Trump: “I think I have more power now.”

As far as being among the worst presidents Trump is far closer to Andrew Johnson who tried to reverse the effects of the Civil War and like Trump was also impeached and although unlike Trump he came very close to being removed from office and James Buchanan whose policies set the stage for the Civil War.

 

No doubt that MAGA would like Trump to have as much power as possible, but keeping promises simply cannot be our guiding principle, as a candidate could promise anything. Would we fight to allow a president to reinstitute slavery or abolish the constitution? I should hope not.

What we really want is a way to filter out bad promises and only deliver on the good ones. Separation of powers and checks and balances was the great American innovation to accomplish just this. Once those walls are broken down, we no longer have a system to accomplish this task. Madison quotes Montisquieu (Fed 47):

The reasons on which Montesquieu grounds his maxim are a further demonstration of his meaning. "When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body," says he, "there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner." Again: "Were the power of judging joined with the legisla-tive, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge would then be the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor.”​

I found this article this morning, highlighting just this danger of marriage between the legislature and the executive.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/03/trump-interview-megabill-rachael-bade-00438195What Trump Told Me About His Complete Domination of Congress - POLITICO

 

Trump doesn’t represent all of us, but he does represent everything that’s old, ugly, and bigoted.

 

I just love how you attempted to imply that just Trump supporters want their candidate to have power, have you turned a blind eyed the libbies the last 4 years

 

Yes, he does, even those in denial, hateful, ignorant like the left

 

At least Trump hasn't proposed a UFC fight on the White House grounds to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. That would be unusually tacky and low-class, even for Trump.

 

What we’re disagreeing on is the use of the word “Represent” which has several meanings. Yes he represents the United States government to foreign leaders, but as far as the U.S. voters are concerned he only represents a specific subset of the population that align with his ethical and moral views called MAGA. Not every American is MAGA so in that respect he doesn’t represent everyone.

 

Wrong, he represents all of us just like the last idiot in office

 

Dubya?

 

If you voted for Obama, then... You have to own Trump.

 

How do you figure?

 

Obama was snarky, dismissive and racist…and condescending to half the nation.
He divided the country with the help of his msm.
Trump saw Obama’s behavior and decided to give the libbies a taste of their own medicine.

 

Please. They're so different it's like they're different species. So some people thought Obama was "snarky and dismissive," so what? Were feelings hurt? I wonder how people will feel when their clinic, healthcare and insurance, school lunches, civil service jobs, national parks, and safety regulations are gone. Did Obama strong arm the universities? Slash the CDC and Veteran's Administration budgets? Agitate the entire world over a fever dream of foolishness--Canada as a state, Greenland as a state, renovate Alcatraz, build a Gazan Riviera?

Did Obama make up snarky little immature nicknames for everyone? Hawk pathetic products like a carny barker?

I don't think so.

 

Thanks for owning it like a big girl.

 

Yeah right, so who is in charge if we need to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb? The entire congress? How secret would that bombing mission have been if every communist in our congress knew those plans ahead of time? Do you think one of "the squad" would have kept that quiet?

Trump is exactly the man/president our country needed at this point in time. And GOD saved his life from that assassin's bullet for a reason.

 

Man, God must hate firefighters to reach down and deflect a bullet right into one. When messianic myth telling joins with a lack of critical thinking, some funny stuff occurs.

 

To be fair, you did imply you wanted Trump to achieve all his promises and that we would be screwed if the other branches stood in his way.

But I also focused on Trump because that is the topic of the thread. I’m happy to discuss other presidents if you like. While I don’t see how Biden acted to be comparable, I do think Obama had a similar desire to get things done without congress. Though I don’t recall many conservatives on here back then defending him for it.