Before he was a politician, Trump was a businessman, and he makes no bones about approaching affairs of state with a “let’s get it signed, sealed, and delivered” kind of attitude.
Having a member of government with a can do mentality and one who is not afraid to make the big decisions is a refreshing trait in any elected official.
However, it’s all well and good being versed in the art of the deal, but when the deal isn’t just a bit dodgy, but completely crooked, then things become a little more complicated.
It’s fine to have a slick and polished statesman leading the country, but what you don’t want is a shark in the suit who specialises in that tactic beloved by gangsters and shady operators everywhere – the shakedown!
We’re not saying that Trump’s presidential philosophy is government by shakedown, but Steven Greenhouse writing in The Guardian is, and it has to be said, that on reflection, he has a valid point.
Greenhouse reflects, “Americans have long glorified their constitution and the rule of law. But Donald Trump’s volatile and vindictive presidency has increasingly replaced that philosophy with something very different – call it ‘governing by shakedown.’”
Greenhouse points out that Trump has been in violation of both federal law and the Constitution and has bullied those who have stood in his way, whether they be universities, law firms, or US trading partners, into rolling over and letting old Uncle Don have his way.
Greenhouse suggests that this isn’t the rule of law, but rather authoritarian rule, and it should concern not just the US but the wider world.
Branding Trump the “global emperor of shakedowns” Greenhouse suggests that dominating news cycles and negotiations simply fuels Trump’s ego, as does the White House cheerleading team and his army of manic supporters who view him more like the chosen messiah than a rich kid who got lucky and would lie through his teeth to save his own skin.
Greenhouse writes, “We shouldn’t be shocked that Trump acts this way. He loves dealmaking and lording it over others and he has long paid scant heed to following the law. But we should be shocked by the way the two other supposedly co-equal branches of government, Congress and the supreme court, have behaved. They have essentially rolled over in the face of Trump’s ruling by shakedown.
“Republican lawmakers in Congress have cravenly sat on their hands while Trump has boosted inflation and sabotaged economic growth by forcing tariffs on more than 90 countries, notwithstanding the strict restrictions Congress set on when and how a president can impose tariffs. Republicans have vowed never to raise taxes, but let’s not fool ourselves: Trump’s tariffs are a regressive sales tax that hits non-affluent Americans hardest.”
Greenhouse points out that as Trump continues to dominate by shakedown, the Supreme Court has been unsettlingly silent. He finished by urging both Congress and the Supreme Court to, “Wake up, step and lay down the law.”
It would appear that either Trump’s rule of shakedown is stopped, or rule of law and democracy are in danger of being swallowed in a Trump-shaped swamp.
