Prosecuting Donald Trump over Stormy Daniels looks like a mistake

AFTER SO MUCH speculation that it seemed America’s media might have just been repeating echoes, a grand jury has indeed indicted the 45th president of the United States. This is—to use a term that was worn out by the end of the Trump administration—historic. No president has been indicted before. Nor will this be the last of the indictments Mr Trump faces.

For another politician it would signal the end of a political career. In Mr Trump’s case, the question is to what extent a prosecution will act as fuel for a movement that seemed to be flagging. Mr Trump has been fundraising for weeks on the back of his impending indictment, which he predicted was coming on social media on March 18th. It turns out to have been one of his more accurate posts.