Trump awaits arrest

Will he, won't he be arrested? Everyone is waiting for the moment when the police arrive on Trump's doorstep and take him away to be charged. There are two things worth noting while we wait. First, there was no dawn raid. Trump didn't get a wake-up knock on the door at 5am. So perhaps the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg is still wondering whether to go ahead with indicting the former president, knowing what a huge historical step it will be. Second, he's getting a lot of flak at the moment with every senior Republican denouncing the anticipated arrest as a political, not a justice, move. Even those perceived to be Trump's rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination are dismissing the idea of an arrest. This sums up the United States and the divisions that seem unassailable. The country will be spit down the middle if Trump is arrested and charged over the hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to stop her revealing details of the alleged affair with the former president which Trump denies. Arresting a former president is one thing, but arresting him as he campaigns to return to the White House will be seen by all Republicans and certainly by his loyal fans as a deliberately timed plot to disrupt the Republican presidential campaign. Bragg will be a brave man if he goes ahead with the arrest because for ever afterwards he will be remembered as the first lawyer in public office ever to sign an arrest warrant for a former president. But if there is a prime facie case against Trump, then he should be indicted. Trump would remain innocent until/unless proven guilty and could carry on his presidential campaign in the meantime. I'm sure that's what Trump and his advisers will decide, and no doubt, will use the arrest to somehow boost his chances of returning to the White House.