{"id":20972,"date":"2017-02-11T11:41:20","date_gmt":"2017-02-11T10:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=20972"},"modified":"2017-02-12T19:45:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-12T18:45:28","slug":"is-donald-trump-starting-to-learn-the-limits-of-presidential-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=20972","title":{"rendered":"Is Donald Trump starting to learn the limits of presidential power?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet, even Trump is finding that there are constitutional, legal and ultimately political constraints on the exercise of power in the real world. Obviously the most high profile challenge to his policies has been the court stays on implementation of his Executive Order restricting immigration to the US from seven mainly-Muslim states.<\/p>\n

But already on a whole range of important foreign policy positions – the role of the UN, the importance of NATO, the One China policy, defence of Japan and South Korea, Israeli settlements and Jerusalem, the immigration deal with Australia – Trump has had to reverse attitudes which he declared on the campaign trail and even in his first days in the White House.<\/p>\n

As Simon Tisdall of the “Guardian” newspaper wonders in this short article<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Is Trump learning on the job? Or is he just a bully who backs off when he encounters resistance? Given his volatility and unpredictability, it is possible he could reverse himself again on key policies, reverting to his more radical and destabilising ideas. So far, the responsibilities of office, and the complexities of the issues, do seem to be weighing more heavily on Trump\u2019s outlook. Other national leaders and more experienced advisers like Mattis are exerting influence. And Trump, in office, is coming up against a sobering reality that faces all American leaders sooner or later: the limits of presidential power.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"