By Cliff Potts, Editor-in-Chief, WPS News
Dateline: Manila, Philippines – July 20, 2025
On a T-Mobile Cell Phone

Donald Trump’s casual mention of annexing Greenland, Canada, or “reclaiming” the Panama Canal isn’t just rhetorical bluster. For those who have followed his career—from Manhattan real estate to the Oval Office—it’s consistent with a pattern: challenge legal limits not to follow the law, but to expose and dismantle it.

Trump doesn’t treat laws as guardrails. He treats them as hurdles to be monetized or crushed. His response to opposition—whether from courts, Congress, or foreign governments—is not deference, but defiance.

This trend began long before his presidency. As a private businessman, Trump was sued over 4,000 times (Fang, 2016), frequently stiffing small contractors, settling cases without admission of guilt, and using endless appeals to grind down resistance. He openly bragged about exploiting tax loopholes and bankruptcy protections, insisting, “It’s just smart business” (Schwartz, 2016).

Once in office, Trump leaned into this mindset. He invoked emergency powers to redirect military funds toward his border wall after Congress refused to fund it (Shear & Cochrane, 2019). He staffed key roles with “acting” officials to avoid Senate confirmation. When the House subpoenaed documents or testimony, Trump’s team stonewalled, betting that enforcement would be slow or toothless—and for the most part, he was right.

His post-presidency behavior only reaffirms his contempt for legal boundaries. Indicted on charges ranging from election interference to classified document mishandling, Trump has turned the courtroom into a campaign stage. He’s attacked judges, prosecutors, and juries publicly, while simultaneously raising millions from supporters convinced he is the victim of a deep-state vendetta (Peters, 2024).

More troubling than the man himself is the precedent this sets. Trump has shown that laws in the United States are only as strong as the institutions willing to enforce them—and that populist charisma can overwhelm even the most carefully constructed democratic safeguards. His continued invocation of manifest destiny-like claims over sovereign nations is not a joke; it is a warning shot.

Trump’s legal defiance taps into something deeper: the erosion of faith in democratic norms. The slow chipping away at constitutional guardrails—once bipartisan red lines—has become a sport. And Trump is its undisputed champion.

The question is no longer “Will he follow the law?” but “What happens when no one stops him?”

Those still waiting for the judiciary or Congress to rein him in might be missing the point. Trump has already normalized contempt for the rule of law—and many in his base see that not as a flaw, but as a feature.

If Trump jokes about taking Greenland, Canada, or Panama, it’s not because he’s unserious. It’s because he knows that law, like politics, bends under pressure—and he’s betting it’ll bend again.

References
Fang, L. (2016). Trump Has Been Involved in Over 4,000 Lawsuits. The Intercept.
Peters, J. W. (2024). Trump’s Legal Woes Become Fundraising Bonanza. The New York Times.
Schwartz, T. (2016). The Art of the Deal and the Art of the Grift. Harper.
Shear, M. D., & Cochrane, E. (2019). Trump Declares a National Emergency. The New York Times.

Link: https://endfascism.xyz

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