After Trump

Kyle Knutson
Aug 28, 2017 · 7 min read

In 1940, breaking a long held political precedent, the President of the United States decided to run for a third term. It was a hot issue, both in securing his party’s nomination and in the general election, and for good reason. It’s only natural to be upset when someone breaks a tradition started by George Washington. Overall, though, both the Democratic party and the American people consented to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s bid for a third term. But after FDR died in the middle of his fourth term, Congress and the States acted to codify the unwritten rule. The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution disallowed any future President from running for a third term. We may find ourselves at a similar junction in the near future. The violation of numerous norms by Donald Trump is already testing the American system of government. But the next president might play an even more significant role in our history. The actions of the next administration, the Congress it deals with, and the states they both govern, will either tacitly cement as precedent, or resoundingly rebuke with new laws, numerous actions of the Trump team. What comes after Trump will be critical for America, assuming it’s up to, or up for, the task.

As a candidate, Trump broke numerous election norms. He refused to release his tax returns. He advocated for war crimes. He accused one of our allies of sending rapists over our border. He called for a foreign country to aide him by obtaining and releasing evidence of his opponent’s wrongdoing. He openly cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election, and made strong hints that he would not accept the results if he lost. After winning, he made no effort to heal the country from bitter divides. He has also continued to relitigate the election and call for his opponent’s prosecution.

Precedent-breaking has only intensified once in office. Donald Trump has spent an inordinate amount of his time as President on vacation. Of his first 200 days in office, 50 of them have involved a trip to a golf course. His days away from Washington, combined with the expensive locations he chooses to visit, put him on pace to eclipse President Obama’s eight years of vacation costs in just one. His, and his family’s, travel expenses have already exhausted the Secret Service budget. Unnecessary and excessive spending of taxpayer dollars is waste.

Scrutiny of the president’s travels raises more concerns. The majority of Trump’s vacations happen to include visits to his own properties. Every cent spent by secret service, administrative staff, and other travellers accompanying him to his hotels and golf courses goes directly from the U.S. budget into the Trump family business. The Trump Organization is still run by his children, in a trust that is not blind. Naturally, it benefits greatly from Trump’s presidency, but the problem is not limited to direct spending. The State Department has promoted Mar-a-lago on embassy websites, and White House staff have gone on news media encouraging viewers to buy Trump merchandise. The business’s financial dealings also lack transparency. His organization has sold luxury condos to shell companies with anonymous buyers, possibly at inflated prices. Between Trump’s trips, government promotion of his properties, and third parties seeking influence over his administration, his businesses have done abnormally well. The “winter white house,” for example, has seen a 25% increase in profit. Funneling government spending to his own companies (at prices set by his properties), using the government’s platforms to advertise private services, and turning a blind eye to over-inflated transactions constitutes corruption.

In addition to patronizing his family’s business, Trump has appointed members of his family to key roles in his administration. Ivanka Trump is an assistant to the president, and her husband Jared Kushner is a senior White House advisor, despite neither being qualified for any of their assigned duties. Ivanka has sat in for her father at G-20 summits, and Jared is assigned ludicrously wide-ranging and ambitious responsibilities. They’ve been granted high level security clearances, which they still enjoy despite numerous revisions to their application forms. Surprising few critics, they also don’t seem to be doing a good job. At several important points in Trump’s presidency they’ve been on vacation, and have no policy or strategic wins for which they can claim credit. Favoring unqualified family members for government positions is nepotism.

Trump’s organization has land and business in countries around the globe. Now that they’re in charge of foreign policy, Trump and his family have seen a greasing of processes by foreign governments. President Trump saw a ten-year trademark battle in China get resolved within his first month in office. Ivanka’s trademarks are likewise fast-tracked. Even the Trump Organization’s building permits are approved faster. While any of these could be plausibly denied as quid pro quos by all parties, the collective message to our President is clear: we’re your friend, and we can make your life easier if you do likewise. This should make most Americans squeamish. Trump is supposed to be representing the U.S. while in the office of President, and it is unclear how he’ll act when his interests clash with his country’s. Even if he says it’s impossible for a president to have any, Trump’s business dealings have potential for vast conflicts of interest.

