Donald Trump, who once claimed, “I have the right to do whatever I want as president,” isn’t always getting it all his own way anymore.
The president hasn’t repudiated his quest for total power. But he’s beginning to hit small but significant pockets of rebellion.
Every week, more people show they are less frightened of the president. That even includes some Republicans. Some of Trump’s most cherished policies and personal goals face increasing disruption from political action, the courts, individual citizens and the inexorable gravity of electoral politics.
On Thursday, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced the end of the surge of thousands of federal officers to Minnesota. He insisted the countrywide deportation crackdown would not relent and that the force had achieved its goals, including by making more than 4,000 arrests. Yet its departure and the step back from the most aggressive on-the-street tactics still represented a reversal. It followed weeks of protests and public outrage over the broad-daylight killings of two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The politics of the purge in Minnesota are simply no longer sustainable
Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday declared the end of what he called an “unprecedented federal invasion.” And he saw a broader meaning in the end of a confrontation that he said caused huge economic and societal damage. “I think it’s probably safe to say the rest of the country will be forever grateful because we showed what it means to stand up for what’s right,” Walz said.
The courts have been another reliable brake on Trump’s power grabs, even if the administration has won its share of big decisions.
In Washington on Thursday, a judge shut down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bid to punish retired Navy captain and Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly for “sedition” — one of the most grievous charges that can be laid against anyone. (Hegseth said the administration would “immediately” appeal the decision.)
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