WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has used presidential power in ways that have never been seen before during the first seven months of his second term. This is a big change from what he said during his campaign, when he promised to end a “weaponized deep state.” Trump has been “amassing cards” to use against his opponents and critics, using the federal government to settle political scores and push his own agenda.
His constituency has backed this fast attempt to centralize authority. University of Kansas sociologist David N. Smith says they are “happy to see the state acting to fight the culture war on their behalf.”
Since January, here is how the Trump administration has used its power:
Law Enforcement and the Military: The president is in charge of law enforcement in the capital city. He invoked a law that had never been used before to send hundreds of federal agents and National Guard troops to the area. He has also said that he will send troops to big cities run by Democrats, like Baltimore, Chicago, New York, and New Orleans.
Targeting the Legal Profession: The president has used executive orders and memoranda to go after law firms and lawyers who have worked for his political opponents. For instance, on March 6, 2025, Trump signed a broad order aimed at a well-known law firm that works for Democrats. The administration has also tried to take away security clearances and limit access to government buildings for lawyers at firms it doesn’t like. Reports say that several companies, such as Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, have paid the government millions of dollars to settle cases. One of these settlements was for $40 million.
Higher Education: The government has taken away billions of dollars in federal research money and is trying to keep overseas students out of top universities. Because of this pressure, institutions have done a lot. The University of Pennsylvania took away records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, and Columbia University consented to a $220 million settlement. The presidents of Northwestern University and the University of Virginia have also stepped down. The government also issued an executive order on April 11, 2025, to stop giving federal money to colleges and institutions that were found to be “hostile environments” under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Media and Individuals: The administration has won multimillion-dollar settlements against media companies in litigation that most people think are weak. The government dropped corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in a well-known case that was considered as an attempt to get him to help with immigration crackdowns. Trump has also told the Justice Department to look into Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor, two former officials from his first administration. He has also fired or moved federal workers who were working on issues involving him.
Civil Rights and DEI: The government has focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. An executive order on January 21, 2025, canceled an order that had been in place for a long time that dealt with discrimination in federal contracts. This new ruling calls DEI and accessibility programs “race-based discrimination,” which might lead to investigations of groups that keep these programs going. The Leadership Conference says that this action is a “unprecedented attempt to reverse the fundamental meaning of civil rights in America.”
Personnel and Appointments: The president has sacked career federal employees. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) says that 70% of the lawyers in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have been fired or forced to quit. The administration has also worked to put loyalists in important government jobs, often skipping the usual Senate confirmation processes.
Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, said that these acts are not about “weaponizing government” but are instead a show of strength to carry out “the mandate of the American people.” Legal and civil rights experts, on the other hand, disagree with this point of view. They say that the president is breaking down constitutional protections and concentrating power in a way that could endanger the system of checks and balances.
This is a big change from what Trump promised during his campaign. His actions show that he is willing to utilize the state’s huge power to go after political opponents, which he promised to stop doing.