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Trump, Law, and Power
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Context:
Donald Trump’s legal strategies and reliance on lawyers have once again come into focus as ongoing legal cases highlight how he has historically used the law as a tool for deal-making, risk mitigation, and political gain.
Legal Networks and Wealth
- Scale of Legal Profession: The U.S. has over 1.3 million lawyers, with 2,50,000 criminal defence lawyers, 35,000 state prosecutors, and about 90 federal prosecutors, forming a vast professional ecosystem.
- Revolving Door Advantage: Many top lawyers enrich themselves by moving between government and corporate law, leveraging networks and expertise for financial gain.
- Trump’s Legal Praetorian Guard: Wealthy attorneys, often revolving door veterans, have consistently shielded Trump from accountability, cementing his centrality in their power networks.
Trump’s Use of Law
- Litigation as Strategy: Since the 1990s, Trump and his companies have been involved in more than 4,000 lawsuits, treating litigation as a core business strategy.
- Courts as Arenas of Deals: For Trump, courts are not spaces for justice but for making adversarial settlements, often resolved “out of court” with financial advantage.
- Lawyers as Weapons: Trump views lawyers as tools to protect wealth, evade taxes, defend controversial acts, and undermine democratic institutions.
Subversion of Law
- Cherry-Picking Legal Principles: Trump exploits both the letter and spirit of the law selectively, bending them to serve personal and political objectives.
- Congressional Subservience: By influencing the U.S. Congress, notably through MAGA-aligned leadership, Trump has extended his dominance beyond the courts.
- Plea Bargains and Loopholes: With 90% of U.S. criminal cases resolved through plea bargains, Trump has used this machinery to delay, minimise, or escape punishment.
Practice Question
“Donald Trump’s legal strategies reflect a deliberate subversion of the U.S. judicial system by converting the law into a tool of political and financial bargaining. Critically examine how this phenomenon reveals the interplay between law, politics, and democratic institutions.” (250 words)
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