Donald Trump and the Royal American Presidency
Foreign leaders know they must bring a gift when they meet with President Trump. They must "kiss the ring" and show deference. The idea that the US has an "imperial Presidency" goes back at least to Arthur Schlesingers book with that title. But now we have a virtually untouchable "royal" President.
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson used the term "king" while dissenting in the President's immunity case.
And the scope of his absolution is breathtaking. President Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up paying hush money to his lawyer for a prostitute. But the court "unconditionally discharged" the convictions when he was reelected. His status as President somehow nullified the criminal case, though nobody is supposed to be above the law.
Right now, the President is refusing to comply with a US Supreme Court directive to “facilitate” the return of an immigrant who has been illegally deported to El Salvador. These are simple examples of how President acts above the law. Trump even quoted from Napolean that “He who saves his country does not violate any law.”
Moreover, there was overwhelming evidence supporting President Trump’s impeachments regarding foreign interference in his first election, and later for his incitement of the January 6 Capiol riots. Yet the Senate failed to convict him each time. Again democracy loses.
Indeed, no President has ever been convicted in impeachment proceedings though one can speculate President Nixon would have. But that is just speculation. Many say Watergate showed the system worked. Yet Nixon would have survived but for the stupidity of his taping conversations and John Dean disclosing the fact.
No less a figure than FDR interned thousands of Japanese Americans, and President Abraham Lincoln likely violated the U.S. Constitution during the Civil War. And President Andrew Jackson did not implement a Supreme Court ruling regarding the Cherokee Nation. Yet nothing happened to these Presidents. But those Presidential examples of flouting the legal system are paltry, and occurred in special historical circumstances compared to President Trump. They, do, however, show the scope of Presidential authority even with normal presidents.
The Trump catalogue goes. There are the executive orders, refusals to implement court orders, and bountiful administrative agencies carrying out Presidential directives.
And above all, the Supreme Court recently gave the President immunity from prosecution for illegal acts while carrying out core duties and outer perimeter duties.
Two realities are evident from our history and especially from the first three months of the second Trump presidency.
First, democracy and the rule of law in this country depend on the good faith of the citizenry and our leaders, as Erwin Chemerinsky wrote in a Feb.12, 2025 San Francisco Chronicle op-ed. As we are seeing now with the Trump Administration, a mendacious, power hungry, and greedy President is almost invincible.
And second, the fact that the US Supreme Court, the rest of the judiciary, and Congress have no military leaves these bodies without force. The bottom line is that once President Trump took office a second time, he definitely became royalty, despite our Constitution's protestation to the contrary.
--Mark Kende