President Donald Trump seems to relish creating conspicuous displays of his personal power.
He surrounds himself with cabinet members and officials who publicly praise him. He attacks world leaders who have fallen from his favour. And he pressures some of the biggest US corporations to do his bidding.
Approaching the halfway point of his second term in the White House, Trump recently told an interviewer “there are no limits” to his power.
It’s a sentiment that seems the antithesis of the so-called American experiment, which began 250 years ago when the country declared its independence from British monarchical rule.
What would those revolutionaries make of the current head of state? Not much, his critics say.
Millions have marched in anti-Trump protests around the US and the world under the banners of “No Kings”, “Democracy Not Monarchy” and “We have a Constitution, Not a King”.
They say Trump is pushing his power further than previous presidents have dared to try.
He did not, for example, get congressional authorisation before launching a war in Iran. And he kept most lawmakers in the dark about the military operation in Venezuela to seize President Nicolás Maduro.
He also used emergency powers to bypass the need for legislation before imposing trade tariffs around the world – a move the Supreme Court later ruled to be unconstitutional.
By using the US Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute his perceived adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey, Trump is accused of ripping up the traditional separation between the White House and federal prosecutors that has existed since President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal.
“I don’t feel like a king,” Trump said recently when asked about those ‘No kings’ protests. “I have to go through hell to get things approved.”
Trump was, of course, elected having promised to enact sweeping and fundamental change to almost all areas of American policy and government. From immigration to trade to relations with America’s historic allies – many voters who backed Trump in 2024 over former President Joe Biden undoubtedly expected radical change.
Four in five Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing, according to the most recent YouGov polls. However, among all US voters, his approval rating has dropped below 40%, significantly down from the start of his second term.
