What tools does a leader use to get what he or she wants—no matter how outrageous the demand may sound?

In recent years we have heard proposals that once would have been dismissed as fringe fantasy: overtures to authoritarian regimes for oil, musings about territorial acquisitions in far-off islands, and relentless rhetoric aimed at immigrants and outsiders as convenient political targets. But the real story is not the strangeness of the ideas themselves. It is the method behind them.

Some defenders say the U.S. president’s behavior is merely the product of a blunt personality—abrasive, but fundamentally harmless. That interpretation misses the point. The issue is not tone. It is the systematic use of pressure.

The pattern is unmistakable. Institutions meant to uphold the rule of law increasingly resemble instruments of intimidation. Federal authority is used less as a tool of governance and more as a form of leverage. In such an atmosphere, politics becomes less about persuasion and more about........

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