Pushback on Trump's power

Gordon L. Weil

When President Trump was asked about any limits on his powers in world affairs, he replied, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

His view that he makes his own rules also applies to his authority in domestic affairs.  He has ignored the Constitution and laws.  His first year in office has shown his remarkable ability to do almost whatever he wanted without anybody being able to limit his moves.

In international affairs, American military and economic power discourage other nations from opposing him.  Most countries have accepted his unilateral actions, but he faced unexpected opposition.  China and Canada pushed back on his tariff policy, concluding that appeasement would not work.  Opposing his claim to Greenland, Europe has strongly backed Denmark.

In domestic affairs, Trump intimidated House and Senate GOP majorities by threatening to support primary challengers to disloyal Republicans.  His strategy worked, allowing him to get his way politically.  The thin red line held.  The Democrats could do nothing more than flail.  When he overrode Congress, the Supreme Court usually approved.

Signs are now emerging that his absolute power is limited.

His standing in public opinion polls has slipped.  A majority of the public is dissatisfied in all policy areas and in his overall performance.   Buoyed by good 2025 election results, the Democrats have begun to hope those sentiments would bring 2026 election victories, gaining them a congressional check on his actions.

Recently, his virtually total hold on congressional Republicans has begun to weaken.   House GOP representatives openly charge they are ignored.  A few Republicans have decided not to seek reelection. 

One probable reason for these signs of diminished loyalty is despair over Congress having lost most of its powers.  It is often bypassed or taken for granted.  And, some of his most loyal backers worry openly that he is abandoning basic MAGA isolationist commitments by sending American forces into conflicts involving Iran, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela.

MAGA loyalty verges on being a political cult, where anything Trump decides is deemed to be necessary and appropriate.  But its is now being challenged by some of its most loyal followers.   They align increasingly with traditional, conservative Republicans, who are not Trump backers.

The Democrats gained from resisting cuts to the Affordable Care Act, even though the result was a government shutdown.  Millions of Americans were placed in jeopardy by the GOP policy and are suffering from the end of the subsidies.  They are forced to pay budget-breaking premiums or lose coverage altogether.   

Some Republicans sought to adopt a short extension, allowing time for dealing with ACA reform, but the House was kept out of session, making any negotiations impossible.  Some members faced constituent anger.   They found that Trump & Co. put this government cost-cutting ahead of real human needs. 

This month, the dam broke.  Overcoming the obstinacy from GOP legislative leaders who followed Trump’s wishes, eleven House Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to extend the ACA subsidies.  The political reality of voter discontent pushed them to break ranks.  This was a major split with the president.

Previously, Congress had passed two bills unanimously.  One would bring a fresh water conduit to a part of Colorado. The other aided the Miccosukee Indian tribe in Florida and enhanced the environment.  Trump vetoed both bills.

He demands that the Democratic governor of Colorado pardon an MAGA-oriented election clerk convicted by a jury of tampering with voting machines, but the governor refuses.  Thus, the veto.   The tribe opposes the nearby Alligator Alcatraz for immigrants, which he favors.  Thus, the veto. 

It takes two-thirds of the House to override a veto and, in both cases, some Republicans lined up with Democrats.  But the result fell short of the required number as most GOP House members flipped their position to support the president.  Still, the defections showed that Trump’s absolute control is slipping.

The third event came after the Venezuela incursion.  The Senate voted that taking further Trump action there could be subject to a congressional override.  Though the resolution won’t become law and would not be used if it passed, five GOP senators were willing to break with a furious president. 

Maine Sen. Susan Collins was one of the five, and Trump said she should never again be elected to office.   Does he want her to face a MAGA primary challenger?  Does he want his loyalists to sit out the election?   Either way, he could be helping the Democrats pick up the seat. 

All this pushback happened in the one week of the new year.  For the first time in his second term, he was seriously and repeatedly challenged by his own party members.  He was not forced to change any policy, but he has now faced open GOP congressional concern with his being left to rule, checked only by his own “morality.”  

Trump seeks 'sphere of influence'

 

Gordon L. Weil

Make America Great Again assumes that the country had a golden past.

President Trump wants to recover it.  

The world’s major powers once dominated regions and other countries that fell within their so-called “sphere of influence.”   In those areas, the major power, its influence usually determined by the size of its economy and its military, called the shots.  That was their golden age.

Now, Trump seems to accept the world being divided among three great powers, each with its sphere of influence.  China, Russia and the U.S. would dominate.  The American sphere would encompass the entire Western Hemisphere, from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to Greenland and from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

The U.S. area would be run under the newly created “Donroe Doctrine.”   President James Monroe warned of the use of American power to prevent further European colonization of Latin America.  Trump would extend his doctrine to allow U.S. power to be deployed throughout the hemisphere in the pursuit of economic and military advantage.

