Trump unchecked
Trump’s unchecked power is uniquely harmful because of his narcissism and emotional instability, and he is gradually removing the remaining limits on his authority
Some earlier blog posts on this website, more than a year ago, drew attention to the threats presented by Trump in his second term: Regressive Trump policies and the Trump style, resulting in the view that America is diminished. It is now clear that his impact has been even worse than predicted, as his mental state has deteriorated and nobody dares to stand up to him.
The US Constitution was designed with checks and balances to ensure that no president would have unlimited power, but a Republican-leaning Supreme Court and a polarised Congress have enabled Trump to sidestep the Constitution.
Getting rich quick
It was evident that Trump was supported by billionaires – including Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg – when he was elected. Economic policies that favoured billionaires (including Trump) were therefore expected. It is astonishing, though, how much he has also managed to enrich himself and his family by leveraging his power in office. In one example, How to lobby Trump with Swiss precision: gifts, gold and gab, “the Swiss sent a delegation of industry tycoons bearing gifts — a special Rolex desktop clock, a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar, and loads of flattery” to persuade him to reduce tariffs:
● “The Swiss bar, given to Trump during the delegation’s visit on Nov. 4, was stamped with 45 and 47 in homage to his presidential terms. It’s worth a little more than $130,000.
● Trump accepted the gifts on behalf of his presidential library, making them legal, White House officials say.”
The same Axios article also mentioned Apple’s gift of an “engraved glass disc with a 24-karat gold base to commemorate the company’s new $100 billion investment in the U.S. to avoid tariffs”.
Vanity
Trump’s narcissistic character (6.3.4.2) has been evident since his first term of office. His vanity has become conspicuous in his second term with US Treasury plans to put Trump’s signature on new paper currency in first for sitting president: “It’s the latest instance of Trump putting his name and likeness on American cultural institutions, following his renaming of the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships, among other tributes.”
Mental Instability
Trump’s narcissism comes with a very fragile ego. For example, in his extraordinary response to criticism from Pope Leo XIV, he posted an image of himself as a Jesus-like figure. That post was subsequently deleted – following a backlash from Italian PM Georgia Meloni among others.
He has a meltdown when things go badly for him. As described in Letters from an American, he posted on Truth Social 11 times in 43 minutes from 11:03 pm on 1st May. Those posts included an image of himself and others “shirtless”; “a profile image of himself in gold”; “an image showing him standing near Mt. Rushmore, with the angle arranged to make his head the fifth sculpture on the mountain”; and “an image of himself and King Charles III”.
He was projecting his deep insecurity and vulnerability to criticism by posting images of how he wanted to be seen.
Going to war
America’s security is at risk with Trump unchecked. A New York Times article on 7 April 2026 reviewed how Trump decided to launch his disastrous war on Iran despite having been told that it was risky:
“The vice president told associates that no amount of military insight could truly gauge what Iran would do in retaliation when survival of the regime was at stake. A war could easily go in unpredictable directions. Moreover, he thought there seemed to be little chance of building a peaceful Iran in the aftermath.
Beyond all of this was perhaps the biggest risk of all: Iran held the advantage when it came to the Strait of Hormuz. If this narrow waterway carrying vast quantities of oil and natural gas was choked off, the domestic consequences in the United States would be severe, starting with higher gasoline prices.
…General Caine was sober, laying out the risks and what the campaign would mean for munitions depletion. He offered no opinion; his position was that if Mr. Trump ordered the operation, the military would execute.
…Everyone deferred to the president’s instincts. They had seen him make bold decisions, take on unfathomable risks and somehow come out on top. No one would impede him now.”
And Congress then repeatedly failed to assert its authority under the War Powers Act to limit Trump’s ability to make war. As Reuters reported on 13 May 2026, US Senate blocks latest bid to rein in Trump Iran war powers: “It was the seventh time this year that President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in the Senate had blocked similar resolutions.”
Eroding US democracy
Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters from an American on 13 May 2026, described in detail how Trump launched a rush by Republican States to manipulate their voting maps to gain more seats in the upcoming mid-term elections: “a minority is disfranchising voters because it knows its ideas are unpopular and it cannot win on the merits of its policies. What it can do, though, is to deliver white supremacy to its followers”.
Loss of US soft power
The Gaza situation eroded American moral standing in the world through Trump’s unconditional support for Netanyahu. For example, on 8 August 2025, “the United States defended Israel” when there was International criticism at the UN highlighting Israel’s human rights violations in Gaza.
And the war on Iran has almost eliminated any remaining shreds of US soft power. As if to emphasise this, Trump posted this AI-generated image of himself as a gangster:
Lasting harm to America
Trump has damaged economic and political relationships with other Western countries. As Canadian PM Mark Carney said, in a speech at Davos on 20 January 2026 that was clearly referring to Trump’s behaviour:
“Middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu”.
“Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited”.
“Canada was amongst the first to hear the wake-up call” that geography and historic alliances no longer guaranteed security or prosperity.”
The damage inflicted by Trump unchecked is permanent. There can be no guarantee that future presidents would not behave in the same way. Canada and other countries have found more reliable trading partners, and NATO members can never again have confidence that America would come to their aid in time of need.