The United States Constitution is one of the world’s oldest continually implemented constitutions. The document, consisting of seven articles and 27 amendments, has been the basis of the rule of law in the United States, outlining the roles of each of the three branches of government, legislative, judicial, and executive, the limitations of power for each of the branches, and establishing a system of checks and balances to ensure that everyone stays within their limits. The respect afforded to, and implementation of this constitution, have been an essential part of the maintenance of US democracy. Still, over the last year and three months, we have seen the Trump administration show a complete disregard for the Constitution and the checks and balances that come with it.
Trump has tested the absolute limits of presidential power almost every day since he took office for a second time in 2025, ignoring legal limitations and finding loopholes wherever he can, with many comparing his presidency to that of Viktor Orbán in Hungary, in the sense that he is using ‘democratic’ means to centralize power. These attempts to increase the Executive’s power have been a major contributor to democratic backsliding in the US, with the US’s score in the V-Dem Liberal Democracy index declining by 24 percent in just a year under Trump. In a survey conducted by PBS, the American population has also felt this backsliding, with 68% of those interviewed believing that Checks and Balances aren’t working anymore, compared to the 34% who thought so when polled a year prior. That being said, although many of Trump’s actions have been legally disputed, a lot of his executive decisions have been violations of norms and not laws. For example, after just a month in office, Trump made an executive decision requiring independent agencies to submit their regulatory plans to the white house, and to adhere to the administration’s interpretations of legal issues, doing away with the long-standing norm that independent agencies handle their own regulatory planning. Although such a decision is legal, it not only breaks tradition but also expands the power of the president, granting him control over these independent agencies. Another notable example is the bombing of Iran. Although technically within his authority, since the president has the authority to launch limited strikes as long as they wouldn’t pose an immediate threat to the US, many have noted that these strikes risk a major regional conflict, and risk dragging the US into war. Those who dispute the strikes say that, due to the risks of bombing Iran specifically, they should require congressional approval, but through his disregard for such criticism, Trump is breaking the taboo surrounding such unilateral action.
Trump’s testing of the limits hasn’t just been limited to breaking convention, though, with many of the policies he pushed and signed on being completely illegal, often completely bypassing Congress and signing executive orders. His deployment of federal troops for policing on domestic soil, for example, is considered a breach of presidential authority and has been blocked by federal judges, requiring the president to withdraw the troops. That being said, deploying the troops at will to begin with, without prior approval, is a blatant attempt to give the president the ability to police states or cities that don’t support him, a direct threat to democracy in the United States. Trump has also called out many of the justices who have either blocked or spoken against his policies, calling them “a disgrace to our nation, those justices,” which in turn results in an undermining of the legal system put in place to protect the people if the president, or anyone else, attempts to infringe on their constitutional rights.
Trump’s undermining of US democracy hasn’t been limited to only policies. By granting people a one-on-one meeting with him if they donate a minimum of $1 million to Freedom250, a nonprofit meant to plan the country’s 250th birthday, he created a means to buy the president’s favor, allowing the people who can afford it to speak to the president about their respective agendas directly. Trump has also granted presidential pardons to those who flatter him, often through millions of dollars of donations to pro-Trump committees. His pardoning of the January 6th insurrectionists, alongside his other policies and actions, has also set a dangerous precedent; those who support the president are protected and given an advantage over those who don’t.
In just over a year, Trump has managed to do away with almost all of the conventional limits of executive power, and alongside his disregard for the legal limitations, he is slowly granting himself more and more power, further contributing to the erosion of democracy in the United States. Looking at the obvious favoring of his supporters, policing of his opposers, and undermining of both Congress and the judicial system meant to keep him in check, the trend becomes evident, and for the remaining three years of the Trump presidency, this creeping authoritarianism may prove to be one of the biggest threats to US democracy in the countries 250 year history.
I agree that the centralization of power in the executive poses a dangerous threat to America’s democracy and the structure of our traditional government. I think it was very smart to include Trump’s executive decision requiring independent agencies to submit their regulatory planning to the White House, as it is a great example of how our past norms are disintegrating quite rapidly under the Trump administration. It’s important that you discuss that these actions are legal, but break tradition. This is an example of the breakdown of the democratic norm known as “forbearance”. Scholars Levitsky and Ziblatt define forbearance as the idea that politicians should exercise restraint in deploying their institutional prerogatives. While legal, Trump’s actions delegitimize the democratic norms that we have held close to our system for so long. Your inclusion of Trump’s rhetoric towards those who are against him greatly supports your argument. This demonstrates Trump’s populist tactics by classifying those who defy him as “enemies of the people” or “a disgrace to our nation”. I find your comparison between Trump and Hungary’s Viktor Orban particularly interesting. I wish you could’ve gone a little more in depth about how these two political actors demonstrate similarities to one another.