Filenews 3 February 2026
There is a thread that connects tariffs to the overthrow of a foreign leader. It's all about expanding the power of the US presidency. With its deluge of executive orders and daily challenges to the judicial system fuelling an incessant news cycle from the White House, few wonder if there is a philosophy guiding President Donald Trump and his closest advisers. The grandiose announcements and the "entertainment" irregularities by officials and the president himself make it easy to assume that there is nothing coherent behind all this. And yet, there is somehow a "Trump theory".
Most of the government's actions – the controversial cryptocurrency dealings, the appointment of unqualified political allies of the head of state to high positions, the unconstitutional expulsions and deployments of the National Guard, the overthrow of a Latin American leader – have an internal logic that holds them together. They are attempts to expand executive power, steps towards a type of imperial presidency.
What limits the power of any political actor, including the US president, is how effective it can be in mobilizing resources, including personnel, to achieve its goals. In addition, the laws and general norms applied to the behaviour of any office holder act as institutional "brakes".
Trump is trying to transform precisely these norms around the US presidency. It would have been considered absolutely unacceptable for previous presidents to ask the Attorney General or the Ministry of Justice to take action against personal enemies or political opponents of the head of state. It would also have been considered unacceptable for a president to invoke an insufficiently documented "crime emergency" to send the National Guard to cities or continue to participate in family businesses while in office. These norms have now been violated, certainly during Trump's presidency, but perhaps even permanently.
These behaviours thus acquire a new meaning when examined in the light of this strategy. For example, the Trump administration defied a judge's order not to deport alleged gang members from Venezuela to El Salvador. Was it a mistake? Probably not. If you want to break norms, you have to "challenge" them – and this is a form of that challenge.
Power
Removing legal barriers to presidential power is an equally important part of Trump's work. The Supreme Court, under its president, John Roberts, showed a willingness to expand executive power in a variety of ways. In a July 1, 2024 ruling, it granted American presidents near-absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official actions while holding the presidential office. It also limited the ability of lower federal courts to issue decrees prohibiting presidential acts and upheld the president's authority to fire heads of independent federal authorities without the consent of Congress.
The Trump administration has also "invaded" congressional powers, such as managing national security, tariffs and overseeing conflicts of interest. These obstacles had limited the executive reach of previous presidents, but they are now receding, with significant consequences, such as seeing the Trump family earn up to $1 billion. from cryptocurrencies while, in the past, its members would have been audited or prosecuted.
The most fundamental steps are aimed at increasing the de facto power of the president, i.e. his ability to control and mobilize services and people. Despite the distinction of three branches of state power by the founders of the American state, a fourth pillar emerged, the independent and semi-independent services ("public administration"), such as the Federal Reserve, the FBI, the Competition Commission, critical to the functioning of the state. Trump, by appointing his loyalists as leaders, is expanding his power, as they are more likely to obey his wishes and less likely to challenge him, even if he acts illegally.
This approach explains his preference for appointing persons without appropriate qualifications or experience, as inadequate leaders are more loyal and cooperative in destroying norms.
Even his foreign policy must be seen in this light. The ability of a president to unilaterally set tariffs and restrictions translates into a huge increase in his domestic power, because greater influence on global issues increases visibility and power at home. Moreover, his ability to disrupt the supply chains of large companies, such as Apple and Walmart, makes them subservient to him. So Trump's tariffs and Maduro's removal are more about his domestic agenda than foreign policy.
Risks
The danger of this agenda lies in the fact that it combines two separate sides. The first, by Trump himself and his advisers, is about maximizing the president's power to achieve personal, political or ideological goals. The second is rooted in the philosophy of Carl Schmidt, who argued that democracy and parliamentary order are inadequate and that an absolute decisive pole is needed in situations of exception.
This trend is what makes Trump's agenda dangerous. The expansion of his executive powers will not only cause upset and enrich his family, but will fundamentally change American policy, regardless of whether his successor is a Democrat or a Republican. This is the real danger that arises from the "Trump theory".
Adaptation – Editing: George D. Pavlopoulos
