Don’t complain about Donald Trump’s powers, curtail them

SINCE THE day he became president, Donald Trump has trampled political norms. He has cosied up to foreign dictators while traducing his own officials. He has demanded that the Justice Department investigate his adversaries and mused about pardoning himself. He lies so frequently that it seems like a tic. In declaring a spurious state of emergency on America’s southern border, has he at last gone too far and provoked a crisis?

The president’s action on February 15th was born of frustration and fear for his political future. Having repeatedly promised to build a wall on the Mexican border, he had to do it. Unsurprisingly, his original plan of getting Mexico to pay failed. Mr Trump’s attempts to cajole Congress to provide the money, including by shutting down the government, fared no better. Boxed in by his own foolish promises and ineptitude, he has fallen back on the ruse of declaring an emergency and grabbing what money he can from the military budget.