This process is bound to be contentious and protracted as Trump and the Special Counsel’s Office are likely to have very different answers to those questions. And any ruling made in the lower courts will almost certainly be appealed, possibly bringing the matter back to the Supreme Court again.

Does the Supreme Court’s ruling affect Trump’s other charges?

Trump faces two other pending sets of charges — one in Georgia, for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state, and another in Florida involving his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.

The same questions that now hang over the election subversion case in Washington are likely to also bedevil the Georgia case, which was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Trump’s lawyers will almost certainly argue that some of the charges against him in that indictment should be thrown out under the presidential immunity standard the Supreme Court established Monday.

The Florida case, which concerns scores of classified and sensitive documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, is largely focused on his conduct after he left office, which would likely fall under the Supreme Court’s description of “private acts” that would be subject to prosecution.

Monday’s ruling is not expected to affect Trump’s conviction in Manhattan last month on a fourth set of charges involving his role in a conspiracy to pay hush money to the porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had an affair. The cover-up at the heart of that case had nothing to do with Trump’s duties as the president.

He faces sentencing on those charges next week.

Will Trump’s trials happen before the election?

As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision Monday, the chances that Trump will stand trial again before Election Day are now vanishingly small.

And that ultimately plays in his favor.

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