30 Aug

King Donald

“Or how I learned to stop worrying and love ‘state capture.’” – The Lonely Realist

President Trump first posted his “King Donald” image in February, the caption reading “LONG LIVE THE KING!” The image was more than a suggestion. It was a promise. In the past 7 months, that promise has been kept. Donald Trump has masterfully engaged in what political scientists refer to as “state capture.” He has defenestrated Congress, adroitly mostly sidelined judicial authority, and exercised unilateral autonomy over all levels of America’s government, military and law enforcement agencies and, at the same time, imposed his will on America’s media, businesses, law firms, and educational institutions, and is redefining health, rewriting history, etc. In doing so, he has collapsed the “separation of powers” believed to have been baked into America’s Constitution, elevating Executive Power to the monarchical King Donald level.

Those who believe that President Trump’s autocratic exercise of Executive Power can be unwound after the midterm elections are mistaken. The President has taken the steps necessary to cement his power and ensure a continuing Republican Congressional majority, the latter by gerrymandering Congressional seats and selectively outlawing mail-in balloting “to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.” “If we [gerrymander and eliminate mail-in balloting],” he wrote, “we will pick up 100 more seats, and the CROOKED game of politics is over.” President Trump’s opponents also are mistaken if they believe that the President will not seek a third term. As Candidate Trump said in 2024, “in four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.” As a consequence, the President’s opponents should be hoping that King Donald chooses to exercise his virtually limitless power by emulating the practices of the “Philosopher King” exalted by Plato in The Republic.

Plato’s “Philosopher King” is the epitome of an absolute ruler who possesses both keen political insight and philosophical wisdom. Because Plato believed that an ideal state would be led by a ruler having absolute knowledge obtained through philosophical study, that ruler’s background necessarily includes a love of truth enabling him to govern free from corruption. “The true philosopher (or ‘lover of wisdom’) is one who loves ‘the truth in each thing,’ as opposed to those who only love the things themselves…. Only the philosopher has knowledge of the absolute truth and is able to apply this knowledge for the good of the state…. Only in the ideal state will a philosopher be … the savior of his country, as well as of himself.”

President Trump indeed has demonstrated extraordinary political insight and skill in attaining the Presidency – doing so twice – and in executing the Trump 2.0 agenda. He also has expressed a set of philosophies, summarized in Project 2025 and evidenced by Presidential actions over the past 7 months, that have consolidated Regal Executive Power, including (among other things):

• Issuing Executive Orders that assert his imperial authority over agencies and businesses, purport to eliminate the Constitutional right to birthright citizenship, withhold the payment of Congressionally-mandated expenditures, impose tariffs, suspend the enforcement of various rights (including habeas corpus), laws and policies, etc.
• Making it clear that opponents will be targeted for retribution (e.g., John Bolton, James Comey, John Brennan, Adam Schiff). As FBI Director Kash Patel has said, “We’re going to come after you whether it’s criminally or civilly.”
• Quashing Federal Reserve independence to allow him to direct Fed monetary policy (by lowering interest rates and weakening the Dollar). To that end, President Trump recently “fired” Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook (which sets up another Trumpian judicial battle). Although no charges were filed against Cook, President Trump alleged that she is guilty of “negligence” and “deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter” that challenge her “competence and trustworthiness as a financial regulator.” The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 permits removal only for “cause,” which doesn’t yet exist in Cook’s case. “This is a kill shot at Fed independence,” according to Aaron Klein of the Brookings Institution. Undoubtedly! That is what Kings do!
• Embracing Statism to secure government participation in authority over “strategic” American industries (e.g., by means of an American sovereign wealth fund, taking effective control of US Steel/Nippon Steel, becoming the largest shareholder in rare earth producer MP Materials, taking a 10% stake in Intel (in a deal backed by socialist Bernie Sanders), taking 15% of the revenue from Nvidia’s and AMD’s sales in China, promising similar deals with Amazon and others, and rejecting the Congressionally-required sale of TikTok).
• Replacing BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer with E.J. Antoni “in order to ensure that official metrics are HONEST and ACCURATE.”
• Replacing senior military officers (mirroring recent actions by China’s Chairman Xi)).
• Threatening NBC and ABC with the revocation of their television licenses.
• Taking military control of law enforcement and transportation hubs in Washington, D.C., threatening to do the same in other blue cities to quell potential “civil unrest,” and hiring (and arming) an expanding circle of Federal agents.
• Changing the name of The Kennedy Center to The Trump Center.
• Redecorating the White House in gold leaf and using the royal “we” to refer to himself (as in “At some point, probably during this year or shortly thereafter, we’ll go to China”).

In 7 short months, America’s government has embraced a regal interpretation of the Constitution that irrevocably consolidates power in President Trump. The reality for those who oppose the President’s policies is that the reign of King Donald I will not end until at least January 20, 2029. President Trump’s expansive exercise of Executive Power will not be tempered by changes in the Congressional majority after the 2026 midterms because there will be no change. In addition to national gerrymandering and selective elimination of mail-in voting, the Justice Department recently began a State-by-State review of voter rolls in order to “remove ineligible voters.” Those voters deemed “ineligible” no longer will have their votes counted. This is a usual way for autocratic rulers to maintain power. Moreover, although King Donald may fulfill the role of Philosopher King by pursuing “absolute knowledge,” he is not pursuing “truth” or governing “free from corruption” – the President, for example, has gutted the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution and pursued crony capitalism which, although not the actions of a Philosopher King, are fully consistent with the practices of monarchs since the beginning of time.

A substantial minority of Americans nevertheless continue to approve of President Trump’s performance, although a majority currently give him negative marks. While polls today indicate that a majority of Americans favor his removal from office, that’s not going to happen. No conceivable reordering of America’s Congress, or change of heart within the Republican Party, makes that a possibility. King Donald will continue to be America’s President for the next 3 years and 5 months…, and perhaps for an indefinite period thereafter.

President Trump is desirous of being the 21^st Century’s principal peacekeeper worthy of receiving a Nobel Peace Prize and, as he told Sean Hannity, he wants to “get to heaven.” The hope is that this admirable philosophical grounding ultimately prevails and comes to represent the character and accomplishments of a worthy King Donald, a Philosopher King.

Finally (from a good friend)