By understanding this policy, Trump’s moves on Venezuela, Greenland and Canada are explained.  The policy is unconstrained to the point that he can aspire to have his northern neighbors be absorbed by the U.S.  His minions imply that the country has the power to take what it wants.

In the case of Venezuela, America soldiers were deployed into the country, seized people and transported them to an American courtroom.  In the wake of this incursion, Trump made clear his intention to control Venezuela policy, and particularly its oil industry.

In fact, it worked so well that President Trump believes he has the “option” of using military force to seize Greenland, a sparsely populated Danish territory, and make it part of the U.S.  That might violate the law, but that wouldn’t matter. 

Who would enforce the law and either stop Trump or punish him and the U.S.?  Neither Venezuela nor Denmark has the power to block him.  What about the UN or Congress?

The UN Security Council met urgently to discuss the Venezuela situation, but no vote was taken on the American action.   If there had been a vote, the UN Charter might have provided a way to deny the U.S. its Council vote and hence, its veto.

It took no action because China and Russia, whose representatives spoke harshly about the U.S., don’t want an open conflict that could flare into real war.  Other Council members are either intimidated by the U.S. or dependent on it or both.

Trump used his status as commander-in-chief of the military to move into Venezuela.  He considers his military command gives him virtually unlimited authority to act.  With Congress having ceded many of its powers to the president, it does not employ the power of the purse.  It does not claim its right to declare war.  Impeachment alone would not deter him.  

The Supreme Court has usually endorsed his expansive view of the presidency.  It would normally leave a judgment up to Congress.  And some issues, like the kidnapping of the self-anointed president and his wife and their special status might fall outside of the scope of the case.

Trump’s asserts national security concerns, but he lacks evidence.   In Venezuela, he repeatedly has shown that his prime interest is oil.  In Greenland, he wants access for military bases and to minerals.

Trump’s actions are consistent with traditional American policy.  While people may find notions of democracy and neutrality in the country’s founding documents, the U.S. has long practiced “gunboat diplomacy” – the pursuit by force of American foreign policy objectives relating to smaller nations, especially in this hemisphere.

His sphere of influence policy encounters opposition in Europe, but countries there still decline to make the economic sacrifices needed to build their own defense, and he pays little attention to them.  To him, the EU is a threat to the U.S.

If there are downsides, they could come from the long-term consequences of his actions.  Trump looks for short-term results that would ensure he gets the credit.  Whatever his successes, animosity and even enmity has grown in neighboring countries in the hemisphere.  They could turn toward America’s rivals.

More desirable but less likely would be the recovery of Congress and the restoration of institutional checks on the president.  The legislative branch has abdicated its responsibilities, putting the institution itself in jeopardy.   Its integrity is threatened by members pushing partisanship ahead of preserving Congress. 

The UN’s leading members have given up on it.  The UN Charter is a treaty under international law, but is routinely ignored.  It might still be made to work instead allowing it to recede further as an irrelevant anachronism.

But everybody keeps their heads down.   That leaves Trump, violating laws and treaties, to remake the world as he wishes.

Trump in Caribbean may enjoy immunity

 

Gordon L. Weil

The furor over the shooting of two survivors of an armed attack on a Caribbean vessel is all about who gave the execution order.

But there’s a lot more to it than that.  It gets to the essence of the Trump presidency.

The central issue joins the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision on presidential power with Trump’s view of himself.  The combined effect may be to have created a presidency of unlimited power.  The only restraints on Trump are either the formal, if extremely remote, possibility of his removal from office, or an electoral rebellion by voters across the country.

The question before the Supreme Court was whether presidents could face criminal charges for actions taken while they were in office.  To answer that question, the Court made a sweeping statement about the extent of presidential powers.

Presidents are completely immune from any legal control when they exercise the specific powers delegated to them in the Constitution, it ruled.  For example, the power to issue pardons, liberally used by Trump, cannot in any way be questioned or limited by Congress.  Acting as commander-in-chief, potentially against Venezuela, may also be immune.

In contrast, the Court found that presidents are completely subject to control when they clearly act in a private capacity, without any official authority being involved. Such actions may be difficult to identify.

A problem arises when they exercise powers that are at the edge of their authority or which they share with Congress.  The Court said they must be presumed to enjoy immunity, though the Court will have to determine case-by-case if they went too far.  It made no judgment on Trump, but sent the cases back to the district courts where they died when he became president.

The Court reveals that it is highly unlikely to find that presidents had exceeded their legal authority.  If they applied the law differently from congressional intentions by using their own interpretation, they would be presumed to enjoy immunity.  Trump may be right when he claims he is not strictly bound by the law.  His immunity covers his appointees, like Hegseth.

Relevant to the Caribbean case, the Court planted a little noticed bombshell.  The Constitution requires presidents to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed …,” but the Court ruled that requirement applies “domestically.”  It seemingly set a different standard for the exercise of presidential powers as commander-in-chief and in managing foreign affairs. 

