President Donald Trump has been asking himself if he is the most powerful man in the history of the world – and judging by the results recently, the answer is “no.”
It is certainly true that Trump has the technical tools that would have surprised the famous people of the pre-20th century who ran for the position of the most powerful man, be it Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Charlemagne or Napoleon.
Trump’s power, however, is not defined by, say, the accuracy and explosiveness of a Tomahawk missile.
As the leader of a constitutional republic that disperses power and depends ultimately on democratic consent, Trump operates under constraints that constantly cloud his ambitions.
If the essence of the first year of his second term was violence on all fronts, his second year so far has been defined by a major setback.
Late last year, Trump raided DHS troopers in Minneapolis, seeking to make an example of the Twin Cities after Somali immigrants were implicated in welfare fraud schemes.
While the project was met with strong opposition from city and state leaders and opposition in the streets, the administration found itself a difficult test of will – before Trump, realizing that he was losing the political battle, sent Tom Homan to Minneapolis to finish the job.
Last month, the Justice Department settled a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Trump against the IRS over his tax evasion.
The department has agreed to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate victims of the Democratic law — an empty fund for his allies, possibly including the January 6 riots.
Faced with legal rulings contrary to Senate opposition, the administration abandoned the plan it had originally touted as a way to “correct mistakes made in the past while making sure this won’t happen again.”
Then, of course, Trump signed a cease-fire deal with Iran that didn’t come close to the “unconditional surrender” he sought.
The 14-point deal includes more American than Iranian concessions, and Trump has admitted that Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced his hand.
None of these were spontaneous actions.
They all involve the president’s key commitments – mass deportations, launching a legal campaign against him and denying the Iranian regime a nuclear weapon.
And they were criminals who displayed the recklessness born of hubris.
Trump had already reduced immigration when he boarded ICE in Minneapolis; he had already forgiven the rebels of Jan. 6 when his DOJ created an arsenal; and he had already struck a blow at Iran’s nuclear program using the Midnight Hammer when he launched Operation Epic Fury.
Trump is not a goal-oriented progressive.
He prefers big action and big gambling.
You pull over to a bridge so far away that driving a few blocks down the street would do the trick.
The worry about Trump was that he wouldn’t be able to hold his own in his second term, and indeed, he’s created a party that doesn’t want to tell him “no.”
But he is under scrutiny from other branches of government – and, even more so, because of political pressure.
Nothing legally compelled him to remove DHS forces from Minneapolis, or reduce military pressure on Iran, both of which were within his legal powers.
It was poor polling, and potential damage to Republican power during the terms, that forced Trump to declare victory and return home.
A president might enjoy thinking about how he could do things that a Roman emperor would never have imagined – but Marcus Aurelius was not sensitive to the way the news played out in the media, or to the latest public opinion polls.
As a creature of a democratic republic, Trump naturally misses those things, which is one reason it’s been a year of regression.
Trump, of course, doesn’t think so.
As Gen. As Oliver Smith put it during the Korean War, he is simply attacking in a different way – although not the one he intended.
X: @RichLowry
