Like the Queen of Hearts in Alice's Wonderland, Donald Trump has established "Off with their heads!" as the modus operandi of his second presidency.

He is swinging his sword in every direction, striking at honorable prosecutors and supposedly protected federal employees, stabbing at the heart of vital federal programs and stealing domestic tranquility from millions of immigrant families. In doing so, he is applying a severe stress test to democracy and the legitimate powers of the presidency.

This raises questions about last year's Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity. Trump acts like the court has armored him in Teflon, but that's not exactly what the court did.

Congress, legal experts, lower courts, the news media, and parties aggrieved by Trump's actions should look at the court's decision more closely for ways to hold Trump accountable for blatant lawbreaking and self-serving abuse of the Constitution.

The key passage in the Trump v. United States ruling is this: "Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power entitles a former president to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority."

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the first step in determining a president's immunity is "to distinguish his official from unofficial actions." Roberts continued, "If the president claims authority to act but in fact exercises mere 'individual will' and 'authority without law,' the courts may say........

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