The Guardian's editorial board has issued a stark warning that Donald Trump's second term is transforming the American presidency into a medieval-style court, where personal enrichment and unchecked power reign. The editorial cites a 927-page document from the US Office of Government Ethics, released Tuesday, revealing that Trump has amassed $2bn since returning to office, with half of that sum coming from cryptocurrencies he has actively promoted.
Trump's Interpretation of Article 2
Trump has long claimed the Constitution grants him 'the right to do whatever I want as president,' an interpretation the Guardian describes as 'extremely unusual.' This view, the editorial argues, ties together recent headlines: a series of Supreme Court rulings largely favoring Trump, and the revelation of his vast income from golf courses, Trump-branded bibles, crypto, and lucrative overseas deals. Foreign tribute flows in, exemplified by Trump's first flight on a Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar.
Blurring Public and Private Spheres
The White House denies any conflict of interest, a stance the Guardian links to Trump's belief that there is no distinction between the president and the man. The editorial invokes sociologist Max Weber, who described modern bureaucracy as separating official activity from private life, with rules replacing 'individual privileges and bestowal of favour.' Trump, it says, has 'turned the clock back, reinventing the modern executive as a feudal court.'
Supreme Court Rulings: Mixed but Concerning
While the Supreme Court sometimes rejects Trump's maximalism, the Guardian says it does so 'far too rarely.' The court rebuffed Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook without cause, a decision the editorial welcomes. However, it also gave the president sweeping control to fire heads of formerly independent agencies, overturning a 1935 precedent. Furthermore, the court authorized ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants, affecting tens of thousands of Haitians and Syrians and potentially 1.3 million people facing deportation to unsafe countries. The broader implication, the Guardian warns, is that the court upheld the executive's ability to overreach without judicial recourse.
Concentration of Power
The editorial notes that carefully separated powers are being reintegrated, with legislation ignored and the judiciary falling in line. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote last year of the court's tendencies: 'This Administration always wins.' The Guardian argues that the case for Supreme Court reform is growing, driven by the court's own actions.
What truly distinguishes Trump's court, the editorial concludes, is its 'sheer reach and impact,' as seen in the illegal Iran war. While important constraints remain, the US must ask itself how to reassert the checks Trump has destroyed, especially as the nation celebrates 250 years of independence under a president wielding more power than any monarch.
