President Trump, with time running out and congressional investigators approaching, plans to govern in an even more imperial manner, determined to expand executive power, target those on his enemies list, pardon his allies, and challenge the courts and Congress to slow him down.
Why it’s important: Trump and his allies are considering executive action on new tariffs and immigration restrictions, and asserting greater control over spending. On Weekend X, Trump discussed targeting and possibly jailing Democrats who are investigating administration officials. He claimed it was political harassment.
Trump reorganizes himself his White House by elevating the one official who is synonymous with his all-throttle, no-brakes style: Stephen Miller, who succeeded Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff on Monday.
- Watch Miller and Russ Vought, the White House budget director, to understand how this approach will play out. Both are architects and proponents of greatly expanded presidential power, believing there are virtually no constraints on what Trump can do as president.
- The Swamp can expect a more difficult situation: Miller, unlike most of his predecessors, is motivated more by ideology than by meetings with lobbyists or industry groups. “Stephen doesn’t care what K Street thinks,” a Trump confidant told us.
Between the lines: Midterm losses pushed Presidents Clinton and Obama to the center. Trump’s instincts are the opposite: to assert maximum power. The playbook:
- Restore MAGA. Two years ago, MAGA — primarily its network of podcasts, YouTubers and online activists — was a powerful, united force in media and politics. Today it’s a hot, divided mess. Trump’s focus on his base has drifted. Today, Vice President Vance and Miller desperately want to rebuild and revive MAGA. This is why ending the war in Iran, cutting aid to Israel, and putting more emphasis on RFK Jr.’s MAHA program are suddenly hot topics.
- Rule in pen. Lawyers for Miller, Vought and the White House drafted executive actions to govern without Congress, with Justice Department opinions prepared to defend them, Reuters reported just before the election. Remember: Vought was one of the architects of the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 plan to maximize executive power under Trump II.
- Target enemies. Before, it was pure revenge. Now, this is also a preemptive warning that the Trump administration will target anyone, including elected members of Congress who target them. Trump ally Roger Stone told us: “Many Democratic lawmakers are going to find themselves indicted and fighting their convictions. Look. »
- Purge the “deep state.” The Supreme Court’s ruling in a case concerning independent agencies, Trump against the massacreexpanded the president’s power to remove officials. “The Slaughter case gives the president enormous powers,” Trump said in an Election Day phone interview with CBS News’ Robert Costa. The June decision gave Trump the power to fire the heads of the FTC and other independent regulators (like FERC), for any reason or no reason.
- More monuments. Trump’s pharaonic need to gild the White House, build a ballroom, erect a triumphal arch and put his name on buildings is also an exercise in raw power. He told New York Magazine’s Ben Terris why he honored himself: “Nobody will do it once I’m gone. When I leave here, nobody will do it.” No one can stop him.
Republican resistance: Expect very little in the new Congress. The reason: Most of Trump’s critics on Capitol Hill have disappeared. What remains is a much smaller, but more Trumpian, group of middle-aged and older white Republicans with margins too small to matter much.
- Trump’s bet: Congressional Republicans will quickly sense that Democrats are going too far and will unite in solidarity with Trump, even if it is forced or reluctantly.
Yes, but: One of Trump’s most predictable attributes is his unpredictability. He said on election night that he would “work together” with Democrats. What this may look like (with heavy emphasis on “may”), according to Axios’ Marc Caputo reporting:
- Relax some aspects of immigration enforcement, particularly regarding masked agents who harass U.S. citizens.
- Find common ground with MAHA’s healthy eating program, which has become the subject of fierce post-election infighting among Trump insiders.
- Sign a bill in the new Congress that would reverse massive cuts to Medicaid in its “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
The bottom line: Trump is still Trump. He is 80 years old and it shows. But he meets force with force and he will collapse as the Democrats attack him.
- “Trump and his team are at their best when our backs are against the wall,” one adviser told Caputo. “Trump is fighting. We are full throttle and full throttle.”
Go further: Texas, Texas, Texas.
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