ROBERTS Trump is not a king

Elon Musk hailed Donald Trump’s second presidential term as “the return of the king,” and Trump is acting that way, governing as if he possesses a divine right to exercise unlimited power.

He’s even described his mission in messianic terms: “I was saved by God to make America great again.” And he’s following a ruthless strategy of dismantling and discarding any and all obstacles that stand in his way.

This is a deeply dangerous and profoundly un-American moment. Trump won the election, fairly and decisively. But presidents are not monarchs. They must govern within the limits of law and tradition. Indeed, the Declaration of Independence is rooted in a rejection of “a history of repeated injuries and usurpations” imposed by the “King of Great Britain.”

The New York Times described this perilous period: “Even more than in his first term, President Trump has mounted a fundamental challenge to the norms and expectations of what a president can and should do.” Adds legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky in the Huffington Post: “He really wants to push executive power further than it’s ever been before.”

So far, Trump’s succeeding in that goal, in large part because he’s far better equipped to act like an emperor today than when he first took office eight years ago. Back then, he was an amateur politician (although a professional TV performer) who had never held public office and barely understood Washington’s power dynamics. He didn’t think he would win, and he brought few plans or advisers with him to the White House.

Today, he’s had four years of experience as president, and four more years to plot his return and revenge. He comes back with a vastly ambitious agenda and a dedicated team to make it happen. Plus, the Republican Party is far more loyal to him now, while the Democrats are far weaker, dispirited by their defeat and lacking a clear leader to resist the presidential onslaught.

One prime example of Trump’s assault on any guardrails that could restrict his actions: firing at least 17 inspectors general, those professional watchdogs who police government agencies for corrupt and lawless behavior. “It’s a widespread massacre,” one ousted official told the Washington Post. “Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”

At the Justice Department, the president has dismissed the lawyers who helped special counsel Jack Smith investigate and indict him, while reassigning career professionals who enforce laws Trump doesn’t like in areas such as environmental protection and immigration.

The unmistakable message is that anyone anywhere in the government who might say no to the president is in grave jeopardy. As one of his senior aides told the Times, Trump’s strategy “is intended to create a chilling effect so that career employees know they could be fired if they are not compliant.”

“Taken together,” summarized the Times, “the moves send a clear signal that Mr. Trump feels unconstrained about punishing the disloyal, that he is potentially willing to go further against his enemies than he had pledged on the campaign trail and that there will be a price for any opposition to come.”

Trump is not just trying to intimidate individuals, but whole institutions -- like Congress. He’s defied a law that would have banned the social media platform TikTok, and he issued an order impounding trillions of dollars in federal funds already authorized by lawmakers, which was temporarily blocked by a federal judge, then rescinded by the administration itself.

“His effort to claim extraordinary executive powers, however, threatens the independence of the congressional branch and the checks and balances built into the Constitution,” writes columnist Dan Balz in the Post. “He is operating as an all-powerful prime minister in a parliamentary system. Others would say he is trying to act as an authoritarian strongman.”

That’s exactly what he’s trying to do, and “the checks and balances built into the Constitution” will now be severely tested. In his first term, Trump appointed 226 federal judges -- including three to the Supreme Court -- but they serve for life, and have some measure of independence from the president’s influence. Already, a judge in Seattle, appointed by Ronald Reagan, has overruled Trump’s attempt to ban birthright citizenship as “blatantly unconstitutional.”

More acts of courage like that one will be needed to rein in the president -- by judges and watchdogs, lawyers and lawmakers, all Americans who take the Constitutional order seriously.

Shakespeare wrote in Henry IV, Part 2: “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Trump is not a king, but he must be made to feel uneasy when he rules like one.

Steven Roberts teaches politics and journalism at George Washington University. He can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.