“When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total.” <
— President Trump, at a White House news briefing, April 13, 2020
Steve Holland, Reuters: “There’s a debate over what authority you have to order the country reopened. What authority do you have on this one?”
Trump: “Well, I have the ultimate authority.”
— Exchange at the briefing
At a coronavirus news briefing Monday, Trump said he could order hunkered-down states to reopen their economies. He claimed to have the “ultimate authority” on such decisions and that his authority was “total.”
This will be a short fact check, because the president of the United States is not a king.
The Facts
After declaring independence from Britain and shaking off the yoke of King George III, the Founders of the United States adopted a system of government in which power would be split between the states and a centralized federal government. Continue reading.