It was crystal clear from the beginning of his presidency. Donald Trump was baffled by the checks and balances of democracy designed to curb presidential power. Presiding over three co-equal branches of government is vastly different than heading a real estate outfit in which one controls all the power. As president could no longer say, “do this,” and “do that,” and it would be done.

With a pesky congress and independent judiciary getting in the way, and a critical press, Trump explicitly conveyed envy of strong men and dictators. How much easier and convenient it would be to govern if, like a king, pharaoh, or dictator, he could be free of constitutionally mandated checks and balances. “Putin doesn’t have that problem,” he whines.

Not all contingencies could be anticipated and written into the Constitution. However, the spirit of the Constitution has been adhered to via a system of “norms” of behavior. These norms have evolved and been generally adhered to by members of both parties — until this Presidency.

So, how does a frustrated Trump deal with uncomfortable norms, and checks and balances that limit his power? Conceptually simple — just ignore the norms and chip away, eventually eliminating, the constraining checks and balances. That’s usually difficult because checks and balances were designed to prevent such a consolidation of power. Presidential power can be consolidated only if those entrusted to prevent it drop the ball and allow it to happen. Incredibly, that is exactly what is happening, in plain sight.

First, a few examples of breaking the norms. Deny the legitimacy of election results by insisting that there were millions of fraudulent votes. Deny the very legitimacy of your opponents, insisting that “she is a criminal, should be thrown in jail.” Incite rank and file citizens of your political party to chant, “lock her up.” Openly credit the head of state of an adversarial nation with more credibility than your own intelligence agencies. In the company of ruthless dictators, trash past and present American officials. Remain in campaign mode for four years, representing only those who voted for you. 

In light of clear evidence that it happened, deny Russian meddling in the 2016 election. With the Mueller investigation yielding 34 indictments, seven guilty pleas, and four sentenced to prison, insist that it was one giant hoax.

How about the checks and balances — the courts, the free press, and the congress? 

Early on, Trump was frustrated by some adverse court decisions, expressing shock that this were even possible.

Solution: Stack the system with appointees holding your political philosophy, whether or not they are professionally qualified. Granted, this process began prior to the Trump presidency. The Republican Senate held up countless Obama nominees. When McConnell refused to even hold hearings for Mr. Garland, Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Scalia in 2016, this should have been a wakeup call to the Democrats. Garland was no flaming liberal — he is a moderate. But McConnell gambled and won, with the conservative Neil Gorsuch filling Scalia’s seat, and the ultra-conservative Brett Kavanaugh filling Justice Kennedy’s vacated seat. Numerous vacancies of lower federal court seats that were held up under Obama are now being filled at breakneck pace with conservatives, some of which were considered unqualified by the American Bar Association.

During the 1930s, Democrat FDR attempted to stack the court system. This was stopped by a Democratic congress. In contrast, with the cooperation of this Republican U.S. Senate to stack the court system, we can bid goodbye to this check on the power of the presidency.

Next is the free press. At least a part of the media is critical of this President and his administration. But that is their job, just as they were critical of the Obama Administration. It is the responsibility of the free press to expose the flagrant, unprecedented corruption of this administration.

All presidents have had their issues with the press, and at times believed to have been treated unfairly. But all prior presidents have understood the vital role of the free press in a democracy. No prior president has labeled the free press as “enemy of the people.” That is the stuff of tin pot dictators of a banana republic.

During the 2018 campaign, a Republican congressional candidate physically, violently, assaulted a journalist. President Trump celebrated that act and urged his followers to cheer for it. Politicians who would be expected to condemn such violence against journalists, through their silence, approved of it.

Trump continually whines about being treated unfairly, playing the role of “victim.” It’s part of his shtick. While bringing it on himself, the slickest con-man since PT Barnum revels in it, continuing to play the media like a fiddle.

An essential step toward dictatorial power is to eliminate the free press. Trump has not yet eliminated it, but he is making every attempt to discredit that part of it that he has not already co-opted or intimidated.

This brings us to the Congress that the founders assumed would jealously guard their own power. Instead of acting as a co-equal branch of government, Republican lawmakers have acted as Trump’s enabler and protector. Senator McConnell refuses to have the Senate vote on anything unless Trump agrees in advance to sign it. This is total capitulation of senatorial power. But hey, what about the Democrats who control the House? Do they not have the ultimate power of controlling spending? Theoretically, yes. But even this is being eroded. Trump’s latest move is, through declaring an emergency acceded to by the Supreme Court, to divert $3.6 billion from military construction projects to build 175 miles of his border wall. 

There is promised litigation on this. Forget it — we can’t count on anything of substance to curb yet another Republican endorsed consolidation of presidential power.

Republicans may cheer Trump’s consolidation of power. They would be well-advised: remember the old adage, “be careful what you wish for.”

— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.