Trump’s Talk of Legality Is a Joke

When Donald Trump fired Fed Governor Lisa Cook, his reason was she allegedly falsified bank documents needed to obtain favorable mortgage rates on her homes in Michigan and Atlanta, Georgia. In response, Cook said Trump has no legitimate reason to fire her. She said she won’t resign and will instead sue him to contest his illegal behavior.

The Wall Street Journal said the U.S. has not had a president in more than a century who has challenged the independence of the Federal Reserve as Trump has done and that Trump wants to control the interest rate. If Cook is fired, Trump can appoint her replacement, of the seven members of the Fed board, more than half of the seven Fed board members will be his people, and this would be helpful in lowering interest rates.

Bloomberg columnist Stephen Carter predicts that Trump will undoubtedly lose such a lawsuit. However, winning or losing isn’t the point — Trump’s objective is to begin a war of attrition against Cook. The legal action will cost at least $100,000 while the government has 40,000 lawyers to defend the president. If the case goes to court, it will pit small fry against a whale.

Trump says Cook acted illegally and he has used his position of power to criticize Fed board members, so of course, everything Trump does must be legal, right?

• Before he became president, Trump involved in four major legal cases. In the “hush money” case, a jury fund Trump guilty on 34 felony charges for falsifying business records. Now that Trump is president, there may be a pardon for the federal convictions while the state cases in states are being dismissed.

• Trump’s tariffs on nearly 100 countries are quite controversial. According to the Constitution, the power to impose tariffs lies with Congress, yet Trump has used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to increase tariffs. This has in turn generated litigation, including cases filed by states who accused Trump of abusing his power.

• The Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. went public with the help of a special purpose acquisition company, pocketing at least $175 million while its stocks soared into the billions. After some pullback, it remained a significant asset. While not illegal, the president’s combination of his interests with his family’s, and of financial instruments with political power is extremely controversial.

• The Trump family has profited by at least $620 million from investments in cryptocurrencies. Through executive actions, Trump wants government agencies to pass legislation on cryptocurrencies that would inflate his family’s profits. This implicates conflicts of interest, ethical risks and damage to institutions.

• Qatar gifted Trump a $400 million Boeing airplane, which violates the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. The plane is still with the Department of Defense, where it’s undergoing remodeling. When Trump retires, it will go to his museum for him to use.

The Trumpism proposed by Trump during his presidency and characterized by its populist and authoritarian tendencies has not only weakened the resilience of democracy in the U.S., but also privatized politics and broken institutional norms. In the long term, this is seriously eroding the rule of law, the democratic system, capitalistic free markets and patriotic national identity. It also stands in sharp conflict with traditional American values. Trump is a loose canon and his behavior is unscrupulous. He doesn’t play by the rules and breaks them without substituting any new ones. He has no moral baseline and likes to lie. How is the next generation of Americans supposed to establish values and ethics?

Trump’s talk of legality is the biggest joke.