Donald Trump is using the powers of the presidency—augmented with powers that the Constitution doesn’t give him—to make war on blue states and their officials.

There have been critical historical periods when presidents used federal law to enforce constitutional rights against recalcitrant state officials. But never since the Civil War, if then, have we seen a president undertake a methodical program of harassment and domination of states controlled by his political opponents.

Begin with the ongoing crisis in Los Angeles. The fundamental point is that the crisis is entirely of Trump’s making. There is no tenable argument that federalizing the National Guard was ever necessary to quell unrest, which has already subsided and never approached the levels that justified prior federal interventions.

On the contrary, California and its governor have been adamant that Trump’s power play is unwelcome and that the state’s law enforcement resources are fully capable of handling any disturbance. They took the unusual step of suing the Trump administration, and an opinion by Judge Chuck Breyer upheld their claim (it is currently administratively stayed in the Ninth Circuit).

But the point here is less about Trump’s potential entitlement to charge into L.A. than his zeal to do so over the state’s objections. As usual, the dispute features Trump’s lies to justify his excessive response—grossly exaggerating the degree to which L.A. is under siege.

Importantly, Trump’s order purporting to authorize his intervention isn’t limited to Los Angeles; it could apply anywhere.

Indeed, earlier this week he issued a Truth Social........

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