America’s gathering legal storm

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In less than three weeks, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the US president for the second time. Although much of his appeal stems from his disregard for convention, Trump is a very predictable figure after losing the 2020 election The same goes for his view that officials owe their allegiance to him personally, not to the US constitution.

In his first term, Trump often lost his cool when his more reckless wishes were blocked by government lawyers, Pentagon officials, intelligence agencies, and others in the so-called power departments. rules and conventions.” Former Attorney General Bill Barr claimed that in his first term, Trump proposed “the death penalty to subdue.” Barr said he wasn’t worried about Trump’s impulses because he knew they would fail.

Such complacency is no longer worthy. Last July, the Supreme Court significantly strengthened Trump’s powers, granting almost complete immunity for the president’s “official acts.” Theoretically it may include killing political opponents. In practice, it will almost certainly involve a legal witch hunt against Trump’s detractors in politics, the media, and civil society. Some of them include former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. former president Mark Milli, he singled out many times.

It would be rash to assume that the punitive impulse will stop at the water’s edge before Trump even takes office threatened to alienate The Panama Canal, returned to Panamanian sovereignty in 1999 and expressed projects Greenlandwhich was under Danish sovereignty for a long time. While Democratic and Republican administrations have ignored international law when it suits them, none have come close to Trump’s contempt for that very concept. The world should prepare for a far less reserved Trump in his second term than last time.

Trump caliber senior candidates should focus thoughts at home and abroad. Weight Patelas head of the FBI, Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Pete Hegsett as the US Secretary of Defense, the loudest alarms. Patel is a staunch Trump loyalist who has published his enemies list.Gabbard was a fan of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal, recently ousted regime and often parrots Vladimir Putin’s propaganda on Ukraine the military should be purged and replaced with Trump loyalists.

The US Senate can be the most effective check on Trump’s illiberal impulses. Republicans have a slim 53-47 majority. That’s all it would take to block a Republican nominee. Indeed, Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first choice for attorney general, had to withdraw when it became clear that he lacked votes. True conservatives, of course, recognize that the rule of law is at the heart of the US tradition and the market economy. The Senate should block the confirmation of Patel, Gabbard, and Hegseth. The lower courts, the media, and civil society also have ample opportunity to dampen Trump’s worst impulses.

Like all strongmen, Trump fears the sycophants. He has threatened to use his presidential powers to target those who stand in his way. The US system is about to get the mother of all stress tests , above all, will be the most precious virtue in the coming months.