WASHINGTON – Congressional Republicans are being attacked by Donald Trump, but Democrats are confused as to how best to oppose him.
Instead of stocking “rival teams” in the White House, Trump chose a nest of his apprentices.
At this point in Trump’s presidency, the most serious and powerful pushback he faced comes from two common people: foreign leaders and American judges.
Each pays a practice rarely seen in presidential politics.
The judge stumbled on some of Trump’s agendas that they say they are violating the law, but world leaders challenged him to take a position to overturn order based on rules built by the US.
In doing so, they risk taunting Trump in a way that a boomerang can. Trump is in harmony with all sorts of little things. Anyone who crosses him on camera, especially will put his anger at risk.
Trump administration officials have told Ukrainian leader Voldimi Zelensky to leave the White House property and suspend the shipment of arms cargo to his country after clashing with Trump over the state of peace talks with Russia.
Already, Trump’s billionaire aide Elon Musk has used his large public platform to call for a judge’s bullet each for obstructing Trump’s agenda.
“There’s a troubling aspect to this. The more the Trump administration and those who support them say these ridiculous things about federal judges, the more risks the safety of families and personalities and the courts,” Doug Jones, a former Democrat Sen. in an interview.
However, neither the court nor the corps of foreign leaders have been deterred. After all, federal judges have a lifetime of tenure, with foreign officials answering their citizens. For now, they are acting as an emergency brake as Trump pushes for plans to remake the world.
When slapped the Trump administration’s attempt to fire members of the National Labor Relations Committee, a federal judge deserved to issue something that highlighted the limits of presidential power.
“Presidents who promote their image of themselves as “king” or “dictator” are fundamentally misconstruing their role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, perhaps as a vision of effective leadership,” US District Judge Beryl Howell wrote last week. (Trump said he would become a “dictator” on the first day of his presidency during the campaign. After troubling New York City’s busy pricing system last month, he declared it in capital letters on social media site Long Live the King!
William Alsup, another judge in the Northern District of California, ruled in a case that involved the Trump administration’s firing of federal workers in probationary period.
Foreign leaders push back
At least four US allies have publicly rebuked Trump in recent weeks for statements they deemed untrue or unwise.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed Trump last week under his name, “Donald,” saying that imposing tariffs on Canada is “very stupid.”
An aide to Trudeau had given him a draft speech in advance. He decided he wanted to say something stronger, and Trudeau rewritten it, Western government officials said.
“Frankly, he was enough,” an official said of Trudeau.
“The Prime Minister spoke very honestly and said that at least the president needs to say that he needs to directly address the level of light empt that has been shown to him as a person,” the official added.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in an interview: “Americans love Canadians, Canadians love Americans. This is one. President Trump created total confusion. He created uncertainty.”
“This is not the way you trade with your closest allies and your closest friends in the whole world.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer stepped in to fix Trump after claiming that US taxpayers had been repaid for aid sent to Ukraine by Europeans and stiffened.
Macron said without hesitation on February 24th, placing his hands in the oval office on Trump’s arms. I paid 60% of the total effort. ”
After Trump said at an oval office meeting with the stars three days later, “We will not get back the money,” his priorities said: He was talented in a considerable part. ”
Both leaders were guests sitting with Trump in an oval office as reporters asked questions and cameras rolled. The feeling they felt forced to insert and fix cards is unusual in such an environment, with ornament and respect being the norm.
“Foreign leaders usually don’t criticize or correct each other on camera,” said Peter Westmacott, British ambassador to the US, France and Turkey. “But we don’t live in normal times. Sometimes the president’s lies don’t matter. But sometimes, because of the office he has, they do.”
White House officials asked about the moment with Macron, whom Trump said wasn’t bothered either. Trump has a long relationship with Macron. When the cameras were turned off, the president and Starme appeared to build a real connection, officials said.
Furthermore, neither person was interrupted exactly as Zelensky did, officials added. (Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, have lost their temper with Zelensky after he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had broken an agreement with his country over the past decade.)
How world leaders prepare to meet Trump
When world leaders come to an oval office, they are not in the habit of leading it to the wings. They arrive at the points they want to make and rebuttals prepared in response to the arguments they expect to hear, the diplomats say.
For example, before his first meeting with Trump at the White House last month, Japanese Prime Minister Isba flocked with Tokyo’s advisors for a preparatory meeting of more than 20 hours, said someone familiar with the plan.
All that homework was paid off. Isba has arrived for an oval office meeting that clearly and colorfully demonstrated Japan’s investment in the US, sources said the type of visual aid Trump prefers.
Isba also brought a golden samurai helmet as a gift, and the two, familiar with the present, told NBC News. In Japan, this often means prayer for prosperity and longevity.
So when leaders like Macron and Starme tell Trump that he’s wrong, that’s not something they’ll lighten up. They feel that his statement cannot be made to do something unchallenging, the diplomat said.
“That’s surprising and certainly not as far as I know, at least unprecedented. Ned Price, a former State Department spokesman for the Biden administration, said:
“The fact that they did this in this setting in front of reporters and cameras only underscores concerns about how these false claims actually come to fruition in the alliance structure,” Price added.
Democrats struggle to find their footing
The most natural obstacle to Trump’s aspirations would be the opposition. However, the Democrats looked unhappy after their 2024 defeat in the presidential race.
In a speech at Trump’s Congressional joint session last week, Democrats sat in their room with paddles lifting up that read “fake.” The host of the late-night talk show gave a bit of a laugh at the theatre.
But Jones sees how his party comes out of exile. Eight years ago, he did something inconceivable in the bright red Alabama and won a Senate seat. Now, he says Democrats can recover if he chooses a more selective target, rather than oppose the incredible number of policy declarations and walkbacks coming from the West Wing.
“The Democrats struggled a bit because there was a lot of hit right away,” Jones said. “It was like devouring. You go one path and Trump reverses the course. It could be because of a design to keep Democrats away from their game, and it worked.”
“But Democrats are beginning to return to important important points. Medicaid is a real big deal. Healthcare is a real big deal and it’s important for many swing districts and many red districts.”
“What you’re looking at is Democrats begging to fine-tune their message. They won’t go down every rabbit hole the administration throws at them.”
