In historic Trump hearing, Supreme Court majority suggests presidents may have some criminal immunity
Not all of the justices agreed, however -- and a decision is expected by June.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday on whether former President Donald Trump can be criminally prosecuted over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The justices grappled with the monumental question of if -- and if so, to what extent -- former presidents enjoy immunity for conduct alleged to involve official acts during their time in office.
Trump claims "absolute" protection for what he calls official acts, though he denies all wrongdoing. The high court divided over this, but most of the conservative-leaning justices in the majority seemed open to some version of it while still excluding a president's "private" conduct.
The high court's ruling will determine if Trump stands trial before the November election on four charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. A decision is expected by June.
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See court sketches from inside court
The Supreme Court notably does not allow cameras inside its courtroom during arguments, meaning that sketch artists provide the only visual representation of some of the country's most defining legal moments.
Here are three sketches from the Trump arguments on Thursday -- of the justices and the attorneys for each side.
'Quite amazing. The justices were on their game,' Trump says
Trump reacted to the arguments before the justices later on Thursday afternoon after he left court for the day amid his hush money trial in New York, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
“I think it was made clear, I hope it was made clear, that a president has to have immunity," he said, repeating a familiar talking point. "You don't have a president -- or at most you could say it would be a ceremonial president. That's not what the founders had in mind.”
He continued, ”We want presidents that can get things done and bring people together. So I heard the meeting was quite amazing. Quite amazing. The justices were on their game.”
Trump did not answer shouted questions from the press.
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh, Mike Pappano and Jianna Cousin
5 takeaways: Hypotheticals dominate, conservatives and liberals raise different worries and more
As various justices themselves acknowledged, they could potentially reshape the contours of presidential power when they rule on Trump's case.
Click here to read five takeaways from the historic arguments.
10 key moments from the arguments
The oral arguments, stretching nearly three hours and with demonstrators gathered outside, included several notable and important exchanges.
Here are 10 of the key moments -- including discussion of potential self-pardons, Franklin D. Roosevelt and more.
Read more here.
Trump attorney concedes indictment includes some unprotected actions
Justice Amy Coney Barrett read aloud from special counsel Smith's brief, in which he made the case that even if the Supreme Court were to decide there was some immunity from official acts, there were sufficient private acts in the indictment for the trial to proceed immediately.
"I want to know if you agree or disagree about the characterization of these acts as private," she said.
"You concede that private acts don't get immunity," she told John Sauer, Trump's lawyer, who said, "We do."
He went on to say that some purported actions in the indictment were indeed "private" -- including Smith's allegation that Trump turned to a private attorney who knowingly spread false claims of election fraud to spearhead his challenges to 2020 election results and that he conspired with others to implement a plan to obstruct the certification of President Joe Biden's win.
"So those acts you would not dispute," Barrett said. "Those were private and you would not raise a claim that they were official?"
Sauer agreed.
Other justices returned to that line of questioning while pressing Sauer over the rest of his questioning.
