Trump..the strong president

The origin of the American presidential political system is that the American president is described as a strong-weak president due to the participation of Congress, and even the Supreme Court in presidential powers, in application of the principle of the system of checks and balances, which means that each authority participates with the other authority to curb its excesses in exercising its powers. Despite this, the position of the president remains the axis and heart of the American political system due to the powers it represents, embodies, and exercises, as stated in the American Constitution.

The founders of the United States were keen to have one strong president in which the identity and the American nation are united. The manifestations of this strength are evident and varied in many forms approved by the American Constitution: He is the only one who is elected through general elections held every four years, in which all the American people participate, and he is elected by what is known as the Electoral College, whose votes amount to 534, and the number is the sum of the votes of each state in Congress. This is an affirmation of this electoral unity that gives him a power that is not available to anyone else, unlike the elections of the American Congress, whose members are elected by the residents of each state, which means that the American president is equal to the total members of Congress. The second matter is that the constitution limited all executive authority to the person of the president only, as the government is responsible to him and he is the one who appoints it, and the entire administrative apparatus is his responsibility and subordinate to the security establishment and the army. While the legislative authority is represented by 543 representatives, the executive authority is represented by one person. The third aspect of the president’s power is the broad powers he enjoys in the legislative and judicial branches. Among his powers are ratification of bills issued by Congress, the right to object, the appointment of judges, and his broad powers in the field of foreign relations, peace, and war.

Despite the manifestations of this absolute power, the founders were keen that the president would not turn into an absolute dictator who is not held accountable. Thus, a system of checks and balances was invented, the essence of which is the participation of power in the powers of other authorities, especially in matters of budget and finance. It is sufficient that the Federal Supreme Court has the judicial right to decide the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of any presidential decision. Among the restrictions imposed on the president is setting his presidential term at only eight consecutive or separate years. The important thing is that he does not rule for more than eight years. After that, he turns into an ordinary citizen who can be tried and questioned. This means that the president, despite the centrality of his position, does not rule alone, but rather through a system of institutions to achieve the supreme American interest, which is considered the highest restriction on the president. Although the American president has the strongest powers compared to any president, his strength is through a system of institutions and mechanisms that ensure, on the one hand, that he does not monopolize power and abuse it, and on the other hand, guarantee the supreme American interest that organizes and defines the extent of his powers.

Therefore, the president cannot make a decision alone, even if he is constitutionally able to do so, as the repercussions of any presidential decision are not easy, as a mistake may be costly to the president and the entire political system. The strength and weakness of the president cannot be understood in the constitutional context alone, but in the broader and more comprehensive political context, as the president works in the context of a political system known as a political system open to all variables and influences, and here is the influence of lobbies such as the Zionist lobby and public opinion, the influence of the wealthy, money and the media, and the role of intellectual and scientific elites and influential think tanks. In the end, what governs America is an alliance of three institutions: the political establishment, the economic establishment, and the military-security establishment.

In this context, presidential decisions can be understood from many issues, most notably the Palestinian issue and the absolute support for Israel, as in the war on Gaza, and the position of President Biden's administration. The question raised by today's article remains whether this general description applies to President Trump, who was re-elected as the forty-seventh president.

According to these elections, President Trump may deviate from the description of the strong-weak president to the strong-strong president, for more than one reason. First, the outcome of the elections themselves, and their obtaining a large number of electoral college votes, the Republican Party’s victory in both houses of Congress, and the background of the members of the Federal Supreme Court loyal to him. Second, the spread of Trumpism and white American populism. Third, the alliance with the wealthy, money men, and lobbies. All of this puts him in an unprecedented presidential position in going far in making decisions related to the environment, immigration, and imposing trade tariffs, and in America’s relations with its traditional allies, and in the position on China and Russia and the wars in the region. Finally, President Trump may be the strong-strong in domestic politics, but globally the position remains subject to the strength of other countries, their capabilities, and their challenge to the American decision.