List of particulars: How Trump has consolidated his dictatorial powers in eleven months

List or particulars: How Trump has consolidated his dictatorial, king-like powers in eleven months. In the Declaration of Independence, the colonists listed their objection to the king acting like a tyrant. Here is my list. This has been a firehose of many different steps he has taken to destroy the fundamental foundations of our Constitutional democracy...so much so, those of us supporting democracy are so involved in the outrage du jour, we lose track of the total picture and get caught up in the news story of the day. 

Trump is in the process of building his own paramilitary force. He is invoking wartime powers to deport people without due process, even suggesting that American citizens may be sent to foreign prisons. He has deployed National Guard troops to cities over the objections of local officials. That one is still being contested in the Courts, though lower courts have generally ruled against the Trump position. Trump has signaled that he is open to invoking the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows the president to deploy the military in the United States. And he has claimed, without legal justification, that he has the right to order the military to summarily kill people suspected of smuggling drugs on boats off the coast of South America.  This one is the hot one on the burner now.

The  firing of the JAGs is just one element of a broader purge of the military, which started at the beginning of Trump’s second term in February, five former defense secretaries, including James Mattis,

In fact, we were warned that this and other purges would happen in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025. 2025 was a blueprint for two purposes: rule by white Christian nationalists and enable it by making the president a virtual dictator by replacing executive branch civil servants with political appointees pledged to the cause.  So far, 2025 is on track. The telltale phrase was the destruction of DEI throughout, and the proponents were devotees of a unitary form of government with all power in the executive branch. The chief author of 2025 was Russell Vought, whom Trump appointed as Director of Management and Budget ( and personnel) with the power to carry out the purges. The 2025 plan was to do away with supervisory civil service positions and make the positions political. That was not done, and instead, positions and whole agencies were eliminated in addition to purges. All during 2025, the Heritage Foundation was vetting for ideological purity the potential appointees to replace civil servants. All has not gone as planned since the incompetence of replacements has resulted in amateurish mistakes that have backfired on the administration itself. https://thehill.com/opinion/5059017-trump-cabinet-nominees-unqualified

Trump views himself as the final arbiter of the legality of anything he does. An executive order he signed in February says, “The President and the Attorney General’s opinions on questions of law are controlling on all employees in the conduct of their official duties. No employee of the executive branch acting in their official capacity may advance an interpretation of the law as the position of the United States that contravenes the President or the Attorney General’s opinion on a matter of law.” For greater detail, go to MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: How Trump is destroying the rule of law, replacing it with the rule of Trump

Trump is suggesting that the Federal Communications Commission should revoke the licenses of television broadcasters that give him too much “bad publicity” and is suing major newspapers and networks.  The 6-3Trump Supreme Court is expected to rule that all independent agencies will no longer be independent and will be comprised of the partisans of the president.  That will affect the FCC, as well as the FDA and FTC.

Trump has pressured the Department of Justice to target, indict, and destroy those he considers to be his political enemiesTrump has pressured the Department of Justice to target, indict, and destroy those he considers to be his political enemies. Ask Letitia James and Jim Comey how those attempts have bit the dust.  Nonetheless, even the act of charging it regardless of the outcome in courts is a painful hammer. To say this is an abuse of power is an understatement.

Trump has usurped the Congressional powers to levy across-the-board non-security-related tariffs. The Supreme Court has heard the arguments, but there is no hurry to decide. Cosco has filed a heavyweight lawsuit on this matter, but in the meantime, the tariffs continue.  This is an abuse of power that has repercussions on consumer affordability and even the ability of some to stay in business.  This one may not set well with the conservative members of the Supreme Court who are, in their ideological hearts, free traders.

Trump has violated the civil rights of migrants with warrantless detentions and racial profiling. Colorado has gotten a lower Federal court decision to stop the ICE practice...but no doubt the 6-3 Supreme Court may weigh in. Federal judge restricts how ICE can arrest people in Colorado, calling past conduct ‘unlawful’ - The Journal