As Robert Mueller makes his way through Donald Trump’s inner circle, it seems increasingly likely that he will soon seek the testimony of the president himself. In early January, the special counsel reportedly broached the topic with Trump’s legal team, which scrambled for a way to prevent an interview. But, as The Washington Post reported Tuesday night, their efforts were in vain. Mueller will almost certainly try to question Trump, setting up a perilous choice for the president: refuse, inciting a political crisis, or give testimony that could prove his undoing.

The conventional wisdom is that Trump’s long history of false statements and exaggeration would create enormous legal risk if he decides to talk to the government. “The superficial view would be that every day this guy makes stuff up as he goes along, so Trump is going to be a terrible witness, and he’ll say things that will get him in trouble,” former federal prosecutor Sam Buell told my colleague Chris Smith last week. “Trump has experience as a litigant, and maybe he understands the game,” he added. But Mueller’s team—a murderers’ row of 17 lawyers, sequestered at an undisclosed location in southwest Washington—has undoubtedly been preparing for a possible interview. Andrew Weissmann, one of Mueller’s top investigators, is known to be particularly methodical. “Andrew is super-thorough, persistent, and factual,” Buell said. “He’ll know the record cold, and he’ll be a good listener, to see if he really gets an answer to the question he’s asked.”

The potential questions Trump could face run the gamut. Two sources familiar with Mueller’s plans told the Post that his expected interview with Trump will focus on the firings of former F.B.I. Director James Comey, who was leading the F.B.I. investigation at the time, and Michael Flynn, who was revealed to have lied to White House officials about his interactions with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. His emphasis suggests that he remains focused on whether Trump obstructed justice when he dismissed the former. The special counsel is also reportedly interested in Trump’s alleged efforts to oust Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in order to ascertain whether the president displayed a “pattern” of behavior. A conversation between Trump and F.B.I. deputy director Andrew McCabe, in which the president allegedly asked McCabe whom he voted for in the 2016 election, and grilled him about political donations his wife received during her failed Virginia state Senate bid, has also attracted Mueller’s attention, a source told the Post. Trump has frequently attacked McCabe, whom he implied early on was a deep-state Clintonworld plant, and his firing of Comey was allegedly precipitated by a similar demand for loyalty.

In recent weeks, Mueller’s team has grilled several members of Trump’s administration, including Sessions, who was questioned for “several hours” and whose interview reportedly focused on obstruction. On Wednesday, NBC News reported reported that C.I.A. director Mike Pompeo, whom Trump allegedly asked to pressure Comey into dropping the Russia probe, has also been interviewed by Mueller’s team. (Steve Bannon, Trump’s spurned former chief strategist is also expected to speak with Mueller this month.)

Whether Trump actually testifies is another story. There is a strong legal argument that would allow the president to avoid an interview—and little political upside to acquiescing. While Trump has previously said that he’s “100 percent” willing to sit down with the special counsel, in recent interviews he has been more evasive, sidestepping the question by asserting that there was “no collusion,” and telling reporters on Tuesday, “we’ll see what happens.” According to the Post, White House lawyers are negotiating the details of Trump’s potential interview and are pushing for a mix of face-to-face and written questions. Even if Trump does agree to meet with F.B.I. investigators, he could invoke his Fifth Amendment rights—“I don’t think there is any gain for him to speak to Mueller,” Renato Mariotti, a former Chicago prosecutor, told Smith. “My guess is that the White House conversation weighing the legal versus the political downsides happened months ago—and that this whole effort to undermine and attack Mueller is a way to try to reduce the political downside of taking the Fifth.”

But Trump may not take the easy out; behind the scenes, he has reportedly made it clear that he’s not worried about being interviewed because he “has done nothing wrong.” Trump’s confidence may ultimately be the thing that most imperils him—he would be bound by oath not to exaggerate or mischaracterize, and the president’s aversion to facts is practically record-setting. “By talking to the government, you’re running an enormous risk of a false statement or perjury,” white-collar defense attorney Robert Bennett told Smith. “You can only let your client testify if you know he’ll tell the truth.”