Trump is acting like it’s his choice whether he obeys the Constitution
By Stephen Collinson, Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN, 7 minute read Published 12:00 AM EDT, Mon May 5, 2025
President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 30. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
CNN — Americans are learning what it’s like to live with a president who sees no constraints on his actions and who apparently fears paying no price for them.
In a blitz of recent policy moves, legal challenges, comments and interviews, Donald Trump is showing that he’s shedding the last limitations of custom and the public’s long understanding of how a president should behave.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” that aired in full Sunday, Trump said for instance, “I don’t know” when asked whether he needs to uphold the Constitution, three months after swearing an oath to do so.
As always, Trump’s attacks and expansive policy initiatives seemed aimed at shattering normality and wrong-footing enemies, while creating fear and the impression of unstoppable momentum among his critics.
Trump is also honoring supporters delighted by his assault on what they see as disdainful and liberal-dominated political, legal, educational, media and military establishments. Top aides argue that his extreme actions are justified by his election victory and works — for instance, in his stemming of southern border crossings.
But Trump’s behavior also points to darker potential outcomes of a second presidency fueled by his belief that he has near-uncheckable power after a second electoral triumph that followed his defiance of personal legal woes and two assassination attempts.
The administration is repeatedly defying federal courts — in one case even the Supreme Court, over the fate of an undocumented migrant whose return it ordered the administration to “facilitate.” Trump is meanwhile wielding vast executive power against institutions that he wants to silence, including law firms and universities.
