecuted, why should the future be any different? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/23 "2019-04-09T15:30:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I hated W but not for one instant did I ever think him to be a criminal. He made boneheaded decisions- getting into Iraq and his disastrous tax cuts- that I think damaged the US and continues to do so. But he didn’t do so out of malice, he simply made the wrong decisions. You’re going to make wrong decisions if you’ve decided way in advance what your decision will be, and no evidence, no argument, is going to talk you out of it. I agree that Dubya didn’t go to war in Iraq out of malice, just out of the careless disregard of what consequences might befall others that infects those who’ve never really suffered any themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/24 "2019-04-09T16:33:39Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I remember the burning hatred people had for George W. Bush - until about the day he was out of power. Then he was forgotten quite quickly. Well, a big part of that was that after he left office, Bush basically disappeared from public. He went to the ranch to clear brush and paint his dogs, and mostly just came out for the occasional “All living ex-presidents” photo op. I don’t see Trump being that low-key after he leaves office, particularly if he leaves because he lost the election in 2020. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/25 "2019-04-09T16:54:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The notion that Democrats hate Donald because of his party or that we’ll move on to hate the next Republican as soon as he is gone is completely detached from reality. I hated W but not for one instant did I ever think him to be a criminal. He made boneheaded decisions- getting into Iraq and his disastrous tax cuts- that I think damaged the US and continues to do so. But he didn’t do so out of malice, he simply made the wrong decisions. > > Contrast W to Donald: DJT is first and foremost a complete monster. He’s a proven racist, a confessed sexual predator, a serial liar, and someone with no respect for the law. He is a criminal. Criminals belong in jail. To think I hate him because of the (R) next to his name is completely wrong and insulting. Plus, W wasn’t mentally ill or suffering from dementia. Thump is both. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/26 "2019-04-09T17:12:18Z")
I don’t think that Trump or his family will see any prosecution for anything they have done prior to Trump leaving office. The first thing an incoming president is going to need to do is to do their best to bring the country back from Trump’s with partisan authoritarianism and work towards becoming a United States again. While sending Trump to do hard time in the slammer might have cathartic benefits, even if justifiable, it would still reek of the sort of abuse of power that Trump would do. So unless Trump screws up so much that even the majority of Republicans recognize him as a pariah nothing is going to happen to him. On the other hand, the Trump family was criminals long before the Trump presidency, and I see no reason why they would stop being criminals long after. So I could imagine some years down the road after Trump has descended into obsolescence, their being prosecuted for new crimes they committed after Trump leaves office. But given his age this is more of an issue for Kushner and Trump progeny than for the man himself. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/27 "2019-04-09T17:18:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, a big part of that was that after he left office, Bush basically disappeared from public. Also, Obama wanted to “look forward, not back” so there was never any official reckoning of all the malfeasance of the Bush Jr. Administration. > [@](#): > > He went to the ranch to clear brush and paint his dogs Actually, he and Laura [bought a home in Dallas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_Chapel_Ranch) when he left office. Seems the ranch was basically a campaign prop (Bush bought it in 1999). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/28 "2019-04-09T17:22:07Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > The first thing an incoming president is going to need to do is to do their best to bring the country back from Trump’s with partisan authoritarianism and work towards becoming a United States again. Obama tried that, and if he couldn’t pull it off, I’ll be damned if I know who could. > [@](#): > > While sending Trump to do hard time in the slammer might have cathartic benefits, even if justifiable, it would still reek of the sort of abuse of power that Trump would do. If he has committed crimes, he should face justice just like anyone else who commits crimes. He shouldn’t receive some blanket absolution just because he managed to become President. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/29 "2019-04-09T18:24:50Z")
I have to say that he will see prison from the inside. Not hard time, but club fed type of time. Because I’m optimistic. Either that he dies while under investigation, or a trial is happening. Again, optimism. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/30 "2019-04-09T18:28:30Z")
Oddly, as much as I dislike him, and am frustrated with his administration’s policies and the damage he’s doing to the institution of the Presidency, I think I’d like him not to actually be imprisoned. Rather, I’d prefer him to be exposed as a fraud, run out of office, and left to marinate in his own humiliation. That way, there’s not so much question of martyrdom or witch hunts, just some sad old has-been guy who nobody listens to. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/31 "2019-04-09T18:32:39Z")
I don’t think he has enough time left for justice to be done. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/32 "2019-04-09T19:04:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > …Rather, I’d prefer him to be exposed as a fraud, run out of office, and left to marinate in his own humiliation. That way, there’s not so much question of martyrdom or witch hunts, just some sad old has-been guy who nobody listens to. I’d like him to try to leave the USA and relocate in various countries around the world and have him be denied immigrant status at the border of every one of them. Then maybe locked up in a detention cage. Indefinitely. A girl can dream… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/33 "2019-04-09T19:26:07Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Rather, I’d prefer him to be exposed as a fraud, run out of office, and left to marinate in his own humiliation. You just ruined my dinner plans. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/34 "2019-04-09T20:55:45Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > While sending Trump to do hard time in the slammer might have cathartic benefits, even if justifiable, it would still reek of the sort of abuse of power that Trump would do. The fuck are you talking about ? He’s a criminal, who does crimes. All the time. It’s not an abuse of power to expose, prosecute and punish crimeguys. It’s, in fact, one of the selling points of this whole “organized society” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/35 "2019-04-09T20:57:39Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’d like him to try to leave the USA and relocate in various countries around the world and have him be denied immigrant status at the border of every one of them. Then maybe locked up in a detention cage. Indefinitely. A girl can dream… Another schadenfreude dream : he flees when one of his best dictator buddies promises him safety. Then that dictator fucks him raw the way Donnie fucked so many of the people who believed him raw. And around the world the sound of an entire philharmonic of tiny violins can be heard… ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/36 "2019-04-09T21:33:15Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I don’t think he has enough time left for justice to be done. This. I think he’s going to leave office in a casket - not assassinated, just a victim of old age, lifestyle, and overexcitability. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/37 "2019-04-09T22:57:38Z")
He needs to, but no. I am glad John Edwards almost went to prison for campaign finance violations though. Even though he was an ex senator and ran for president and VP, him being arrested and charged showed he wasn’t above the law. But I don’t think an actual sitting president would be indicted and imprisoned the same way a senator and presidential candidate was. However I hope I’m wrong, and I hope NY state charges him. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/38 "2019-04-09T23:41:38Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Another schadenfreude dream : he flees when one of his best dictator buddies promises him safety. Then that dictator fucks him raw the way Donnie fucked so many of the people who believed him raw. And around the world the sound of an entire philharmonic of tiny violins can be heard… Soon to be a major motion picture. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/39 "2019-04-09T23:54:35Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I don’t think he has enough time left for justice to be done. I don’t either, and I am one of very few people who believes that he would most likely commit suicide rather than face the music. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255/40 "2019-04-10T00:36:28Z")
I won’t say no, but I will say probably not. And not because he doesn’t deserve it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-see-prison/832255.md?page=3)