The president and his enemies

Remember Nixon's "enemies list"?

It came to light in hearings before the Senate Watergate Committee in June 1973, where White House Counsel John Dean disclosed a memorandum entitled "Dealing with our Political Enemies":

"This memorandum addresses the matter of how we can maximize the fact of our incumbency in dealing with persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration; stated a bit more bluntly – how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies."

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The list was wide-ranging, including celebrities, journalists, newspapers, unions, advocacy groups, academics, senators, congressmen, representatives, businesses, and organizations who had voiced opposition to Nixon and his administration, or promoted ideas and causes the president didn't like. And Dean's suggested methods for dealing with these "enemies" included limiting the availability of grants and federal contracts, as well as litigation and prosecution.

Stop me if any of this begins to sound familiar.

In the three months since his inauguration, President Trump and his administration have issued executive orders against individuals perceived as disloyal, stripped security clearances and protective details from former officials who incurred his wrath, and targeted law firms for having defended the "wrong" causes or clients. He has also issued ultimatums to universities like Columbia and Harvard, demanding that they conform to his administration's ideological preferences or risk losing billions of dollars in federal contracts and grants. 

Trump has also personally filed frivolous lawsuits against his perceived political opponents. This includes the Des Moines Register and Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, for incorrectly suggesting that. Kamala Harris was leading in Iowa right before the 2024 presidential election, and CBS for how 60 Minutes edited its Kamala Harris interview.

For the Trump administration, no grievance is too petty to escape outsized retribution. After the White House limited access by the Associated Press for refusing to relabel the body of water between Florida and Mexico the "Gulf of America," federal courts ruled that this act of viewpoint-based retaliation was a violation of the First Amendment. The administration defied that order until April 15, when an AP journalist was allowed into a White House event for the first time since February.

Even this, however, seems to be short-lived. The next day, the White House announced a new media policy which would once again restrict journalists at their own discretion – a move which the Associated Press argues is an attempt to evade the court order.

The list of egregious and unconscionable behavior goes on. In a few short weeks, it seems Trump has already out-Nixoned Nixon.

But there's a stark difference between then and now: When Nixon's enemies list was revealed, it became a national scandal and a profound embarrassment – including to Nixon himself. The scandal helped confirm that the president had obliterated his credibility and reputation, and he resigned in disgrace in August 1974. 

It's impossible to imagine Donald Trump resigning over anything – let alone public awareness of his abuses of power. For one thing, there's no embarrassing secret to reveal. Trump's behavior hasn't been the kind of thing you have to drag out of people through sworn testimony at congressional hearings. On the contrary, the president boasts about his actions on social media and holds executive order ceremonies to celebrate them.

What was once covert is now overt – shamelessly so. 

What's more, these actions are leavened with head-spinning hypocrisy. An administration that promised to end "lawfare" has made it not just official policy, but its political brand. This administration has managed to combine and magnify the abuses of the first Red Scare, the McCarthy Era, and Watergate, all in the space of three months.

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The only thing worse is the fanfare with which this behavior is greeted. During a 1977 interview with David Frost, former President Nixon proclaimed that "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal." This was a showstopping moment, revealing that Nixon had crossed a Constitutional line – one that dashed his hopes for a political comeback.

Not long ago, Trump posted a similarly egregious and chilling quote from Napoleon, which read" He who saves his Country does not violate any Law." The response from his base? Applause.

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Those looking for a more hopeful lesson from history might turn to an exchange during the Army-McCarthy hearings, which effectively ended Joseph McCarthy's political career following the second Red Scare. Responding to a relentless and baseless campaign of character assassination, attorney Joseph Welch finally shot back, "until this moment, senator, I think never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness… Have you no sense of decency?"

It is a good question, and one particularly suited to the present moment.