One year into his historic return to the White House, President Donald Trump is governing America with what aides and critics alike describe as a “no-rules” mentality, executing a shock-and-awe domestic and foreign policy blitz that has expanded presidential power to levels not seen since Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s. As he enters his second year, Trump appears increasingly unconstrained by Congress, the courts, public opinion, or even the political consequences for his party, operating with a freedom that has reshaped the nation and the world.
Trump’s agenda has been executed with a velocity and scope that defies traditional political gravity. In a matter of months, he has ordered a massive federal immigration crackdown, leading to fatal shootings in Minneapolis; overseen an audacious military raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro; revived his plan to forcibly annex Greenland; threatened to bomb Iran; prosecuted political enemies; and shrugged off a criminal probe into the Federal Reserve chairman. “I don’t care,” Trump told Reuters when asked about the potential economic fallout, a statement that encapsulates his second-term doctrine of unilateral action.
The ‘No-Rules’ Doctrine: ‘Constrained Chiefly By His Own Judgment’
The philosophical core of Trump’s second term was articulated by the President himself. Speaking to The New York Times, he stated the only check on his power as commander-in-chief to launch military strikes was “my own morality.” This view—that the presidency is constrained chiefly by the occupant’s personal judgment rather than institutional restraint—has become the operating principle of his administration.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly framed this not as lawlessness, but as decisive leadership, stating Trump keeps “all options on the table” and acted in Venezuela and Iran only after diplomacy failed. However, historians see a more profound shift. Timothy Naftali, a presidential scholar, asserts Trump has wielded power with fewer constraints than any president since FDR, leveraging a compliant Republican Congress, a conservative Supreme Court that mostly sides with him, and a Cabinet purged of dissenting voices and packed with loyalists.
Governing ‘Without a Net’: The High-Wire Act of Political Survival
Despite this consolidation of power, Trump governs over a nation deeply divided and skeptical of his priorities. His approval rating stands at a weak 41%, with nearly 60% of Americans disapproving. The central vulnerability is the economy, where stubbornly high inflation contradicts his claim of presiding over the “strongest” economy in history. Trump has complicated his own messaging, at times labeling affordability concerns a Democratic “hoax,” a lack of discipline that alarms Republican strategists fearing a bloodbath in the November midterms.
“He has total control, but he may be losing the country,” said one GOP adviser. Trump himself acknowledged Republicans are in danger of losing Congress, warning that a Democratic majority would move to impeach him for a historic third time. This creates the ultimate “no-net” scenario: a president acting with maximal executive force while his political support, the only real remaining check, shows signs of fraying.
The Legacy of a ‘No-Rules’ Term: Reshaping What a President Can Do
The tangible results of this year are a stark list: a shrunken federal workforce, shuttered government agencies, sweeping deportations, troops in U.S. cities, trade wars, and the prosecution of adversaries. Yet, the most significant impact may be intangible: the normalization of a presidency that operates through executive orders and emergency declarations, deliberately shifting power from Congress to the Oval Office.
“Trump’s total disregard for the rule of law or basic checks and balances has made Americans less safe across the board,” said Democratic strategist Alex Floyd. Whether voters agree will be tested in November. But for now, as he marks a year into his return, Donald Trump has established a new template for presidential power—one defined not by compromise or coalition-building, but by the unwavering belief that in his second term, the only rules that matter are the ones he chooses to follow.
