On April 15, a president of the United States will sit in court for the first time as accused of a crime. The case in question is the payment of $130,000 by Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign to a former porn actress, Stormy Daniels.

Trump is accused of 34 crimes related to false accounting and illegal campaign donations. This is just one of four criminal cases he faces. The only way to defeat him is, again, at the polls, writes Julian Zelizer.