Trump can’t bully his way out of his latest legal woes ­– he’s just too stubborn to know when he’s beaten

If you took the time to hear Donald Trump describe his newfound status as a twice-indicted former president who faces felony charges in two separate jurisdictions, you’d have encountered familiar howls of denial and claims of a witch-hunt.

Mr Trump has long described any effort to hold him to account for anything in similar terms, be it his campaign’s tacit acceptance of Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, his attempt to blackmail a foreign leader into investigating his potential 2020 election opponent, or his efforts to remain in office against the will of voters.

And with the aid of his former position as president of the United States, and more recently a veritable Greek chorus of surrogates in Congress and on television airwaves, Mr Trump has thus far escaped the vast majority of negative consequences that his opponents hoped would befall him.