On Tuesday night, America was informed that its 45th president, Donald Trump, was indicted yet again – for the third time. This time he is accused of particularly grave crimes concerning the most fundamental principles of US democracy.

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The latest indictment details an alleged plot to subvert the 2020 presidential election and sever the chain of voluntary transfers of power between presidents.

Paradoxically, the two previous indictments filed against Trump – charges related to a hush-money payment to an adult film star in 2016 and the retention of classified documents and conspiracy with a top aide and an employee at Mar-a-Lago – did not affect his popularity.

Video: The indictments against former US President Donald Trump. Credit: Reuters

If anything, it only exacerbated the deep resentment of his supporters, primarily from the working class, toward what they perceive to be an elitist establishment harassing the true representative of the American people in an attempt to prevent him from returning to the White House through falsifications.

This is reflected in the latest polls, conducted ahead of the third indictment, in which Trump ranked significantly ahead of his main Republican opponent Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis (Former Vice President Mike Pence and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley ranking much lower).

In other words, Trump seems to be off to a promising start in his conquest to become the GOP presidential nominee. But what's putting a spoke in his wheel are strained campaign finances and the third indictment that could harm his popularity, especially among moderate Republican voters.

It is certainly true that the traditional voter turnout among the "gatekeepers" of the Republican movement, who constitute Trump's main support base, is higher than that of its moderates.

It cannot be ruled out, however, that the growing number of indictments ahead of the election will alienate less hardcore Republican voters who might view Trump as too heavy an electoral liability.

Moreover, although Trump seems to hold most of the support compared to other Republican candidates, the picture is certainly not the same when looking at his popularity among the general public.

Although Trump seems to have the most support of any Republican presidential candidate, his numbers are much less impressive when looking at his popularity among the general public. According to polls, only about 40% of potential voters support the former president.

Fortunately for Trump, his Democratic rival – President Joe Biden – too has similar surprisingly low ratings. Assuming Trump becomes the GOP presidential nominee, Biden and Trump will compete with each other in terms of their overall unpopularity.

Neither project vitality and vigor, with Trump having just turned 77 and Biden being 80. On top of that, the former president is facing complex legal challenges that not only rob him of the spotlight but might even land him in jail.

As such, it makes one ponder – will the Republican Party succeed in capitalizing on this opportunity in the form of a fatigued Democratic president by deciding to minimize risks and choosing a less controversial candidate such as DeSantis?

Only time will tell.

Professor Abraham Ben-Zvi and Dr. Gadi Warsha's upcoming book, published by Lamda-The Open University Press, is called "Knock of every door: Israel's foreign policy 1948-2018" (Hebrew).

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As he prepared to tee off at one of his Florida golf courses, a fellow player introduced Donald Trump as the "45th president of the United States."

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"45th and 47th," Trump responded matter-of-factly, before hitting his drive.

The quip – a moment of levity on the links captured on shaky cellphone video – was a reminder that the former president often has another presidential run on his mind. But the declaration belied the growing challenges he's confronting as a series of complex legal investigations ensnare Trump, his family and many associates.

The probes, which are unfolding in multiple jurisdictions and consider everything from potential fraud and election interference to the role he played in the Jan. 6 insurrection, represent the most serious legal threat Trump has faced in decades of an often litigious public life. They're intensifying as a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found Trump's iron grip on the GOP may be starting to loosen.

His popularity among Republicans is declining somewhat, with 71% saying they have a favorable opinion of Trump compared with 78% in a September 2020 AP-NORC/USAFacts poll. But the new poll shows only a narrow majority of Republicans -- 56% -- want him to run for president in 2024. The poll found that 44% of Republicans do not want Trump to run.

Despite the legal and political headwinds, those around Trump describe him as looking to the future and emboldened by a sense of invincibility that has allowed him to recover from devastating turns, including two impeachments, that would have ended the careers of other politicians. Instead of receding from the spotlight, he's teasing a comeback run for president as he escalates his attacks against those investigating him and his company.

