Short answer: not directly while they’re still president—but there are legal ways a president can be held accountable.

Here’s the clean breakdown 👇

1. Impeachment (the main constitutional path)

• The House of Representatives can impeach a president for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

• If impeached, the Senate holds a trial.

• If 2/3 of the Senate votes to convict, the president is removed from office.

• After removal, the Senate can also vote to bar them from holding office again.

👉 Impeachment itself does not send anyone to prison. It’s a political/constitutional process, not a criminal one.

2. Criminal prosecution (after removal or after term ends)

• The long-standing position of the U.S. Department of Justice is that a sitting president cannot be criminally indicted.

• Once removed from office or after their term ends, a former president can be charged, tried, convicted, and imprisoned like anyone else if they broke the law.

3. State laws

• A president is not immune from state criminal investigations.

• However, the question of imprisoning a sitting president is still constrained by the same practical and constitutional limits—so again, this usually waits until they’re out of office.

Bottom line

• ❌ A sitting president cannot realistically be imprisoned.

• ✅ A president can be removed from office through impeachment.

• ✅ A former president can be prosecuted and imprisoned if convicted of crimes.