Donald Trump wants to be king, and Republicans are not even batting an eye.
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At this point, the question probably is no longer whether the Trump administration will start ignoring judges’ orders (and obliterate the rule of law), but rather when.
Less than one month into his second presidency, it seems obvious that the president is on a collision course with the Constitution.
His dictatorial impulses are too pronounced, and the way in which he and co-president Elon Musk want to reshape the US government is too extreme, for this to end any other way.
Therefore, it really shouldn’t have shocked anybody when Donald Trump proclaimed himself to be above the law in a social media post on Saturday.
Of course, this just states in fewer words what Musk and his Vice President JD Vance have been wondering out loud for a week now: Is this administration really bound to abide by the decisions of “activist judges”?
Based on the Constitution and the venerated system of checks and balances that has served the United States very well for nearly 250 years, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
But in this case, it is clear that Trump will not take “yes” for an answer.
Again, this should not shock anybody, because he would obviously rather be king than president.
However, what is surprising every single time is how Republicans react whenever Trump spouts one of his authoritarian fantasies (or any of the other insane stuff that comes out of his mouth).
It is tough to think of a more anti-American thing to say than that a president is above the law as long as they believe that what they are doing is good for the country.
But there is no outrage from any of the GOP officials who would have lost their minds if Joe Biden had ever said anything this undemocratic.
Their silence is deafening.
Of course, not everybody on the right is staying silent.
He’s not gonna let these wack judges in deep blue jurisdictions boss him around.
— Former Congressman Matt Gaetz (@FmrRepMattGaetz) February 15, 2025
In case you forgot, that’s the guy who was supposed to be the attorney general of the United States.
It used to be that Republicans and right-wing media types would just feign ignorance whenever Trump said or tweeted something outrageous.
“Migrants eating pets? Haven’t heard about it.”
“I didn’t see the president talk about the size of Arnold Palmer’s pecker, so I really can’t comment on it.”
And, of course, Fox News and other propaganda outlets would just refuse to cover the craziest and most offensive things Trump said.
But not this White House.
In his first term, it seems likely that his press staff would have dismissed criticism of the post as a partisan attack because Trump hadn’t meant it that way.
Not now.
The White House tweeted out the quote along with the president’s official portrait (which is nuts in itself).
Musk was also pleased and proudly retweeted the entire thing to his 217 million followers.
When dealing with Trump, it is really important not to focus on the side shows. This episode, however, is really important, and if congressional reporters don’t get every single Republican on the record with their take on this quote, then they will have failed their job.
Of course, maybe by Monday, Trump will have already refused a judge’s order and plunged the country into a full-blown constitutional crisis.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
