Trump’s presidency has been marked by brazen defiance of constitutional norms, but this lawlessness didn’t begin in the Oval Office. It’s just the latest chapter in Trump’s long, well-documented history of manipulating the legal system to further personal power, punish critics and evade accountability.
Trump and his businesses were entangled in over 4,000 legal cases across federal and state courts from 1973 to 2016. These included defamation suits, tax disputes and retaliatory litigation against journalists. He’s was fined for frivolous lawsuits, found liable for sexual abuse and defamation and convicted on 17 criminal counts through his corporate entities.
This pattern of weaponizing legal tools for personal gain has metastasized into a governing style defined by Trump’s legal violations and power grabs. He has deployed federal agencies against political enemies, defied judicial rulings and issued executive orders that legal scholars across the ideological spectrum have condemned as unconstitutional. His presidency is not a break from his past. It’s a continuation of the years he’s spent bending the law to his will.
Politically Motivated Prosecutions
Trump has transformed the Department of Justice from a guardian of impartial law into a tool of political retaliation, utilizing targeted prosecutions designed to punish dissent and consolidate executive power.
For example, earlier this year, Trump gutted DOJ’s Public Integrity Section (PIN), a Watergate-era safeguard meant to prevent political interference in criminal investigations. The legal staff was slashed from over 30 attorneys to just five and the longstanding rule requiring PIN approval before charging members of Congress was suspended. This turned DOJ into an arm of the White House, clearing the way to target political opponents without internal oversight.
Following the rule change that removed PIN, Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver was charged with assault after a scuffle with ICE agents during a lawful oversight visit to a Newark detention facility. Video footage suggests any contact was accidental, yet DOJ pressed charges anyway, making it clear this was about harassment and silencing oversight.
Other politically motivated targets include the Milwaukee judge charged for allegedly helping a defendant avoid ICE detention despite no clear legal violation. In short, the indictment alleges that she knowingly helped an undocumented immigrant evade ICE agents by telling ICE agents they needed a warrant to enter her courtroom and directing the defendant and his attorney to exit through a side door to avoid detention.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported to a Salvadoran prison in defiance of a court order, was then recharged with trafficking after a public outcry forced his return. Keep in mind that prosecutors have yet to present direct evidence of human smuggling – no payments, no coercion, no organized transport, but have tried to coerce Abrego Garcia to plead guilty to human smuggling and be deported to Costa Rica or face deportation to Uganda!
Additionally, former DOJ and FBI officials have stated that the Trump administration has used firings and demotions to deter future investigations and punish perceived enemies. This includes prosecutors who worked on cases involving Trump himself.
Hyped-Up Charges in D.C.: Manufacturing Crisis, Weaponizing Prosecution
Washington, D.C. has become ground zero for the Trump Administration’s campaign to criminalize dissent and inflate federal power. Former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, now serving as Trump’s handpicked U.S. Attorney for D.C., has pushed prosecutors to elevate petty offenses into federal felonies. Defense attorneys report that weak cases, often involving minor property damage or verbal altercations, are being escalated into serious indictments.
Federal magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui recently blasted the DOJ for filing charges it couldn’t even convince grand juries to approve. In one case, a man was detained for nearly a week for allegedly damaging a light fixture outside a D.C. bar, only for the case to collapse when the grand jury refused to indict. Faruqui called the DOJ’s behavior “playing cops and robbers like children” and warned that “we’re acting like this is all normal” when it’s anything but.
The consequences are ominous:
- Mass Detentions: People are being jailed pre-trial for nonviolent offenses, reversing long-standing norms that prioritize release unless conviction is secured.
- Court Overload: D.C.’s Superior Court is down 13 judges and the federal docket is overwhelmed. Trump controls judicial appointments in the District and vacancies remain unfilled.
- Due Process Violations: In one case, a woman remained locked up for nearly 24 hours after a judge ordered her release.
It’s a fact that violent crime in D.C. has declined over the past two years. What’s rising is the use of federal power to create a spectacle of control, military deployments, mass arrests and inflated charges.
