Article II of the United States Constitution bestows executive power on the office of the presidency. For example, the article establishes the president as the commander-in-chief of the military and grants the office the power of pardons. But it's also sandwiched between Articles I and III, which are the foundations for the powers of the legislative and judiciary branches. You know, the whole checks and balances thing. It's unclear, however, if President Trump understands this.
During a speech at Turning Point USA's Teen Action Summit, Trump played his usual hits. But while railing against the Democrats for their "witch hunt" into 2016 Russian election interference and alleged obstruction of justice, Trump mentioned that he has "an Article II," which would allow him to do whatever he pleases.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Viktor Orban: is time up for Europe's longest-serving premier?Today's Big Question Hungarian PM's power is under threat 'but not in the way – or from the people – one might expect'
-
Operation Rubific: the government's secret Afghan relocation schemeThe Explainer Massive data leak a 'national embarrassment' that has ended up costing taxpayer billions
-
Melania Trump's intervention on UkraineIn The Spotlight The first lady has been linked to the president's U-turn on sending arms to Kyiv
-
Melania Trump's intervention on Ukraine
In The Spotlight The first lady has been linked to the president's U-turn on sending arms to Kyiv
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firingsSpeed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department
-
Cuomo announces third-party run for NYC mayorSpeed Read He will go up against progressive Democratic powerhouse Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams
-
Big, beautiful bill: Supercharging ICEFeature With billions in new funding, ICE is set to expand its force of agents and build detention camps capable of holding more than 100,000 people
-
Deportations: Citizens could be nextFeature the Trump is expanding denaturalization efforts, targeting naturalized citizens and birthright citizenship
-
Ukraine: Trump's mixed messagesFeature Trump reverses a Pentagon freeze on Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Russia ramps up air attacks
-
Supreme Court: Ceding more power to Trump?Feature SCOTUS has given Trump a victory by ending nationwide injunctions, limiting judges' power to block presidential orders
-
The Pam Bondi and Dan Bongino schism threatens Trump's DOJIn the Spotlight Two MAGA partisans find themselves on either end of a growing scandal over Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to White House officials
