Democrats tenaciously working to thwart the second Trump administration seemingly have thrown out their playbook from the president’s first administration — abandoning repeated attempts to impeach President Donald Trump in favor of broadening their focus on leveraging Article II of the Constitution to impede MAGA policies. 

Democrats, since the early days of Trump’s second presidency, have accused him of taking steps that amount to a ‘gross overreach of presidential authority’ or launching ‘illegal power grabs,’ most notably in response to some of the more than 200 executive orders the president has signed this term. Lawsuits challenging the administration also have focused language on claims Trump is exceeding his executive authority, sparking some policies to get tied up in the courts. 

Article II of the Constitution lays out the foundation for the balance of power between the office of the president and other branches of the government, including establishing the executive branch. Section II of Article II details the duties and powers of a president. 

Political foes have turned to Article II in their legal battles against Trump, repeatedly claiming he has exceeded his authority.

‘Trump Derangement Syndrome takes on many forms — despite the Democrats’ failure to stop President Trump’s incredibly popular agenda in his first term, they’re trying a new strategy this time and failing again,’ White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital Thursday when asked about the increase in claims and cases claiming Trump is overstepping his presidential bounds. 

‘The Trump Administration’s policies have been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court as lawful despite an unprecedented number of legal challenges and unlawful lower court rulings from far-left liberal activist judges,’ she continued. ‘The president will continue implementing the policy agenda that the American people voted for in November and will continue to be vindicated by higher courts when liberal activist judges attempt to intervene.’ 

First term impeachment efforts 

Trump’s first administration was underscored by two impeachment efforts, which landed Trump as the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Trump was acquitted by the Senate both times. 

The first impeachment effort in 2019 accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegedly seeking foreign interference from Ukraine to boost his re-election efforts in 2020. 

The focus of that impeachment focused on a July 2019 phone call in which Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s business dealings in Ukraine, including Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Burisma holdings company. Biden was under federal investigation at the time. 

The House impeached Trump on both articles of impeachment in December 2019, with the Senate voting to acquit Trump on both articles of impeachment in February 2020. 

Months later, Democrats teed up another Trump impeachment after the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Trump notched another first, when the Senate tried a former president after the House voted to impeach him just a week before Joe Biden was inaugurated as the nation’s 46th president. The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump in the case. 

The second impeachment focused on the breach of the U.S. Capitol by throngs of Trump supporters when the Senate and House convened to certify Biden’s 2020 election win. Trump was accused of working to overturn the results of the election and that he incited an insurrection with rhetoric regarding the election ahead of the Capitol breach. 

‘I will never forgive the people who stormed the Capitol for the trauma that they caused in our young people, our members of the press who were covering that day, our staffers, the maintenance crew, the people who keep the Capitol neat and clean,’ then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in an interview on MSNBC in 2022.  

‘This was a disgrace. And the president instigated an insurrection, refused to stop it and as those films show, would not, in a timely fashion, allow the National Guard to come in and stop it. And that is sinful,’ she continued.

The Senate acquitted Trump of the impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection in February 2021. 

The impeachment efforts followed Democrats threatening and vowing to impeach Trump at various points throughout his first administration. 

‘I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to call for the impeachment of the President of the United States of America for obstruction of justice. I do not do this for political purposes, Mr. Speaker. I do this because I believe in the great ideals that this country stands for — liberty and justice for all, the notion that we should have government of the people, by the people, for the people,’ Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green declared in May 2017 in regard to former FBI Director James Comey’s investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

‘The time has come to make clear to the American people and to this president that his train of injuries to our Constitution must be brought to an end through impeachment,’ Tennessee Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen said in November 2017 over claims Trump obstructed justice when he fired Comey in May 2017. 

Out of office court battles

Trump’s four years after his first administration were riddled with a handful of civil and criminal cases, including standing trial in New York when he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024. 

District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump falsified the business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged 2006 affair with Trump. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case, and was sentenced after his election win to an unconditional discharge, meaning he faced no prison time or fines. 

Trump also was indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges over claims he attempted to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, which the president denied. That case was put on hold after District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from prosecuting it. 

A pair of federal criminal cases were dismissed, including one that alleged Trump mishandled sensitive government documents at his Florida Mar-a-Lago home after his presidency, as well as another claiming Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election results. Special counsel Jack Smith oversaw both cases. 

Trump also faced civil cases, including New York Attorney General Letitia James accusing Trump and the Trump Organization of inflating asset values. In another case, E. Jean Carroll, a former columnist who alleges Trump raped her in a New York City department store dressing room in the 1990s, accused Trump of defamation in a 2022 case. 

Trump railed against the accusations and cases as examples of lawfare to prevent him from winning a second presidency, taking a victory lap upon his 2024 win that the efforts failed. 

‘These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social in November 2024, when Smith announced he would drop the felony cases. 

‘It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ Trump added.

