Commentary: Trump’s unprecedented power grab has repercussions abroad.
- noemieviterale
- Sep 18
- 1 min read
U.S. President Donald Trump has driven out of his party nearly everyone with the temerity to challenge him, write Steven R Okun and Thurgood Marshall Jr.
SINGAPORE: One cannot benchmark Donald Trump against any other US president.
While others have pushed the boundaries of presidential power, including former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden using executive orders to override congressional inaction, the incumbent obliterates them.
Mr Trump determined the US Constitution does not afford birthright citizenship, declared national emergencies that grant him the power to issue sweeping tariffs, and ordered the national guard into US cities to tackle a “crime emergency”.
He used the power of the state to force media companies and law firms to acquiesce to his demands, placed unqualified loyalists into Cabinet posts, threatened Republican senators to vote to confirm them, and pulled out of multilateral institutions.
No other US president took such actions collectively.