"He's in great spirits," said Darrell Scott, an Ohio pastor and Trump ally who met with the former president this week.

Trump huddled with top aides in Florida this week as he plots a midterm strategy that could serve as a springboard for future efforts. And be held another campaign-style rally in Texas on Saturday evening ahead of the state's March 1 elections that formally kick off the midterm primary season.

Speaking at county fairgrounds outside of Houston, Trump sketched out the beginnings of a 2024 campaign agenda, saying he would ban critical race theory – it views American history through the lens of racism – from classrooms, the military and government on "the first day, first hour, if I decide to run and if we win." And he said he would make sure those charged in connection with the deadly Jan 6. riot at the US Capitol were treated "fairly."

"And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons," he said of his supporters, who stormed the building in an effort to block the certification of President Joe Biden's win.

But even as he projects a sense of inevitability that the nomination would be his if he wants it, his effort to freeze the field of Republicans eyeing the 2024 field has been uneven. Some, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have so far refused to demur, making speeches and traveling to key states that suggest they are strongly considering campaigns. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also seen as another contender for the nomination and drew attention recently when he said that one of his biggest regrets as governor was not pushing back when Trump urged Americans to stay home in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to stop the virus's spread.

As Trump tries to move forward, so do the legal cases against him.

On Monday, judges in Georgia approved a request for a special grand jury by the Fulton County prosecutor who has been investigating whether Trump and others broke the law by trying to pressure Georgia officials to throw out President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said her office received information "indicating a reasonable probability" that the election had been "subject to possible criminal disruptions."

In New York, state Attorney General Letitia James claimed in a court filing last week that her office uncovered evidence that Trump's company used "fraudulent or misleading" valuations of its golf clubs, skyscrapers and other property to secure loans and tax benefits. While her lawyers said they hadn't decided whether to bring a lawsuit in connection with the allegations, they revealed the company overstated the value of land donations made in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS and misreported the size of Trump's Manhattan penthouse, among other misleading valuations.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has also been working with James' office on a parallel criminal investigation, which resulted in charges last summer against Trump's company, the Trump Organization, and its longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Jan. 6 committee investigating the violent insurrection has interviewed hundreds of witnesses, issued dozens of subpoenas and obtained tens of thousands of pages of records, including texts, emails and phone records from people close to Trump, as well as thousands of pages of White House records that Trump fought to shield from public view. Among them: a draft executive order that proposed using Defense Department assets to seize voting machines, the committee's chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, has said.

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A top Justice Department official said this week that prosecutors are investigating fake certificates sent to the National Archives with made-up slates of electors who wrongly declared Trump the winner in seven states he lost as part of a desperate campaign to subvert the voters' will. Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the Justice Department remains committed to "holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy."

As president, Trump was largely shielded from legal consequence. But no longer.

David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami, said that, until now, Trump's legal problems have largely been relegated to "money things," with various lawsuits seeking payouts. But he described what Trump is facing now, particularly in Georgia and Washington, as "more significant, because with those comes the potential exposure to criminal punishment."

"If they can prove intention, knowledge, involvement in an ongoing conspiracy," he said, "that's potential criminal exposure, something he's never faced before."

But those who have worked with Trump said he and those around him are likely to continue to brush off the probes as nothing more than politically motivated "witch hunts" aimed at damaging his future political prospects. After spending so many years jumping from one crisis to the next, from the Russia investigation to inquiries about everything from his Washington hotel lease to payoffs to a former porn star, being under investigation in TrumpWorld is the norm.

For many in his circle, "It's a badge of honor to be subpoenaed," said Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary who quit on Jan. 6 and has since penned an anti-Trump book.

"It's easy to say 'It's just another witch hunt' because that's what we said about everything," she said. "People are doubling down. That's what we do in TrumpWorld, we double down. And you just claim it's a witch hunt, you claim it's political theater. And that's how you get your supporters to continue to donate money and to continue to believe they're on the good side."

