On the Radar

King Trump

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump quoted writer Ralph Waldo Emerson (per a New York Times piece) to compare himself to a king.

Trump's tweet happened to come a day after we wrapped our series on the benefits and drawbacks of an American monarchy.

We quoted Sean Yom, an associate professor of political science at Temple University, who told The Guardian that those advocating for a return of the king are suffering from “historical amnesia.”

“There’s a collective amnesia about how bad certain kinds of political systems really were," Yom wrote, citing contemporary, human-right abusing monarchies in Brunei, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

President Trump’s acquittal by the Senate had many politicians and journalists – from both sides of the aisle – worrying that this was the final gem in the crown of King Donald.

But in Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump’s War on the World’s Most Powerful Office, Susan Hennessy and Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare argue that Trump has only “abused the power that the presidency clearly possesses.”

Said another way: The Constitution gives the president massive, expansive powers.

Do you think the Constitution needs a reboot?

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