It’s now widely recognized that Donald Trump is attempting to govern in an authoritarian manner. He’s pushing longstanding conservative advocacy of the “unitary executive” to its outer limits, in asserting complete presidential control over the entirety of the executive branch, from top to bottom. He’s also claiming executive supremacy vis-à-vis the other branches of the federal government and meeting little resistance from the legislative branch; the judicial branch is doing more to resist at the level of the lower federal courts, but the appellate courts, and especially the Supreme Court, are being far more cautious about denying the administration’s assertions of authority. Trump is also using the presidency’s enormous formal and informal powers to target specific law firms, universities, and other private enterprises the president himself considers to be his enemies.
So there’s abundant evidence to support the contention that Trump aspires to rule like a tyrant. But we don’t spend enough time reflecting on precisely what kind of tyrant he aims to be.
