Trump’s first true test for fascism is upon us already

Barely 5 months in and Trump’s first true test for fascism is already upon us…

The great undoing

No modern president has done more in his first 131 days than President Trump — only to have much of it undone, at least temporarily, by the courts.

• • Trump is testing the limits of presidential power at every turn, and the courts are just about the only thing standing in his way.
  • The inevitable showdowns between Trump and the judiciary are only going to get more intense, Axios Supreme Court reporter Sam Baker writes.

⚖️ Judges have issued dozens of orders blocking Trump from doing something he wants to do, and the flood seems to grow every day. The headlines are constant: Judge blocks X; Judge freezes Y; Court allows Z to continue.

• • This week’s ruling against Trump’s tariffs — handed down by the usually sleepy Court of International Trade — was one of the biggest shockwaves yet, striking at the centerpiece of his economic agenda and efforts to exert leverage on the world stage.
  • That order was quickly put on ice, temporarily, by an appeals court. But there will be more tariff litigation, and more litigation on just about everything else.

🎓 On education, a federal judge in Boston this week said Trump couldn’t stop Harvard from enrolling international students, at least for now.

• • A separate Boston-based judge last week froze Trump’s plans to largely eliminate the Education Department.

💼 That added to an absolute mountain of litigation over Trump’s various efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy.

• • Courts have stopped or slowed some DOGE-led cuts across the government, the firing of people who serve on independent boards, and the laying off of other government workers.

💥 Immigration has been the most explosive flashpoint of all.

• • Every court that’s considered Trump’s executive order redefining the rules of American citizenship has ruled against it.
  • The administration has pointedly refused to bring back the man it wrongly deported to El Salvador, despite even the Supreme Court telling it to “facilitate” his return.

💡 Between the lines: To some extent, this is the system working the same way it always works. The big things presidents do, at least in the modern era, end up in court.

• • Obamacare was a big thing, done by both the president and Congress. It’s been before the Supreme Court no less than three times.
  • Forgiving student loans and trying to impose COVID vaccine mandates were, for better or worse, big things President Biden attempted. The Supreme Court said both were too big.

🔊 Trump has made no bones about wanting to go as big as possible, all the time, on everything — and to do it mostly through executive action. Everyone knew before this administration began that myriad legal challenges were inevitable. And, well, they were.

…to date Trump has ignored all conventions and pushed his agenda with as much perverse abuse of power as he can, but to openly defy the Courts?

That is the true goose-step towards fascism.

Trump will defy the Judges and force the issue to the Supreme Court he has stacked, by the time it gets there, protests against him will reach extreme levels that allow him to call in the National Guard and impose a very nasty Police State regime.

The venal self interest with which Trump is pursuing while in Office highlight what Trump is really all about, self-aggrandizing and personal greed…

Donald Trump’s net worth skyrockets to $5.1 billion, doubles in a year fueled by Truth Social and crypto

…his corruption and grift will add to his orange fascism, not detract from it.

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