Indeed, on Saturday night, Trump railed against the investigators and insisted, "There's never been a witch hunt or a fishing expedition like this."

"This has been going on as long as you've known me. It will continue as long as I'm leading in the polls like I am," he said, adding: "In reality, they're not after me, they're after you."

And, after being accused of inciting the Capitol riot, he issued a request. "If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, DC, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere."

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Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric, who won his country's election on Sunday with close to 56% of the vote, on Monday called for the people to join him in "building bridges."

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However, the progressive Boric's anti-Israel positions are causing worry in the Chilean Jewish community.

Like many politicians on the Latin American Left, Boric, 36 – who on March 22 will be sworn in as Chile's youngest-ever president – holds clear positions about the foreign policy he intends to lead.

Two years ago, the local Jewish community presented him with a traditional Rosh Hashana gift of honey, and Boric responded by tweeting: "The Jewish community gave me honey to emphasize its commitment to a more accepting, supportive and respectful society."

"I thank you for the step, but you can start by demanding that Israel return the Palestinian territory it occupies illegally," his tweet continued.

Boric has a long history of left-wing activity, going back to his student days, when he was a leader of the country's stormy "social justice" protests that erupted in 2011 and again in October 2019, demanding that the country's economy be strengthened and restored to a welfare state model.

When asked during a TV interview about his previous remarks against Israel (Boric has accused Israel of committing genocide), Boric said he still believed that to be true.

La Comunidad Judía en Chile me envía un tarrito de miel por el año nuevo judio, reafirmando su compromiso cn "una sociedad más inclusiva, solidaria y respetuosa". Agradezco el gesto pero podrían partir por pedirle a Israel que devuelva el territorio palestino ilegalmente ocupado. pic.twitter.com/rtb1dt8QRP

— Gabriel Boric Font (@gabrielboric) October 2, 2019

"All the countries that violate international law, such as Israel, China, or Turkey, should respect international norms. It doesn't matter how much power that country has, we need our foreign policy to defend human rights with all its might, regardless of the government," Boric told the interviewer.

Chile is home to some half a million Palestinian immigrants, most of whom are Christian. The country's Jewish population, in comparison, numbers only tens of thousands.

President of the Chilean community in Israel Gabriel Colodro told Israel Hayom that "Boric has voted for every bill against Israel, called Israel a murderous state on public television, and consistently supports boycott of Israel."

However, Colodro said, he is Chile's president-elect, a fact that should not only be respected, but appreciated. "He will be judged by his actions, not his declarations," Colodro said.

"His remarks and the agreements he has made have an antisemitic nature, but it's not important what he has said, but what he will do. There is concern for the Jewish community [in Chile], but we wish him success," Colodro said.

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As one of the most fateful elections in US history approaches, Israel Hayom offers readers a  curated list of some of the best election-themed films and television series to binge until the exit polls are out.

State of the Nation (1948)

Frank Capra made a number of political films throughout his career, but only one dealt directly with a presidential election. In this drama-comedy, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, an American aviation baron (Spencer Tracy) is persuaded by his scheming mistress (Angela Landsbury) to run for president.

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The War Room (1993)

The documentary by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus follows Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. The filmmakers began following the campaign long before Clinton became a favorite, and their behind-the-scenes look at the political machine leaves nothing to the imagination.

Bulworth (1998)

In this dark satire, Warren Beatty plays a senator who amazes his surroundings by adopting the persona of a rapper and starts to tell his voters the truth. Surprisingly, instead of killing his political career, his tactics bring him great success and he quickly becomes the most beloved politician in American and a leading candidate for president.

Swing Vote (2008)

Kevin Costner plays Bud Johnson, a single father from New Mexico who discovers that his vote, which was not counted, will determine an extraordinarily close presidential race. Both candidates rush to his town to convince him to vote for them.

