Trump, a Reformer?

In principle, he has few limits on what looks like an attempt to reshape the U.S. government through a tidal wave of executive orders.

Within a week of being sworn in as president of the United States for the second time, Donald Trump seems hell-bent on pushing and expanding “his” presidential authority as much as he can.

In principle, he has few limits on what looks like an attempt to reshape the U.S. government through a tidal wave of executive orders or administrative actions.

Trump came to power with a nationalist, vindictive, expansionist rhetoric. Although he failed to win an absolute majority in the popular vote, he did achieve an absolute majority in the electoral vote. Plus, although small, he managed to keep his Republican Party in control of the Senate and the lower House, as well as having considerable influence in the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court of Justice.

Trump and his allies are claiming a popular mandate, perhaps to present a series of faits accomplis before opponents have the time or chance to neutralize them.

In part this is not new. The U.S. president’s scramble to obtain and exercise more power is part of the struggle between legally and theoretically equal powers. However, both Trump and his predecessors have expanded the powers of their office to the extent that, as early as the 1960s, historian Arthur Schlesinger spoke of “the imperial presidency.”

In Trump’s case, not only is he the leader of the Make America Great Again movement that today dominates the Republican Party, but he is feared by Republicans themselves, starting with members of Congress. Plus, he has the loyalty and gratitude of six of the nine Supreme Court justices.

And unlike what happened in his first administration (2017-2021), this time he has no roadblocks. Right off the bat, he seems to be following a roadmap — akin, if not identical, to that of conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — to remove obstacles through the firings of politically untrustworthy employees. According to several sources, he does not like to listen to advice contrary to his will.

This time he seeks to reform the U.S. government in his image, including reducing its size and impact on society — and, incidentally, to take revenge on those he considers as having done him some harm, as well as on his opponents.

His first measures have ranged from launching a campaign of deportations of undocumented immigrants to the cancellation of diversity, equity, inclusion practices and a “pause” in federal grants and loans.

According to The New York Times, Trump’s position involves stretching the limits of his authority, the resistance of institutions, the strength of a nearly two-and-a-half century-old system and the tolerance of some of his own allies.

Trump now poses a fundamental challenge to the expectations of what a president can and should do, says Mitchel Sollenberger, professor of political science at Dearborn University, Michigan.