Second term Article II violation allegations 

Trump’s second administration has been his with more than 400 lawsuits, according to Just Security’s lawsuit tracker targeting the administration, with many disputing Trump’s executive orders and policies as they relate to slimming down the size of the federal government, his policies removing diversity, equity and inclusion language and initiatives from the federal government, protecting girls’ sports from the inclusion of biological male players, and his various directives to remove the millions of illegal immigrants who have flooded the U.S. in recent years. 

Trump and his administration are in the midst of cleaning up U.S. cities that have historically been rocked by crime, including working to remove illegal immigrants residing in the cities. Most recently, Trump ordered the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, in response to ‘radical left terrorism’ in the city, specifically members of the recently-designated domestic terrorism organization, Antifa. 

‘The Radical Left’s reign of terror in Portland ends now, with President Donald J. Trump mobilizing federal resources to stop Antifa-led hellfire in its tracks. While Democrat politicians deny reality, it’s obvious what’s happening in Portland isn’t protest; it’s premeditated anarchy that has scarred the city for years — leaving officers battered, citizens terrorized, and property defaced,’ the White House said in an announcement that Trump was deploying federal resources to Portland on Sept. 30. 

‘What President Trump is trying to do is an abuse of power,’ Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in September of Trump’s order to deploy the troops to Portland. ‘And it is a threat to our democracy. Governors should be in command of their National Guards, our citizens soldiers who sign up to stand up in an emergency to deal with real problems.’

Oregon sued the Trump admistration over the order, claiming Trump lacked the authority to deploy the National Guard. 

U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a temporary restraining order halting Trump’s plan to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops, then again on Sunday expanded the order to bar the administration from deploying any National Guard units from any state to Oregon pending further proceedings. Immergut determined Trump’s order likely exceeded his presidential authority. 

The White House has hit back that Trump is within his presidential limits. 

‘I think her opinion is untethered in reality and in the law,’ Leavitt told reporters at a White House press briefing. ‘The president is using his authority as commander in chief, U.S. code 12 406, which clearly states that the president has the right to call up the National Guard and in cases where he deems it’s appropriate. … The ICE facility has been really under siege. And, by these anarchists outside, they have been, disrespecting law enforcement. They’ve been inciting violence.’

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted Immergut’s ruling that blocked the Oregon National Guard troops from deploying to Portland, but the other ruling baring any National Guard troops from deploying to Portland remains in effect. 

President Donald Trump thanked Israeli lawmakers for their enthusiastic welcome in the Knesset on Monday as the nation celebrated the release of all 20 living hostages from Hamas captivity.

‘After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families,’ Trump said. ‘Twenty-eight more precious loved ones are coming home at last to rest in this sacred soil for all of time. And after so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace.’

The president’s comments came as reports emerged that only four of the 28 bodies held in Gaza are expected to be returned on Monday, which could risk the stability of the ceasefire and its ability to progress to the second phase, which would see the disarmament of Hamas and the further withdrawal of Israeli forces. 

‘This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of an age of terror and death, the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God,’ Trump said. 

Trump used his speech at the Knesset to tell Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘Hey, I have an idea, Mr. President – why don’t you give him a pardon?’ Trump said, prompting a standing ovation from many in the forum. 

Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges that included bribery, fraud and a breach of trust, though he has denied the accusations. 

It is unclear if the president would agree to such a move, or if the majority of the Israeli parliament would support the decision given the prime minister’s previously waning support as the war continued and hostages remained in captivity for more than two years. 

Trump, during his speech, emphasized his support for Israel as the hostages continue to be returned and said, ‘Please know that America joins you in those two everlasting vows. Never forget and never again,’ Trump said.

‘As we celebrate today, let us remember how this nightmare of depravity and death all began two years ago, on the eve of the Simchat Torah holiday, thousands of innocent Israeli civilians were attacked by terrorists in one of the most evil and heinous desecration of innocent life the world has ever seen,’ he added. 

Trump described the ceasefire with Hamas ‘as a very exciting time for Israel and for the entire Middle East’ and said ‘the forces of chaos, terror and ruin that have plagued the region for decades now stand weakened, isolated, and totally defeated.’

Trump, who is also set to depart for Egypt on Monday, suggested a peace deal with Iran could be next as he looks to enfold more Middle Eastern nations into the Abraham Accords, which saw the normalization of relations with several Arab nations during his first term.

The president thanked Netanyahu for ‘having the courage’ to end the war with Hamas, and in turn seize the opportunity to make Israel stronger and stabilize relations in the Middle East.

Trump received a warm welcome from the Israeli Knesset, with the body declaring him ‘the greatest friend Israel ever had in the White House.’ Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana vowed to rally with House Speaker Mike Johnson and other legislative leaders across the globe to submit Trump’s candidacy for Nobel Peace Prize in 2026.

‘You, President Trump, are a colossus who will be enshrined in the pantheon of history. Thousands of years from now the Jewish people will remember you. We are a nation that remembers,’ Ohana said, comparing Trump to Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. and allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland.