The Ides of March (2011)

George Clooney produced, directed, and starred in this film about a Democratic governor who wants to win his party's nomination for president. He teams up with an idealistic young political advisor (Ryan Gosling), who slowly starts to realize that his hero might not be everything he is cracked up to be.

The West Wing (1999-2016)

This list would be incomplete without mentioning Aaron Sorkin's excellent series, one of the most-lauded TV series ever, which was awarded 26 Emmy prizes, including four for best dramatic series. Must-see TV!

House of Cards (2013-2018)

One of the original series that put Netflix on the map. House of Cards is an American version of a British TV series from the 1990s. As popular as the series was, it ended when star Kevin Spacey was ousted after public claims that he had sexually assaulted young men.

Veep (2012-2019)

Julia Louis Dreyfuss plays a vice president who dreams of becoming president. The series follows her entourage, a collection of colorful characters who are essentially a satirical take on actual figures from Washington. The series made it all the way through without specifying the main character's party, and won 17 Emmy awards during its run.

Scandal (2012-2018)

Creator of Grey's Anatomy Shonda Rhimes made another huge hit with series based on the dirty workings of Washington, DC with Scandal. Kerry Washington plays a fixer based on Judy Smith, who worked with President George W. Bush, who is involved in an affair with the president.

Commander in Chief (2005-2006)

Geena Davis plays Mackenzie Allen, a vice president who becomes the first woman president of the United States after the president dies.

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The Aug. 11-12 public opinion survey also found that 60% of Americans, including 87% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans, considered the selection of Harris – the first Black woman and Asian American nominated for vice presidency – to be a "major milestone" for the United States.

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The US Senator from California is viewed about as favorably or better than Biden in most major demographic groups, the poll showed, highlighting her potential to help the former vice president expand his support in November's election.

Harris, 55, is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants and made her own bid for the White House. She was a former prosecutor and state attorney general in California, and became only the second Black female US senator in history when elected in 2016.

The poll showed Biden's lead over Republican President Donald Trump was effectively unchanged after he announced his running mate choice, increasing by 1 percentage point among all Americans to an 8-point advantage – well within the poll's credibility interval - when compared with a similar poll that ran on Monday and Tuesday.

Forty-six percent of US adults said they would vote for a Biden/Harris ticket, while 38% would vote for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. A similar poll that ran on Monday and Tuesday showed that 44% would vote for Biden while 37% would back Trump.

The latest poll also found that 56% of Americans have a favorable impression of Harris, which is about the same as the number who favor Biden. Forty-two percent of US adults say they have a favorable view of Trump and 47% said the same of Pence.

Among women, 60% said they have a favorable view of Harris, compared with 53% who felt the same way about Biden. Women are the dominant force in American elections: they make up a bigger proportion of the US electorate than men, and a surge in support for Democrats among white, college-educated women helped the party retake the US House of Representatives in 2018.

Biden already has an advantage over Trump among women overall, but he has not improved his standing among black women in recent months, while white women without college degrees still largely favor Trump.

In addition, about 25% of Republicans said they had a favorable view of Harris and approve of her choice as Biden's running mate. Only about 20% of Republicans said they have a similarly favorable view of Biden.

In a close election, peeling off even a small number of voters from the Republican Party could make a difference to the Democrats, political analysts said.

Harris also is a little more popular among American adults who are younger than 35 years old: 62% said they view Harris favorably, while 60% said the same of Biden.

Public opinion could change and Trump's re-election campaign sharpens its criticism of the Democratic challengers. Within minutes of Biden's announcement on Tuesday, Trump had called Harris "nasty," "horrible" and "disrespectful," while his campaign painted her as an extremist who would yank the moderate Biden to the left.

