Trump’s Whirlwind of Lawlessness Sets Up A Disastrous Blueprint for Future Presidents
Disgracefully, President Trump is acting as though he is above the law, pursuing an endless whirlwind of actions that obliterate the rule of law and prompting legal scholars to call him out right and left. Here are five of the most glaring examples:
Ignoring Congress’s order to ban TikTok,
Using the IRS to target Harvard
Breaking longstanding legal contracts with universities, and
Trashing trade agreements with his “Liberation Day” tariffs.
If Trump keeps getting away with this, he’s giving Democrats a hell of a roadmap to do the same—and that’s a disaster for our democracy.
Take the TikTok ban. Congress passed a law requiring TikTok to be shut down or sold, but Trump simply ignored the deadline and made up his own rules. Not only did legal experts and federal judges find the ban attempt "arbitrary and capricious," ruling that Trump overstepped his authority and failed to consider reasonable alternatives before moving to ban the app, but many also viewed Trump’s decision to delay the ban—even after it was legislated and upheld by the Supreme Court—as a neglect of presidential duties and an example of lawlessness. This is a dangerous precedent that undermines the separation of powers. If the president can just ignore laws, what’s the point of Congress?
Then there’s Trump’s order directing the IRS to investigate Harvard University with the aim of revoking its tax-exempt status after Harvard refused to comply with his administration’s demands to change admissions and hiring practices, abolish diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and address alleged failures to protect Jewish students. This is a textbook example of abusing executive power for political retribution. The law is clear: Internal Revenue Code Section 7217—makes it a criminal offense for the president or other executive branch officials to request, direct, or influence the IRS to conduct or terminate an audit or investigation of a particular taxpayer for political or retaliatory reasons. If such actions go unquestioned, it signals that the president is not bound by the same rules as everyone else.
Third, the Trump administration moved to abruptly cancel or violate existing, legally binding contracts and grants with universities—often involving visas, research funding, or property use—without due process, leading to lawsuits and claims of breach of contract. This disregard for legally binding obligations undermines the rule of law and the reliability of the U.S. government as a partner. The sanctity of contracts is a core principle of both American law and free-market economics. When the president ignores these agreements, it sets a precedent for arbitrary government interference in private and institutional affairs. If the president can rip up contracts whenever he wants, why should anyone trust the U.S. government?
Finally, Trump’s imposition of “Liberation Day” tariffs in violation of existing trade agreements—such as WTO commitments and bilateral agreements with Mexico, Canada, and South Korea—is another example of executive lawlessness. By unilaterally breaking international commitments, Trump not only jeopardizes America’s economic interests but also signals to the world that the U.S. cannot be trusted to honor its word.
These are but a drop in the bucket of instances of the Trump administration flouting the law. The most chilling part is the silence from Congress. Despite the president openly instructing federal officials and private companies to ignore the law, lawmakers have barely objected. As Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell’s Tech Policy Institute, put it, “it’s as if nothing ever happened,” even though the president’s actions are “barreling past a law that was passed in Congress and upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court.”