United States | Tribulations and trials

How Donald Trump’s trials and the Republican primary will intersect

Where the rule of law clashes with the will of the people

Manchester, NH - April 27 : Former President Donald Trump boards his airplane, known as "Trump Force One," after speaking at a campaign event, at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Manchester, NH. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Image: Getty Images
|NEW YORK

Only FOUR qualifications are necessary to become an American president. Article II of the constitution requires presidents to be natural-born citizens who have reached 35 years of age and lived in America for 14 years. The 22nd Amendment adds that candidates must not have been elected twice to the job previously. Donald Trump satisfies those conditions, including the final hurdle—despite his insistence that he won both the 2016 and 2020 elections. Nothing prevents candidates dogged by legal troubles, including criminal convictions, from running for president. Several presidential aspirants have even sought the office from behind bars.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Tribulations and trials”

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