In choosing Harris, Biden heeded calls from Black leaders and activists to choose a woman of color as a running mate and avoid a repeat of 2016, when the first decline of Black voter turnout in 20 years helped Trump's upset victory over Hillary Clinton. Black Americans – and  Black women particularly – are the most loyal Democratic constituencies.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,000 adults, including 389 Republicans and 419 Democrats. It has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 3 percentage points.

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"I want to earn your vote not just because he's not worthy of being president," the presumptive presidential nominee told participants. "I want to work in partnership with you, make sure your voices are included in the decision-making process as we work to rebuild our nation."

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Biden also reiterated a pledge to overturn a Trump administration ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries, calling it "vile."

Wa'el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, said by email that the organization was seeking to maximize Muslim American turnout in key battleground states. In Michigan alone – one of the states where the organization has chapters and where Trump won in 2016 by fewer than 11,000 votes – he said he believed there are more than 150,000 registered Muslim voters.

Several prominent Muslim American elected officials endorsed Biden for president in a letter organized by Emgage Action ahead of the summit.

Among those who signed the letter are Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Indiana Rep. Andre Carson, all Democrats. Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, served as a high-profile surrogate for Bernie Sanders before he exited the presidential race in April – making her support for Biden potentially helpful as the former vice president seeks to mobilize Muslim voters this fall.

"Muslim American voices matter to our communities, to our country," Biden said. "But we all know that your voice hasn't always gotten recognized or represented."

Emgage Action has titled the event "Million Muslim Votes," underscoring its emphasis on boosting Muslim turnout in November.

"Joe Biden's presence serves not only to galvanize Muslim Americans to cast their ballots, but to usher in an era of engaging with Muslim American communities under a Biden administration," Alzayat said by email before the summit.

The pro-Biden letter from Muslim American elected officials decried a number of Trump's domestic and international policies, including his administration's travel ban and his pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.

"A Biden administration will move the nation forward on many of the issues we care about," the letter said, citing racial justice, affordable health care, climate change and immigration.

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The Muslim American officials also praised Biden's agenda for their communities. Among other goals, Biden has vowed to rescind the travel ban affecting Muslims "on Day One" if he is elected.

In his address, he pledged to include Muslim American voices in his administration, if elected, and to speak out against human rights abuses against Muslim minorities around the world.

"I'll continue to champion the rights of Palestinians and Israelis to have a state of their own as I have for decades, each of them a state of their own," he said.

State and local-level Muslim American officials signing onto the pro-Biden letter hail from several states, including Michigan.

"A lot is at stake," Alzayat said. "The importance of Muslim American voter participation in this upcoming election cycle is greater than it has ever been."

Trump's reelection campaign, meanwhile, has included Muslim voters in its faith outreach on behalf of an incumbent who has prioritized religious liberty in his agenda.

"President Trump understands that our faith is what unites us as a nation," Courtney Parella, deputy national press secretary for the reelection campaign, said in a statement. "He has and will continue to staunchly defend religious freedoms for all Americans."

Omar's signature on the endorsement letter expands on her statement last week, via Twitter, that she would vote for Biden. New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – another member of the quartet of congresswomen of color, often known by the nickname "the squad," who have become progressive luminaries since their arrival in Congress – also has said she would vote for Biden in the fall.

But Ocasio-Cortez, who served on a task force that helped shape a climate change plan designed to unite Biden and Sanders backers, has yet to issue a full-throated Biden endorsement. Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, another "Squad" member and former backer of Sanders' presidential bid, was conspicuously absent from the Emgage Action-organized letter.

Farooq Mitha, senior adviser for Muslim engagement with Biden's campaign, said reaching out to Muslim American voters is a priority for Biden, pointing to his own appointment as an example. The campaign has hosted events with Muslim Americans and met with community leaders over the past months, he said.

"A Biden presidency offers Muslims an opportunity to be engaged with government, rather than being shut out like many other groups that have been alienated and demonized by the Trump administration," he said in response to emailed questions. "Muslim communities can have an outsized impact in many states and we are working every day to earn their support."

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