Threatening Cities
Trump’s approach to urban management has veered into dangerous territory, where federal power is imposed with little regard for legal rulings or democratic norms. This federal lawlessness under Trump has transformed cities into battlegrounds—sites of occupation, intimidation and rhetorical warfare. From Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., federal deployments have bypassed local authority, defied court orders and escalated confrontations with communities and elected officials.
Cities already affected or targeted:
- Los Angeles, CA: Federal forces were sent in June 2025 under the claim of quelling unrest tied to immigration protests. Troops were reportedly involved in crowd control, arrests and patrols. A U.S. District Court ruled Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles was illegal, violating the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. Trump has appealed. Stay tuned!
- Washington, D.C.: In August 2025, Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops and took control of the D.C. police department under the Home Rule Act.
- Chicago, IL: Plans for deployment are underway, with Trump citing crime and political opposition as justification.
- New York City, NY: Named by Trump as a potential target during an August press conference.
- Baltimore, MD: Also listed among cities under scrutiny for federal intervention.
- Oakland and San Francisco, CA: Mentioned in planning documents as possible future deployment sites.
Legal defiance reached a new level of provocation on September 6, 2025, when Trump posted a digitally altered meme depicting himself as a wartime commander over the Chicago skyline. Styled after Apocalypse Now, the image included helicopters, flames and the caption: “I love the smell of deportations in the morning… Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR”. The meme followed an executive order rebranding the Department of Defense as the “Department of War”.
Meanwhile, ICE launched “Midway Blitz,” a federal operation targeting undocumented immigrants in Chicago, using a Naval base outside the city as a staging ground. The administration has floated plans to deploy National Guard troops despite clear opposition from state officials and legal precedent restricting such action without local consent.
Defying the Courts, Bypassing Congress
Trump has treated “separation of powers” as an inconvenience to be bypassed. From defying court orders to sidelining Congress, Trump has pursued executive dominance with unprecedented aggression and alarming success.
Defying the Courts
Federal judges have accused the administration of ignoring or resisting court orders in roughly one-third of major cases, a staggering pattern that underscores Trump’s war on judicial independence. This campaign of defiance includes:
- Immigration rulings: Courts ordered the administration to halt deportations lacking due process, including the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Despite multiple rulings, including from the Supreme Court, Trump officials delayed compliance, prompting Judge Paula Xinis to condemn their behavior as “willful and intentional noncompliance”.
- Mass deportation flights: U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis and Judge James Boasberg both threatened contempt proceedings after the administration continued deportation flights in defiance of their orders.
- Delaying Compliance and Obstructing Oversight: In multiple cases, DOJ lawyers failed to meet court-imposed deadlines, withheld updates, or resisted judicial oversight. This includes a case where the CIA Director was accused of defying a judge’s order to preserve communications from a classified group chat.
- Birthright citizenship and spending restrictions: More than ten federal courts have temporarily blocked Trump’s actions on these fronts, yet compliance has been slow, partial, or openly defiant.
Bypassing Congress
Trump has repeatedly taken actions that sidestep congressional authority, including:
- Launching military campaigns: such as the strike on a Venezuelan vessel without notifying or seeking approval from Congress, violating the War Powers Resolution.
- Blocking oversight: The Pentagon denied Senator Mark Warner access to a U.S. intelligence facility after pressure from far-right influencers, undermining Congress’s constitutional role in national security oversight.
- Pocket rescissions: Trump used a rare maneuver to cancel nearly $5 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, prompting bipartisan concern over the legality of such unilateral budget clawbacks.
Conclusion
The lawlessness of the Trump Administration will only intensify if we let it. Don’t rely on the Supreme Court! They don’t appear to be interested in taking a robust stand to preserve the Constitution. There are judges, mayors, Governors and legislators on the state and Federal levels who will step up. Many already have. But the real power lies with everyday people. Neighbors, workers, students, parents. We’re the ones with the power. The battle to preserve our democracy is underway, and it’s inspiring. The resistance is growing, the voices are multiplying.
Now, let’s turn up the heat! Let’s end the lawlessness of the Trump Administration.