ICE Is Splitting America in Two
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What is the vision of executive power under President Trump?
Hey, it's Vaughn Vreeland from New York Times Cooking. Baking season is here.
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These are deluxe cookies. At New York Times Cooking, we've got it all. We've got tips, recipes, videos for whatever you want to bake. So come bake with us at NYTCooking.com. This is The Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it.
I'm Aaron Redica, an editor-at-large for New York Times Opinion. I'm here with Emily Bazelon and David French, both of whom teach the occasional class in the law, but they work full-time here as writers for the New York Times on legal and other political subjects. Hi, guys.
Hey.
Hey.
Hi, Aaron. So, David, you're in Nashville right now. What's what's doing down there?
Well, in Nashville, Aaron, we are prepping. We are prepping for the snow apocalypse. But for some of us, maybe me included, this is a glorious moment because this is the moment we get to turn to our wives and say, along with all these other like Southern lawyers, accountants, doctors, etc., Hey, this is why I got a four-wheel drive. This is finally, I use it to do something more than just haul groceries from Kroger. So I'm looking forward to it. I'm gonna put my Chevy in four-wheel drive and I'm gonna have a blast with it, Aaron.
So if they don't plow the streets, how does your four-wheel drive help you? I don't, like, do they have snow plows in Nashville?
You have the four-wheel drive so that they don't have to plow the street, that you just go right through it. And in fact, please don't plow, guys, not right away. I want to get out there and just see what that my Chevy can do.
So I want to cast us back to, to January 20th of 2025, a year ago in the Capitol Rotunda. And... We sort of knew what to expect, and yet we didn't, right? And sitting right there, there was Jeff Bezos. There was Elon Musk. There was Mark Zuckerberg, a murderer's row of tech oligarchs. So that suggested that this was all going to go one way. I want to talk about how they have operated power during their first year. Machiavelli famously said that his advice to the prince was that people should either be caressed or crushed. So what pathway have they chosen over the course of this year? What do you see, Emily?
Oh, I mean, I see much more crushing than caressing or much more creating fear than building trust. I think if you were going to put the actual most powerful people in the Trump administration on that dais or whatever it was, it would be obviously Stephen Miller. And then Russell Vogt, who is a real architect of policy. And then I think also Susie Wiles, who was playing more behind the scenes until her Vanity Fair breakout article. But those are like the three obvious officials, I think. And then what's equally interesting to me is to think about who is not exerting power and the effect that absence is having. And I'm thinking especially of Congress. And then I have a kind of question mark in my head about the Supreme Court.
I could kind of argue it both ways. On the one hand I think the court set the terms for a lot of this administration with its decision granting presidents immunity for most of their official acts. And then on the other hand, they have basically just like gone along with a lot of what the administration has wanted to do. And so that is a kind of conciliatory enabling role as opposed to like directing all the action.
How has Trump's first year reshaped political dynamics?
David, what do you think about that?
Yeah, so I'm going to go with two fantasy analogies. So Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Okay. Way too on brand here.
Two great tastes that taste great together, yes.
So think of January 20th, 2025 as like the coronation at the Red Keep, where you have the king is being crowned and the nobles are gathered there to pay homage to their new liege lord. And so make no mistake, when you had Bezos, when you had these billionaires in the room, they were not there as Trump's peers, correct?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the vision of executive power under President Trump?
0:00–4:10
2
How has Trump's first year reshaped political dynamics?
4:10–12:19
3
What role do key figures like Stephen Miller play in Trump's administration?
12:19–20:21
4
How does Trump's approach to power differ from traditional norms?
20:21–34:33
5
What implications does Trump's desire for Greenland have on international relations?
34:33–39:43
6
How is the rule of law being affected by Trump's policies?
39:43–42:13