{"id":17798,"date":"2025-11-20T20:06:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T20:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=17798"},"modified":"2025-11-20T20:06:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T20:06:42","slug":"america-in-crisis-a-constitutional-inflection-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/20\/america-in-crisis-a-constitutional-inflection-point\/","title":{"rendered":"America in Crisis: A Constitutional Inflection Point"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Steven Flagg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Presidency Being Rebuilt Around Personal Power<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Steven Flagg<\/strong>
\nGuest Column<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my life, America has faced many defining tests: the Vietnam War and its political upheaval, Watergate, the Arab Oil Embargo, the economic turmoil of the late 1970s, Iran-Contra, and the shock of 9\/11. Yet none of those crises involved a president actively testing the limits of the constitutional order itself. Trump 2.0, just ten months into his second administration, may be the most critical challenge to the American Republic in modern times.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump\u2019s second administration is historic not only because he is the first president since Grover Cleveland to return to office, but also because the sheer volume of alleged illegal and unconstitutional actions surrounding his government has no modern parallel. Earlier scandals such as Teapot Dome, Watergate and Iran-Contra were serious but episodic. With Trump 2.0, judges, scholars, and watchdogs increasingly see corruption not as an aberration but as a method of governance.<\/p>\n

A central pattern is Trump\u2019s effort to turn ordinary presidential powers into personal tools of control. Constitutional scholar Peter Shane warns that Trump\u2019s approach reflects a dangerously expansive reading of presidential power.<\/p>\n

Federal courts, including conservative-leaning panels, have already ruled several of Trump\u2019s major actions unlawful. These include his deployment of troops in Los Angeles and Portland, his attempt to deny birthright citizenship by executive order, his unlawful firing of inspectors general, and his expansion of fast-track deportations that violated due-process rights.<\/p>\n

argue these actions reflect strong leadership, but courts have repeatedly ruled that they exceed presidential authority and undermine constitutional safeguards.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s use of tariffs reinforces this same pattern. Instead of working with Congress, the branch that has constitutional authority over trade, Trump declared a national emergency and imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports, including a 25 percent tariff on goods from nations importing Venezuelan oil.<\/p>\n

Legal experts argue that these measures stretch or exceed the limits of statutory authority, and multiple federal courts have ruled that Trump overstepped his power by invoking emergency statutes to rewrite trade policy unilaterally. This mirrors his broader effort to bypass Congress wherever possible and make major national decisions by personal decree, including issuing over 200 executive orders in less than a year. As Harvard\u2019s Jack Goldsmith notes, Trump is \u201ctaking presidential power to alarming places,\u201d erasing longstanding boundaries on executive authority.<\/p>\n

Another major theme is unprecedented self-enrichment. A Reuters investigation found that Trump-linked cryptocurrency ventures generated more than $800 million for his family in the first half of 2025 alone. Much of this money came from foreign investors while Trump was shaping policies affecting those same markets.<\/p>\n

Ethics experts say no president in American history has blended personal business interests and presidential power on anything close to this scale. The Brennan Center said, \u201cPresident Trump has shown a willingness to use the immense powers of the presidency to advance personal interests.\u201d Watchdog groups warn that the presidency is being monetized in ways that undermine public trust and blur the line between national policy and personal financial gain.<\/p>\n

Other actions reinforcing this pattern include:<\/p>\n