The country is now in the third week of what looks to becoming one of the most controversial Presidencies ever. The protests that began the day after the Inauguration and the court battles over the Moslem ban give clear indications that the struggle against #Donald Trump are not just political. But we must begin these considerations with a matter that seems to have been forgotten in the storm of orders that have swept the country from the White House.
The investigations and conflicts of interest
As the country has been following the fallout from Donald Trump’s exectuive orders, many have forgotten that the Presidency began under a cloud that has still not been dispelled.
The presidential campaign saw the first comments about allegations of Russian hacking of the presidential campaign in favour of Donald Trump. These comments became more insistent after the electoral victory of November 8th and reached their peak with the release by BuzzFeed of a redacted intelligence report on the allegations. These allegations set the mood for the fiery first press conference.
The country is still waiting for the results of the investigations on the allegations and it can only be hoped that they are not only prompt, but also furnish definitive proof of the outcomes in order to allow the relevant authorities to make the appropriate decisions.
With the comments by Sallyanne Conway and President Trump about stores dropping Ivanka Trump’s clothing line the issue of conflicts of interest regarding his business empire have once more been raised and it is unlikely that the issue will go away soon.
Both these issues will continue to haunt him until a definitive resolution has been found that will satisfy the ethic requirements of the Office. The measures announced during the first press conference raised doubts at the time and the recent developments do nothing to dispel the disquiet of ethics authorities from both sides of the political fence.
SCOTUS
Yet for all these concerns that will still play a part in the fate of the Trump Presidency, the one player that may well play the decisive role will come into play even earlier than expected.
The decision of the Ninth Circuit Court to uphold Judge Robart’s temporary restraining order on the Moslem ban and Donald Trump’s subsequent tweet in which he stated “SEE YOU IN COURT” (in capitals in the tweet) mean that the #Supreme Court will soon be called upon to decide on the original executive order.
This development is a classic example of the checks and balances of the American system of government, but this case will put to the test the belief stated by the lawyer representing the Justice Department in Tuesday’s hearing that some aspects of the President’s actions are unreviewable.
President Trump has so far acted with this belief firmly in mind as he and many of his followers believe that electoral victory should give a President the power to enact all his promises. These court decisions have so far shown that there are constitutional limits to the power of the White House and the Supreme Court will now have to make a final decision their merits.
The White House must now await decisions and outcomes on these matters and they, more than the traditional Republicans versus Democrats political dog fights, may well be the factors that decide the future direction of Trump’s Presidency.
In many ways the country is now being a practical lesson of the civics courses that many took in school. Yet it seems strange that the student most involved in taking these lessons just happens to be the President of the United States.
