President Donald Trump’ authoritarian instincts have long been transparent. But as his presidency stretches on, he’s figuring out how to take those instincts and apply them to the powers he has — consolidating power within his branch at the cost of others.
A string of events and revelations this week showed how Trump is accruing authority, abusing his power, threatening to violate the law, thwarting the checks on his office, and attempting to install loyalists wherever he can.
The week began with the purge of the Department of Homeland Security. Trump ousted Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen because he reportedly grew frustrated when she repeatedly refused to violate the law. And according to CNN, he told border agents last Friday that they should ignore the law and refuse to admit asylum seekers.
If judges tried to force them to allow asylum seekers into the country, he reportedly said, they should respond with: “Sorry, judge, I can’t do it. We don’t have the room.”
View the complete April 12 article by Cody Fenwick on the National Memo website here.