A year into his return, Trump wields executive power with few restraints

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday will mark his first year back in the White House after a shock-and-awe policy blitz that has expanded presidential power and reshaped America's relations with the world. As he enters his second year, he appears increasingly unconstrained, pursuing policies that have deepened divisions in the country. In recent weeks, Trump ordered a more aggressive federal crackdown on illegal immigration in Minnesota that led to the shooting death of an unarmed ​woman motorist by a federal agent, oversaw an audacious military raid on Venezuela to capture President Nicolas Maduro, revived his controversial plan to take over Greenland, threatened to bomb Iran, and shrugged off concerns over a ‌criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

"I don't care," Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview last week when asked about the ⁠potential economic fallout from the probe into Powell. Speaking to The New ‌York Times on January 7, Trump said the only check on him as commander-in-chief to launch military strikes abroad was "my own morality."

Taken together, Trump’s comments underscore a view of the presidency in which he is constrained chiefly by his own judgment rather than institutional restraint.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said Trump's first instinct is diplomacy and he makes all decisions thoughtfully. But she added he keeps all options on the table and decided to send the U.S. military into Venezuela to capture Maduro, and to bomb three Iranian nuclear facilities last year, "after both failed to negotiate in a serious way."

When Trump triumphantly returned to the White House on January 20, 2025, for a second term, he vowed to ​remake the economy, the federal bureaucracy, immigration policy and much of U.S. cultural life. He has delivered on much of that agenda, becoming one of the most powerful presidents in modern U.S. history.

Like all U.S. presidents who cannot seek another term, Trump faces the almost inevitable waning of power in his second year. He remains a deeply unpopular figure: a growing number of Americans are unhappy with his handling of the economy and have concerns about his priorities. But opinions are deeply polarized and he still enjoys substantial support among his core supporters.

Trump's approval rating stands ‌at 41% according to a Reuters/Ipsos ‌poll conducted last week, with 58% of U.S. adults disapproving of his job performance. The number is low for U.S. presidents in general but not the lowest of Trump's second term.

"Trump's total disregard for the rule of law or basic checks and balances has made Americans less safe across the ⁠board," said Democratic strategist Alex Floyd, adding that voters could punish Republicans for what he described as "lawless behavior."

In his interview with Reuters, Trump acknowledged that Republicans were in danger of losing control of Congress in the November elections, saying history does not favor the party of the president in midterms. Earlier, he told a gathering of Republican lawmakers to fight to retain control of Congress, or a newly empowered Democratic majority in the House of Representatives would impeach him for the third time.

When asked by Reuters about Americans' worries about ⁠high prices - the top issue for voters ahead of the elections - Trump repeated his claim the economy was the "strongest" in history, despite data showing stubbornly high inflation.

In recent ⁠weeks, Trump has tried to address concerns over the cost of living in speeches and with other actions, but has complicated that effort by simultaneously calling ‌the issue of affordability a Democratic "hoax."

Most powerful president since 1930s

In his first year back in the White House, Trump has cut the size of the federal civilian workforce, dismantled and ‌closed government agencies, slashed humanitarian aid to foreign countries, ordered sweeping immigration raids and deportations, and sent National Guard troops into Democratic-run cities. He has also triggered trade wars by imposing tariffs on goods from most countries, passed a massive tax-and-spending-cut bill, prosecuted political enemies, canceled or restricted access to some vaccines, and attacked universities, law firms and media outlets.

Despite promising to end Russia's war in Ukraine on the first day he was in office, Trump has made little ‍progress toward a peace deal, while asserting he has ended eight wars, a claim widely disputed given ongoing conflicts in several of those hotspots.

All modern presidents have sought to expand their presidential power, but this year Trump has increased executive might at a rate rarely seen before, historians and analysts say. He has done this through executive orders and emergency declarations that have shifted decision-making away from Congress and to the White House. The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court have mostly sided with Trump, and the Republican-controlled Congress has done little to stand in his way. And unlike his first term, Trump has total control over his cabinet, which is packed with loyalists.

Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian, said Trump has wielded power with fewer constraints in his second term than any president since Franklin Roosevelt. In the first few years of his 1933-1945 White House tenure, Roosevelt, a Democratic president, enjoyed large majorities in Congress, which passed most of his domestic agenda to expand government with little resistance. He also enjoyed significant public support for his efforts to tackle the Great Depression and faced a fractured Republican opposition.

Analysts and party strategists say Trump's difficulty in convincing voters that he understands their struggles with ​high living costs could prompt some Republican lawmakers to distance themselves in an effort ‌to protect their seats in November.

Aides say Trump will frequently hit the road this year to promote his economic agenda to try to convince voters he has a plan to reduce high prices, even though he is not on the ballot in November.

But his economic speeches in recent weeks have frequently been meandering and unfocused, and he has continued to focus much of his attention on foreign affairs, a lack of message discipline that alarms some Republican strategists and candidates.