Destroying alleged drug-smuggling vessels on the high seas is not “domestic.”  Might the president avoid faithfully executing the laws of war even if they have been adopted in U.S. law? 

Could the president order an invasion of another country without a declaration of war if there is no remedy besides impeachment?

Can the president allow violations of the Nuremberg rules of international law that ban subordinates’ claims that they were “just following orders?” 

The Court seems to say that if presidents act as commander-in-chief, they are not bound by the law.  They must only obey the Constitution, which offers a lot of leeway in interpretation.

Most past presidents, with the notable exception of Richard Nixon who quit before he was convicted, have followed constitutional understandings that embody the spirit of the American Revolution against the British king and the intentions of the Framers of the Constitution.  Trump has pushed his authority beyond those historical limits.

His approach appears to flow from an inbred notion of his personal superiority.  His special qualities allow him to disrespect other people and nations.  Nobody has the right to his respect or even courtesy, because he operates on a uniquely elevated level, as validated by voters.

When it comes to immigrants, he seeks to operate as prosecutor, judge and jury simply to exercise his personal prejudices, especially involving non-white people and nations.  His policies are predicated on obvious falsehoods.  He must know he is lying to Congress, the media and the public.

He has no respect for Congress. Its Republican majority clings to their seats and privileges, and appease his excesses to avoid his backing a primary challenger.   They have abdicated the preeminent constitutional role of Congress, thus failing to hold him accountable.  He ignores them with impunity.   He regards the Democrats as “the enemy.”

If his policy runs against the law, he overrules it.  His policy then becomes the law.  See DEI.  See USAID.  Perhaps he has gone too far with the Caribbean killings or having been caught trying to escape his previous promises about revealing the Epstein files.   Congressional Republicans seem restive, but it’s probably too early to call it courage.

The American Republic is united not by common ethnicity, but by common ethics.  With the Court’s backing, Trump sheds historical balances and restraints and offers instead dangerous change, with the clear message, “I am the law.”   

 

Nobel sends a message, going beyond 2025 Peace Price

 

Gordon L. Weil

This is not a column about “I told you so” and my forecast that President Trump would not win the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize,

It is a column about “They told you so.”

The Prize Committee announcement of Maria Corina Machado, a Venezuelan, was a brilliant display of meanings and messages aimed at everybody from Trump to all of us.

In selecting Machado, the Nobel Committee sent three messages. 

First, it favors recognizing people who have made personal sacrifices on behalf of the rights of others. 

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades.  Andrej Sakharov was sent into internal Russian exile.  Carl von Ossietsky, a German journalist who revealed that the Nazis were breaking arms agreements, died in their prison.  Martin Luther King, Jr.  Maria Corina Machado.

Machado lives in hiding from the Venezuelan regime.  Her political movement saw its national election victory stolen.  She fights on.  The Nobel Committee is not sure she will be in Oslo to receive the award or how she is being protected.

The second message is that Venezuela is under authoritarian rule, which impoverishes its people. In this view, it shares Trump’s outlook and his desire to see a new government there. The Committee made it difficult for Trump to criticize the decision.

The third message is that individual action matters.  National figures have been recognized, but a single person, taking risks and showing courage, can awaken others to action.  The Prize recognizes and encourages individuals who try to change the course of history toward peace.  Many winners were unknown before their selection, which turned a spotlight on their causes.

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee laid out its focus clearly.  It said: “Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence…. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation.”

Without democracy, it argues, there cannot be lasting peace.  The Committee’s concerns apply to the United States today and to other countries increasingly made to feel more comfortable in sliding into autocratic rule, following the American lead.

Trump will most likely hope that a successful deal for the future of Gaza will earn him next year’s Prize, and he is sure to promote himself for it.  The world should be served well if there is such a deal.  But it is premature now to conclude that a deal, even if reached, will be fulfilled by Hamas or Israel.  Much may depend on the role of Arab states.

Trump and his backers compartmentalize, stressing his efforts for peace, while setting aside his hostility toward others.  He has transformed world trade, not through negotiations, but by sheer force.  He has bombed Iran.  He sinks boats on the high seas.  He has created a War Department, imbued with the “warrior ethos.”  He covets other countries.  He “hates” his opponents.

While no Peace Prize winner was a perfect person, their character pervaded their lives and their words.  Trump asks the Nobel Committee to segregate his peacemaking from the rest of his actions.  But this is not the Best Actor at the Oscars, awarded no matter whatever else the star has done.  The winner here must be seen as a laudable model.

What is the Committee’s message for the rest of us?  Individual action on behalf of democracy and peace matters.

If we care about the course of our country, each person needs to decide what they can do as an individual to preserve and promote democracy and peace.  Handwringing and sloganeering are not actions. 

The Nobel Committee said: “Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended….”