Trump’s Napoleonic view of executive power stems from Supreme Court ruling placing his official acts “above the law”

U.S. President Donald J. Trump provided insight into his conception of his power this week, with two notorious statements expressing his vision of the president’s executive authority.

On February 15, 2025, Trump tweeted on X and his own Truth Social platform that “'He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”[1]

The phrase is credited to Napoleon?Bonaparte and was famously used in the terrorist manifesto by the Norwegian?neo-Nazi?mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people and insured more than 300 in 2011.?

It is questionable whether President Trump knows the origin of the statement. Most media presumed he was comparing himself to the French general, later emperor, Napoleon, and not to Breivik.

On February 19, following issuance by the Administration of a letter rescinding congestion pricing for New York City, Trump wrote on Truth Social:

“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of?New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

The White House then proceeded to?share?Trump’s quote on social media, accompanied with a computer-generated image of Trump grinning on a fake Time magazine cover wearing a golden crown.

The U.S. transportation department’s decision to rescind approval of the programme will put a?halt to the city initiative, which imposes a US$9 fee on drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th Street between 5am and 9pm on weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends.[2]

Then on February 20, at a?White House?reception celebrating Black History Month, Trump again questioned whether he is barred from serving more than two terms in the Office of the Presidency. ?

The 22nd Amendment of the?Constitution?says that presidents can only serve up to two full terms (eight years).?Trump’s second full presidential term is scheduled to end in January 2029.

By one count, this marked the sixth time since Trump entered the 2024 presidential contest that he has floated the prospect of serving more than two terms in violation of the Constitution.[3]

By drawing comparisons between himself and Napoleon, trolling that he is a King, and floating the idea of remaining President after his second term expires, Trump is signalling his desire to remain in office beyond January 2029.

At bottom, this attitude stems from the 2024 decision of the United States Supreme Court to grant presidents absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions performed within the outer perimeter of a president’s official acts.[4]

To reprise the background to the Court’s decision, a federal grand jury had indicted former President Donald J. Trump on four counts for conduct that occurred during his Presidency following the November 2020 election.? The indictment alleged that after losing that election, Trump conspired to overturn it by spreading knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the collecting, counting, and certifying of the election results.? Trump moved to dismiss the indictment based on Presidential immunity, arguing that a President has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions performed within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities, and that the indictment’s allegations fell within the core of his official duties.?

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision issued on July 1, 2024, held that under the U.S. constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority.? And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.? There is no immunity for unofficial acts.?

An Act of Congress—either a specific one targeted at the President or a generally applicable one—may not criminalize the President’s actions within his exclusive constitutional power, according to the Court.

The Court concluded that “the separation of powers principles explicated in our precedent necessitate at least a presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for a President’s acts within the outer perimeter of his official responsibility.”[5]

The first step in deciding whether a former President is entitled to immunity from a particular prosecution is to distinguish his official from unofficial actions. No court thus far has drawn that distinction.

The breadth of the President’s “discretionary responsibilities” under the Constitution and laws of the United States frequently makes it “difficult to determine which of [his] innumerable ‘functions’ encompassed a particular action,” the Court admits.

The immunity the Court has recognized therefore extends to the “outer perimeter” of the President’s official responsibilities, covering actions so long as they are “not manifestly or palpably beyond [his] authority.”

In dividing official from unofficial conduct, courts may not inquire into the President’s motives.

Whenever the President and Vice President discuss their official responsibilities, they engage in official conduct.? Presiding over the January 6 certification proceeding at which Members of Congress count the electoral votes is a constitutional and statutory duty of the Vice President.

Trump and his co-conspirators ?attempt “to enlist the Vice President to use his ceremonial role at the January 6 certification proceeding to fraudulently alter the election results”, the Court found, is an official act subject to absolute immunity.

In a scathing dissent, Justice?Sonia Sotomayor?said the Supreme Court allowed a president to become a “king above the law”?in its ruling?that limited the scope of criminal charges against former President?Donald Trump?for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the election.[6]

Following his victory in the November 2024 election, all remaining Federal charges against the President were dropped.

For all intents and purposes, the U.S. President acting as president is above the law.

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[1] Natasha Anderson (February 17, 2025). Trump sparks fierce criticism after channeling Napoleon with quote suggesting he is above the law. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14405573/Trump-sparks-criticism-channeling-Napoleon-quote-suggesting-law.html

[2] Maya Yang (February 19, 2025). Trump administration rescinds congestion pricing for New York City. The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/19/trump-nyc-congestion-pricing?

[3] James Liddell,Josh Marcus,Alex Woodward (February 21, 2025). Trump and his team keep referencing a third term in 2028. But could he actually run again? The Independent (UK).?https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-third-term-2028-amendment-b2702225.html?

[4] Joan?Biskupic? (January 18, 2025). Since Donald Trump last entered the White House, the Supreme Court created a more powerful president. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/18/politics/trump-relationship-with-supreme-court-second-term/index.html

[5] Supreme Court of the United States (July 1, 2024). TRUMP v. UNITED STATES 603 U. S. ____ (2024). ROBERTS, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which THOMAS, ALITO, GORSUCH, and KAVANAUGH, JJ., joined in full, and in which BARRETT, J., joined except as to Part III–C.? THOMAS, J., filed a concurring opinion. BARRETT, J., filed an opinion concurring in part. SOTOMAYOR, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which KAGAN and JACKSON, JJ., joined. JACKSON, J., filed a dissenting opinion.?

[6] Lindsay Whitehurst (July 1, 2024). Sotomayor’s dissent: A president should not be a ‘king above the law’. Assocated Press. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-immunity-trump-president-jan-6-2350bee785c85282a97af9485b94b982