Trump has allowed, or presided over, the gutting of several government agencies. He plans to reduce the State Department’s budget by over 30% and has failed to fill over 200 positions. There are likewise numerous vacancies across the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the SEC, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and other economic institutions. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commision was without enough seats to even hold votes until earlier this month.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has no boss, even though hurricane season is getting started. This is playing with fire. The Trump administration always risked turning geopolitical, weather, or economic crises into catastrophes through their own actions. But the failure to put in place sufficient institutional leaders risks unnecessary escalation simply through inaction. This is dereliction of duty.

If there is such a notion, Donald Trump’s presidency has even broken the norm for breaking norms. Much like having the record for breaking the most records, the incredible number of scandals is as much a scandal as any single one. Individually, each would probably cripple any other presidency. Collectively, they prevent any single issue from gaining enough traction or scrutiny to cause any serious damage. The shattered norms bode ill for America. Waste, corruption, nepotism, casting doubt on elections, dereliction of duty, and maintaining financial conflicts of interest are corrosive to a country. These are the hallmarks of failed states, and they’ve largely been ignored by a Republican congress. The president’s party hasn’t complained about Ivanka’s trademarks, Trump’s trips to his own golf course, or his threats to throw a vanquished opponent in jail. If America continues to accept these executive behaviors as facts-of-life, or is unwilling or unable to address them due to party politics, we’ll be set sliding on the path to state failure. The norms that Trump is eroding need to be shored up before they’re destroyed.

While individuals like Priebus, Christie, Scaramucci, Mnuchin, Tillerson, Cohn, and Kelly will likely remain forever tainted by their association with Trump, there’s hope that America and its institutions can learn lessons and begin redeeming themselves. This author advocates for the states, the parties, and Congress to codify unwritten rules and implement policies that encourage better presidential behavior. Some suggestions include:

  • No candidate should be able to secure a party’s nomination or appear on a ballot without releasing tax returns. Some states are starting to test this, though it’s unclear if they can do it without help from Congress or the parties themselves. If it works, Congress could pass a law making tax returns automatically fall under FOIA requests upon someone declaring a candidacy.
  • Political parties should introduce codes of conduct they require of their candidates, reserving the right to replace any nominee who breaks them with a backup choice. The more transparent this process the better.
  • Congress can reduce the number of cabinet and department positions that are political appointments, or change their terms so that they can carry over between administrations. This is already how the FBI director and Federal Reserve chair are appointed.
  • Laws or Amendments can be passed dictating the rules for business owners who enter the Oval Office. They should contain clear guidelines on how the President can interact with his old business while in office.
  • Congress could likewise update the rules governing shell corporations, making all financial transactions more transparent. Such proposals bring ancillary benefits as well, such as making tax evasion much harder.
  • Congress could pass a series of “good government” laws, such as they did after Watergate, this time focusing on toughening the rules covering nepotism, vacation budgeting, and secret service compensation.

These suggestions represent a starting point for how America needs to react to our 45th president, but it really only scratches the surface. Donald Trump is a problem, and causes problems, but is not the root problem. He is a symptom of larger issues with how our country functions. Many things led to his election, from dissatisfaction with elites, love of celebrity culture, and economic anxiety. I’m not proposing solutions for any of those here. Likewise, there are a class of problems with our government’s current separation of powers, regardless of who is the President, such as war powers and the administrative system. These have always been fun for academics to debate, but having actually had a man of Trump’s caliber at the head of the executive branch brings urgency and materiality to these issues. I don’t address any of these, either. But there are clearly basic, unwritten rules that have been damaged (if not broken) by Trump, and it’s dangerous that none of these constituted broken laws. The next president probably won’t have global trademarks in his name, and probably won’t give their children security clearances, but simply not repeating Trump’s flaws is not enough. We must overcompensate for this regression from the norm. This country will need to assess and fix the damage as soon as possible. Leaving the norms broken can’t be an option.

What comes after Trump is critical to the health of America because:

  • America has a lot of unwritten norms that separate it from undemocratic countries.
  • Trump displays waste, corruption, and nepotism.
  • Trump casts doubt on elections, fails to fulfill duties, and has numerous financial conflicts of interest.
  • These violated norms are not themselves illegal, but it’s a problem that they aren’t.
  • Congress has passed laws in the past to officially codify broken norms before.
  • Congress, Political Parties, and the States need to do it again once Trump is no longer president.
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