Before the election, much was made of Donald Trump’s promise to be “a dictator on day one.” Trump’s critics and Trump himself said his medium would be executive orders — but this time used not as an ordinary instrument of policy-making so much as an extraordinary instrument of extra-constitutional governing.
In any event, the first executive orders of Trump’s second administration are largely an organized pursuit of his campaign pledges. They amount to a somewhat bolder exercise of presidential power than is customary for an incoming president, but nothing approaching the exercise of dictatorial power.
The seeming exception is the order abolishing birthright citizenship, which sounds straightforwardly unconstitutional and seems likely to be struck down by courts. In that case, the measure of whether or not it is an example of dictatorial power comes down to whether he is willing to directly confront the courts. There’s little chance of that. Trump himself has said it’s up to the courts — not exactly how a dictator talks. In reality, the birthright order is a win-win sop to his base: if upheld, he gets what he wanted; if struck down, then he did what they wanted. And if the courts do approve the order, it becomes part of that long, dark tradition of the courts putting a legal stamp on the extension and expansion of presidential power.
It is striking, however, that he has not imposed any tariffs yet. All the explanatory noise coming from Trump confidants is that they are likely to be targeted or even graduated, to avoid dramatic one-off price changes. I am guessing Trump is worried about two things: First, inflation. He backed himself into a corner with the inflation versus tariff stuff, and he knows it.
Second, the stock market. He’s obsessed with it, constantly bringing it up in his interminable speeches and freewheeling conversations with journalists. He is worried about strong negative swings — too worried, in all…
Auteur: Alex Gourevitch
