This article appears in the Summer 2025 print issue of FP. Read the full roundup or explore more from the issue.

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The Founding Fathers of the United States were terrified of monarchy. They designed a constitution that separated and fragmented power, hoping that no single individual would ever amass the kind of authority that Britain’s king had enjoyed. Indeed, the Declaration of Independence decried the history of the British monarchy as a “history of repeated injuries and usurpations.”

Yet in 2025, Americans are experiencing an aggressive deployment of presidential power that many observers fear looks exactly like what the Constitution was meant to avoid. U.S. President Donald Trump has used his office to threaten and intimidate opponents. Federal funds have become a bludgeon wielded against law firms and universities. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump has imposed severe cuts on vital agencies and eliminated other programs altogether.

The Founding Fathers of the United States were terrified of monarchy. They designed a constitution that separated and fragmented power, hoping that no single individual would ever amass the kind of authority that Britain’s king had enjoyed. Indeed, the Declaration of Independence decried the history of the British monarchy as a “history of repeated injuries and usurpations.”

Yet in 2025, Americans are experiencing an aggressive deployment of presidential power that many observers fear looks exactly like what the Constitution was meant to avoid. U.S. President Donald Trump has used his office to threaten and intimidate opponents. Federal funds have become a bludgeon wielded against law firms and universities. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump has imposed severe cuts on vital agencies and eliminated other programs altogether.

Individuals have been deported to overseas prisons without due process. Trump has attacked several federal judges and even defied their orders. Based on thin constitutional grounds, Trump deployed Marines and federalized the National Guard to send into Los Angeles despite California Gov. Gavin Newsom adamantly opposing his decision to do so.

The president also keeps joking about running for a third term regardless of the 22nd Amendment. When asked by a reporter if he had to “uphold the Constitution,” Trump responded: “I don’t know.”

Trump’s supporters dismiss the criticism by pulling the “everybody does it” card out of their hat. And it’s true that for decades, both parties have relied on expansive executive power to achieve their goals. In that sense, all Americans are imperial presidentialists. Is Trump really so different from the presidents before him?

The expansion of presidential power has undoubtedly been one of the central developments of the United States’ 249 years of nationhood. Though the Constitution attempted to constrain the executive branch, President George Washington nonetheless issued a stern warning in his farewell address, as he set the standard by voluntarily relinquishing power: “It is important …........

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