After the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its controversial 6-3 presidential immunity ruling in Trump v. the United States, progressive legal expert Elie Mystal emphasized that it was important to make a distinction between "qualified immunity" and "absolute immunity." The High Court, Mystal warned, has given U.S. presidents "absolute immunity" from criminal prosecution for "official" acts — not merely "qualified immunity" — and is, in essence, encouraging presidents to break the law with impunity.

In an article published by The Nation on July 8, Mystal argues that as bad as other Roberts Court decisions have been, this one is especially damaging.

"Folks, we can't 'come back' from this," Mystal laments. "There is no presidential order or legislative action that can undo all of the evils committed by the Supreme Court. This is different from what's happened before."

Mystal continues, "In 2012, when the Court gutted the most important piece of legislation in American history, the Voting Rights Act, there were immediate calls for Congress to pass legislation restoring what the Court took away.… Similarly, in 2022, when the Court took away a constitutional right for the first time in American history and overturned Roe v. Wade, there were immediate calls for Congress to pass legislation restoring what the Court took away…. This time, there's no legislative fix for the problems the Court has created."

Mystal argues that the Roberts Court's GOP-appointed majority has become "drunk on their own power" and now "rules the country in unchecked, unaccountable fashion." One possible solution, according to Mystal, is packing the Court.

"There are only two ways to deal with this Supreme Court: ignore its rulings or flood it with new justices who will give back the power this court has stolen from the rest of us," Mystal explains. "The first option, most likely, leads directly to civil war — one where the rule of law can be imposed only by military force under the sole discretion of whoever happens to be the president, assuming that president commands the loyalty of the military."

Mystal adds, "Democracy cannot long exist if laws have meaning only when the president decides to enforce them at the point of a gun. The second option, court expansion, is the normal, peaceful, constitutional solution to a court that no longer believes it can be checked by other institutions."

A 'grim mood' hovers over DC as insiders fear Trump 2.0

During a November 2023 interview, Michael Cohen — Donald Trump's former personal attorney and fixer and one of the prosecution's star witnesses in Trump's hush money/falsifying business records trial — told ITV in the U.K. that he will "absolutely" seek political asylum in another country if his ex-boss returns to the White House in January 2025.

Cohen warned that Trump "will exact revenge" on anyone he thinks "has done him wrong," telling ITV, "I fear for my safety. I fear for my life."

Similarly, veteran actor Robert De Niro — a scathing and outspoken Trump critic — told "Real Time" host Bill Maher he fears that "malignant, sociopathic narcissist" Trump will "come looking for me" and try to carry out some type of revenge if he wins in November. And Gen. Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he fears Trump would try to incarcerate him during a second term.

De Niro and Milley, unlike Cohen, haven't talked about seeking political asylum in another country. But the New York Times' Peter Baker, in an article published on May 5, reports that some Washington, D.C. insiders are flirting with the idea of leaving the United States if Trump defeats incumbent President Joe Biden in November.

"It has become the topic of the season at Washington dinner parties and receptions: Where would you go if it really happens?" Baker explains. "Portugal, says a former member of Congress. Australia, says a former agency director. Canada, says a Biden Administration official. France, says a liberal columnist. Poland, says a former investigator."

Baker continues, "They're joking. Sort of. At least in most cases. It's a gallows humor with a dark edge. Much of official Washington is bracing for the possibility that former President Donald J. Trump really could return — this time with 'retribution' as his avowed mission. The discussion is where people might go into a sort of self-imposed exile. Whether they mean it or not, the buzz is a telling indicator of the grim mood among many in the nation's capital these days."

According to former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor — a Never Trump conservative who is rooting for Biden — many D.C. insiders absolutely dread the possibility of Trump getting a second term.

Taylor told the Times, "I feel like in the past two weeks, that conversation, for whatever reason, has just surged. People are feeling that it's very obvious if a second Trump term happens, it's going to be slash and burn."

Former Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Florida) notes that Trump's extreme rhetoric is worrying both Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C.

Murphy told the Times, "The rest of America may not take what he says seriously, but I think you're hearing the uncomfortable chatter in Washington among Democrats and Republicans because they understand, having worked with him in the past, that when he says something he means it."

According to CNN's David A. Andelman — who has lived in France before — some Americans who fear retribution from Trump are seriously looking into other countries to move to. Andelman told the Times that after he addressed that subject in a May 1 op-ed, 45 Americans contacted his real estate broker in France.