Ohana hailed Trump’s efforts to rescue hostages held by Hamas as well as combat Iran’s nuclear program and influence across the Middle East. He also praised Trump for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018.

‘Donald Trump is the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. No American president has ever done more for Israel than this one, and as I said in Washington, it ain’t even close,’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also nominated Trump to receive the Israel Prize, Israel’s highest honor. Trump would be the first non-Israeli citizen to receive the award.

Monday marks the 100th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher’s birth – an occasion that brings together leaders and supporters from across the Atlantic to pay tribute to her life. 

We at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute are honored to participate in the celebration, an occasion that also invites us to reflect on her legacy and connection with Ronald Reagan in the context of our modern era. Namely, what made her partnership with President Reagan so effective, and what might it teach us today about how civility can shape world affairs?

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher’s effectiveness – both in dealings with each other and in other world leaders with whom they were less naturally aligned – depended on trust and civility. In today’s divided political world, their example is one we can all learn from.

When we think of the two leaders, we tend to picture strength: two leaders who stood firm against communism, championed free markets and restored confidence in the West. But President Reagan also believed that personal relationships were central to politics. In a 1989 letter in National Review, he crystallized that sentiment as follows: ‘personal relations matter more in international politics than the historians would have us believe.’

That was the core of his approach: even the hardest negotiations work best when leaders see each other as partners, not just opponents. It doesn’t mean that personal relationships supersede national interest – great leaders have to be unwavering at times – but it does mean that a key component of good diplomacy is the ability to remain civil and acknowledge others’ humanity, be they adversaries or allies.

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan’s leadership in Soviet Union dealings demonstrates this principle in action. For instance, when Mikhail Gorbachev emerged on the world stage, Thatcher chose to approach him as a person worthy of negotiation rather than a caricature of Soviet power. ‘We can do business together,’ she pragmatically asserted. And she was right. Though their visions for their country were vastly different, grounding Soviet negotiations in respect and practical assessment made diplomacy possible.

Importantly, President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher never abandoned principle for politeness. They were strong leaders, firm and uncompromising in their convictions. But civility gave them the leverage to achieve what force or rhetoric alone could not. 

The INF Treaty, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the eventual end of the Cold War all depended on this kind of disciplined, strategic civility. Leaders could disagree sharply and even spar aggressively, but they never allowed that disagreement to destroy trust or get in the way of progress.

Civility is not a moral high road, it’s a tool. It allowed these leaders to be candid with each other, trusting they would be received with understanding – and creating the strong foundation which underpinned the U.S. and U.K. alliance. Then as now, civility creates space for honest conversations. It allows important initiatives to move forward without unnecessary friction.

Today, that lesson is urgent. The United States and our democratic allies face pressure from resurgent authoritarian powers, global instability and domestic polarization. The instinct to respond with anger or mistrust is strong. But history shows that enduring security and progress come from discipline, mutual respect and the ability to maintain civility even under pressure. 

And in times of global tension, reinforcing alliances matters more than ever. We saw this exemplified by President Donald Trump in his recent meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, where he declared, ‘We have a relationship like no other… we will always be united.’ His statement embodies the Reagan-Thatcher alliance at its best. This disposition is a precursor to any constructive discussions about advancing security and stability, especially when it comes to complex issues such as these.

President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher remind us that civility is not deference; rather, it is a practical strategy for getting things done. As we remember Margaret Thatcher on her 100th birthday, we should also remember the example she set. Civility enabled both leaders to be effective and, ultimately, to shape history. In a world full of uncertainty and division, their legacy remains as essential now as it was then.

President Donald Trump will spend the first part of the week in the Middle East to oversee a historic peace deal between Israel and Hamas, a landmark agreement expected to end the two-year war in Gaza and bring home the remaining hostages.

Before boarding Air Force One, Trump told reporters that the hostages could be released earlier and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did a ‘very good job’ helping secure the deal.

‘The war is over,’ Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before boarding a nearly 12-hour flight to Israel. After landing in Tel Aviv, Trump is expected to meet with families of hostages and then give an address at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem.

Trump will then travel to Egypt to attend an international summit in the seaside city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to finalize an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza. More than 20 world leaders, including Trump, are expected to attend, an Egyptian presidential spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

After a handful of hours in Israel and Egypt, Trump will board Air Force One and return to the White House in the early morning hours on Tuesday in order to honor the late Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.

‘It’s a very quick trip, but I’ll be making two major stops, and then I’ll be on the plane trying to get back in time for Charlie,’ Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. ‘They’re going to have a great celebration at the White House in the East Room,’ he added. The award ceremony coincides with what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday on Oct. 14.

Kirk, the charismatic founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), gained recognition for his signature political debates on college campuses. He was assassinated on Sept. 10, during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. The gathering was the first stop on TPUSA’s planned ‘American Comeback Tour.’

Kirk’s memorial service drew one of the largest public turnouts for a private citizen, with about 90,000 people in attendance at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and nearby overflow venues.

Trump previously announced last month that he would award Kirk the award posthumously.