Can Trump Still Win?

Despite his legal woes, the former president remains the GOP front runner-for now. Here's how political experts assess his chances in the 2024 race.

- DANIEL BUSH

EVEN OUT OF OFFICE, DONALD Trump cannot stop making history. His unprecedented indictment in New York this month on 34 felony counts related to paying hush money to a porn star joins a long list of dubious historical firsts: Along with being the only U.S. president to get impeached twice, and the only one to lose the popular vote two times, Trump is now also the first president to face criminal charges.

What's even more remarkable: Despite all his political baggage and mounting legal problems, early polls show Trump remains the favorite to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination-by a wide margin. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is undeclared but widely expected to run, remains a distant second in recent polls. No one else is close.

"Right now, it's President Trump's to win or lose," Scott Walker, the former Republican Wisconsin governor who ran for president in 2016, tells Newsweek.

If Trump defies political gravity yet again and wins the nomination, it could set up a rematch with President Joe Biden that would have enormous implications for U.S. policy at home and abroad. A Trump victory in the 2024 Republican primaries could also have lasting consequences for the political rightand democracy in America, as well as ushering in a new era in which criminal charges are not viewed as a disqualifier for serious presidential contenders.