Trump’s strategy to get his way: declare one fake ‘emergency’ after another

‘With such a dishonest figure in the White House, the supreme court should see its role as not just saying what the law is, but saying what the truth is.’ Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Hating legal constraints, Donald Trump has repeatedly taken unilateral actions for which he had zero legal authority unless he found some national emergency to declare. So Trump, no stickler for the truth, has conveniently invoked numerous national emergencies to justify his unilateral actions – whether imposing tariffs on dozens of countries or deporting immigrants without due process – even when there wasn’t anything close to a real emergency.

A recent example involves Trump’s anger at Spain. Early this month, Trump was so furious at Spain for not letting the US use its airbases to help his illegal war against Iran that he called for cutting off all trade with Spain. Trump said he would order a trade embargo, with his treasury secretary suggesting that he would invoke a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).