The Last President
Whether or not Donald J. Trump continues into a third term, the presidency is profoundly changed. One year into his presidency, power has been consolidated in the executive office. Congress, led by a thin Republican majority, is a wisp of its former self. The Supreme Court is packed with conservatives, with possibly more appointments in this term. The Federal Reserve is being co-opted and could lose its independence when the current chair, Jerome Powell, ends his term.
In addition, the line between private industry, academia and the government is narrowing. Mega corporations such as Amazon, Meta and Alphabet are openly donating hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump-favored projects such as the construction of a mammoth White House ballroom that will dwarf the Executive Residence. Universities and colleges have been shaken down for monetary penalties by the administration, under the cynical guise of fighting antisemitism.
Under Trump, our foreign policy has changed to favor authoritarian and/or populist leaders such as Vladimir Putin (Russia), Javier Milei (Argentina), Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel), Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey), Viktor Orbán (Hungary), Mohammed bin Salman (Saudi Arabia) and Nayib Bukele (El Salvador). And we’ve turned our back on our long-time European allies as well as our neighbors Canada and Mexico. In February 2025, the United States joined Russia, Iran and North Korea in voting against a UN resolution condemning Russian aggression in the invasion of Ukraine. In early 2026, the United States threatened to invade Greenland, territory of a NATO ally.
Trump has led an all-out assault on science, including gutting the science arm of the EPA. He has weakened bedrock Republican environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. Fuel standards for autos will be eliminated, leading to increased emissions to warm the atmosphere and harm our health. And his Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert Kennedy, Jr., has discouraged vaccinations that prevent childhood disease and death.
The Department of Justice has become a cudgel for attacking people and institutions disliked by Trump. That includes prosecutions of James Comey, former FBI Director, and Letitia James, Attorney General of New York.
U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement is sending armed masked agents into the streets (and homes) of law-abiding undocu-mented persons (and citizens), many who have been in this country and paying taxes for decades. They have also killed two American citizens in the process – with no repercussions.
Trump’s economic policy, a throwback to the 1920s, consists of tariffs on imported goods – driving up consumer costs and weakening domestic industry competitiveness – and sweetheart deals for firms that offer kickbacks to the president and his allies.
All this in the first year.
Trump keeps floating trial balloons for a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution. But the conservative Supreme Court will interpret the Constitution as they wish. What will happen? Who knows? You will, if you are reading this after November 2028. But…this book should give you a little hope. You saw that what we are experiencing is not new – it’s as old as our republic. We’ve seen all this before: the scandals, the corruption, the political wheeling and dealing, the greedy drip of money into and out of our government and the ethnic tensions. Thus, has it aways been throughout American history. Many have striven to be better but many did not. What is upsetting to many is that the United States political system had improved over time, but with this administration, it feels like we are going back to the same old political unfairness, injustice and corruption.
Has any other president been this audacious in the expansion of executive power? The closest historical parallel is Andrew Jackson, a populist who wielded unprecedented executive power to that date. But Jackson did not seek a third term, although he could have since the Constitutional restriction wasn’t added until 1951. And possibly FDR, who did hold all or part of four presidential terms. But he died in office.