The Atlantic

The Strangest Thing About Trump’s Approach to Presidential Power

Many presidents have pushed the limits of their authority. But not like this.
Source: Leah Millis / Reuters

Donald Trump’s take on executive power is peculiar, but not merely because he’s reaching for more of it.

Expanding presidential prerogatives is practically part of the job description in the modern era. So when Trump’s all-caps flirtation with a self-pardon this week launched a new round of concerns about the president’s use of executive power, many of those concerns were, in part, misdirected.

That’s not to say that Trump’s behavior is normal. In suggesting that he might pardon himself—even as he insisted that he had done nothing to necessitate it—Trump implied that he was not so much above the law as beyond it entirely. And Trump’s unprecedented assertion to self-pardon comes at a time when his legal team is busy making other questionable claims—like the idea that the president can reasonably resist a subpoena, and the assertion, made by Rudy Giuliani, that Trump couldn’t be indicted even if he were to shoot former FBI Director James Comey.

Critics see this, rightly, as part of . “We overthrew control by a monarchy, and the Constitution signals in multiple places that the president is subject to law,” , a law professor at Ohio.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic3 min readAmerican Government
The Strongest Case Against Donald Trump
If Donald Trump beats Nikki Haley on Saturday in her home state of South Carolina, where he leads in the polls, he’s a cinch to win the GOP nomination. And if he wins the GOP nomination, he has a very good shot at winning the presidency. So it’s wort
The Atlantic4 min read
Your Phone Has Nothing on AM Radio
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. There is little love lost between Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Rashida Tlaib. She has called him a “dumbass” for his opposition to the Paris Climate Agre
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The GOP Has Crossed an Ominous Threshold on Foreign Policy
The long decline of the Republican Party’s internationalist wing may have reached a tipping point. Since Donald Trump emerged as the GOP’s dominant figure in 2016, he has championed an isolationist and nationalist agenda that is dubious of internatio

Related Books & Audiobooks