Tuesday, May 6`, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 36
by Rex Huppke
Asked this weekend whether he needs to uphold the U.S. Constitution, President Donald Trump flatly said, “I don’t know.” And you know what? I agree with him.
I’ve always viewed the Constitution as kind of a “meh” document, more a set of ideas scribbled down by long-ago dead dudes than a framework to “form a more perfect Union” or “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”
Now, granted, while taking the presidential oath of office back in January, Trump did say: “I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.”
But when you consider the “to the best of my ability” part and factor in Trump’s actual abilities, that oath is swiftly distilled down to either “I don’t know” or a shoulder shrug. And just because Trump is the first president to cast doubt on whether his job requirement includes literally following the rules established by the Founding Fathers, it doesn’t mean he’s wrong. It just means he’s a savvy businessman who thinks outside the box, with “the box” in this case being the rule of law and some 240 years of precedent.
Trump ponders if he really needs to abide by that Constitution thing
Trump gave the I-dunno-heard-‘round-the-world during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” which aired May 4. Discussing the administration’s new thing where it deports people without due process, host Kristen Welker said the Fifth Amendment says everyone deserves due process.
To which Trump responded: “It might say that.”
Again, he’s right. The Fifth Amendment might say that. And just because it absolutely, 100% does say that, doesn’t mean it’s a thing a president trying to illegally deport a lot of people needs to worry about.
Everyone knows the Constitution only counts if it’s convenient
Trump continued, referring to the large number of immigrants his administration is trying to deport in the least-legal way possible: “But if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials.”
Correct. Everyone who has not read the Constitution knows that it comes with limits. Basically, everyone is entitled to due process up until it becomes inconvenient to hold a bunch of trials, at which point that right goes out the window.
If due process isn’t guaranteed, then I assume gun rights aren’t, either
I assume Trump would agree that the same holds true with guns and the Second Amendment. It might say “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” but c’mon. I doubt the Founding Fathers anticipated THIS MANY guns.
We’ve got in the neighborhood of 400 million arms to bear in this country, so it seems like a little infringement is in order.
If due process can become too burdensome, so can gun rights. I will await the president’s plan to round up all the firearms.
Why worry about the Constitution? Trump hasn’t been following it anyway.
But getting back to Trump’s recent “it’s optional” view of the Constitution, it seems important to recognize he has been ignoring the darn thing anyway.
All those tariffs? Unconstitutional.
Shutting down federal agencies without congressional approval? Unconstitutional.
Trying to end birthright citizenship? Wildly unconstitutional.
And Trump is openly defying a U.S. Supreme Court order to return a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a Salvadoran prison, despite the Constitution being pretty clear on the whole “he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” thing.
While we’re at it, let’s get rid of the Declaration of Independence
Now, some softies out there might say this Constitution-averse behavior is a slippery slope to tyranny. I disagree. It’s more of a nonslippery set of stairs to tyranny, hopefully one with a handrail so the 78-year-old Trump can make it down without falling.
If a super-smart businessman president can say “I don’t know” when asked if everyone has a right to due process, maybe it’s a sign we have too many rights. Do we really need a right to vote, a right to express ourselves freely, AND a right to practice any religion without government intrusion? Sounds greedy, if you ask me.
It’s clearly time for America to tighten up its belt and let go of some of these truths we hold to be self-evident. Oh … wait a minute. That’s from the Declaration of Independence.
USA TODAY
