The new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has moved quickly to disrupt — and in some cases dismantle — the normal functioning of the U.S. government. Many governance mechanisms are being undermined and critical civil service personnel are being fired. Indeed the very notions of the rule of law and constitutional separation of powers are under assault in Washington. We are witnessing the U.S. become autocratic.
No one should be surprised. As a candidate, Trump promised to be a “dictator” on Day 1. Trump’s endgame is unclear, and whether he succeeds at his authoritarian takeover is still uncertain, but the U.S. has finally crossed the Rubicon it began fording on Jan. 6, 2021. The political character of the U.S. is now fundamentally changed. U.S. allies and partners should recognize this dynamic, as, like all states, U.S. foreign policy is greatly determined by its domestic political foundation.
What is the Trump administration doing? Why? And how will these actions affect other countries?
The Trump administration’s blitzkrieg of improper tariff imposition, legally dubious executive orders, malfeasant personnel decisions and flat-out constitutional violations in seizing executive power covers a large range of activities. To begin with tariffs, Trump’s imposition of near-universal import tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico (with the latter two tariffs temporarily suspended) was authorized using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). This statute has never been used for tariffs, but only for sanctions in the context of U.S. national security emergencies. Trump’s justification for using the IEEPA — cross-border fentanyl smuggling and undocumented migrant flows — is highly dubious. There is no evidence that Canada has any significant role in either of those activities, even if one grants the claim for Mexico and China. Moreover, the IEEPA statute’s reporting obligations require demonstrating a direct connection between the emergency and the remedy, which is not supported in these cases.
Trump’s executive orders from Jan. 20 are too numerous to fully recount, but three stand out. One, the ending birthright citizenship — enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — has already been temporarily blocked by a federal judge as “blatantly unconstitutional.” A second executive order freezing certain federal spending likely violates congressional budgetary power, and has already been enjoined by a federal judge. The executive order also likely violates both administrative law and the 1974 Impoundment Control Act. Thirdly, the executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, has created a shadow-government entity currently operating with little transparency yet expansive power to alter government spending and the federal workforce. DOGE’s future existence is also under scrutiny in federal court.
Trump administration personnel decisions have also seemingly violated federal law. Trump purged senior civil servants from the Justice Department for political reasons (and thus in violation of the standard of misconduct or poor performance). He dismissed 18 inspectors general — whose job, ironically, is to monitor government malfeasance — also in apparent violation of civil service law. Even one of Trump’s political allies, Sen. Lindsay Graham, admitted that these firings were illegal. With Trump’s blessing, DOGE, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management have promulgated a deferred resignation plan for U.S. government employees that violates the Antideficiency Act and U.S. budgetary law.
Trump and Musk have used DOGE to force open access to U.S. Treasury payment systems and databases. The stated — and likely illegal — reason is to stop payments to certain federal contractors, while the opportunities for corruption and sensitive data breaches are high. For ideological reasons, the DOGE team is also reportedly abolishing the U.S. Agency for International Development. This is also unconstitutional, as the agency was founded by an act of Congress. Both of these DOGE actions are likely to result in federal lawsuits.
Why is Trump doing this? There are several interconnected reasons. First, some Trump “victories” — like the now suspended tariffs against Canada and Mexico — will be superficial and symbolic, but give him a chance to spin them as substantive for political gain. Second, the Trump White House believes there are policy outcomes it cannot get through constitutional processes: immigration disincentives, tariff receipts (e.g., from China) to offset tax cuts and defunding certain government programs. Third, Trump’s administration views chaos and cruelty as essential to demoralizing federal employees so they will quit, allowing for a radical downsizing of government and its remaking for the benefit of Trump and the "Make America Great Again" agenda.
Lastly, the common element of these measures is jurisprudential. Trump’s team has chosen illegal and gray-area measures because they know they will end up before the Supreme Court, which they believe will advance a controversial doctrine known as the “unitary executive theory” that would grant vast additional powers to the president at the expense of Congress. Trump would become an American Viktor Orban.
What does all this mean for allies and partners? The Trump administration is gutting the rule of law domestically, which means it will have no qualms about violating the rules-based order internationally. Washington is no longer a values partner, and the damage it is doing today will echo for years, perhaps generations. The sooner allies — such as Korea — understand this and calculate accordingly, the sooner they can adapt to surviving in a new world of predation.
Mason Richey is a professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, president of the Korea International Studies Association and editor-in-chief of the Journal of East Asian Affairs.