Loyalty, conflicts of interest and the Constitution

You only need to consult the list of Donald Trump’s first nominations to be convinced: the Republican Party of yesteryear is dead. It was replaced by the MAGA movement (for Make America Great Againthe slogan of the Trump campaign).

It is also enough to see its first decisions to see that conflicts of interest will not weigh heavily on the 47^e President of the United States, and that the main quality sought in all those who work for him will be unfailing loyalty.

Likewise, one only has to look at some of his early requests to his allies to understand that his oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” will not matter much if the Constitution were to thwart somehow the president’s plans.

There is arguably no greater show of loyalty than donating $150 million to Mr. Trump’s election campaign, as Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the social network X, did.

As a reward, he was named head of the “Department” of Government Effectiveness along with another billionaire, Vivek Ramaswamy, who briefly ran for president before supporting Mr. Trump. A “ministry” which, by the way, does not exist and will not be formally created. In fact, it is a kind of informal commission of inquiry.

There is no reason to believe that billionaires with virtually no experience in the public sector would be able to determine which services should be slashed or abandoned. Being the richest man in the world does not give you any special skills in these matters.

And considering both men have numerous lucrative contracts with the U.S. government, the possibilities for conflicts of interest are very real and troubling.

The new members of Mr. Trump’s cabinet not only have in common an unwavering loyalty – especially during the two impeachment attempts during his first term – but also a very real antagonism towards the institutions to which they are appointed.

Thus, Lee Zeldin as head of the Environmental Protection Agency believes, like Mr. Trump, that regulations must be slashed. But above all, we must revive the automobile industry and increase the production of fossil fuels.

Elise Stefanik, ambassador-designate to the United Nations – a position with the rank of minister – sharply denounced the “moral depravity” of the UN.

Mike Waltz, his national security adviser, believes that China is the United States’ greatest enemy. He has also already used social networks to wish for the victory of Pierre Poilievre against Justin Trudeau.

His deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, as well as Tom Homan, border official, are supporters of the mass expulsion of all illegal immigrants, without even providing recourse to obtain American citizenship for those who could take advantage of it. Mr. Homan is not a friend of Canada and repeated again on Wednesday the idea that terrorists are crossing our border to enter the United States, a lie that dates back to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Senator Marco Rubio will be appointed Secretary of State (Minister of Foreign Affairs). More moderate than Trump, he is still considered “MAGA compatible”, in particular because of his hostility towards China.

The faithful among the faithful, Matt Gaetz, will be Attorney General (Minister of Justice). This is the man who got the head of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, a Republican considered too moderate, before trying to impeach Joe Biden.

Matt Gaetz has a mandate to put an end to the “instrumentalization” of the American justice system, Mr. Trump said, raising fears that he is in fact using his powers to pursue the president’s enemies. One thing is certain, with Mr. Gaetz in charge, we can fear that the rule of law will become the MAGA state.

Finally, Trump’s lack of interest in respecting the Constitution became clear the day after his victory. Thus, he asked the Senate – which must ratify a large number of the president’s nominations, including those of members of his cabinet – to give up its power of confirmation.

The Trump team will instead use the procedure allowing nominations to be made without approval when the Senate is not in session. All this even if the confirmation of these appointments was assured given the Republican majority in the Senate. Few Republican senators saw this as an attack on the principle of the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive.

But when it is one of the first requests of the president-elect to Congress, there is no reason to be reassured about the desire of the White House to respect the checks and balances provided for by the Constitution.

Mr. Trump also rewards loyalty with his promise to pardon “patriots” who were imprisoned for their role in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.

These people – who were convicted by ordinary courts – are considered “hostages” by Mr. Trump.

This is also another of the tests of loyalty that the new president holds: he would like to forget what was an insurrection aimed at overturning the verdict of the polls to illegally give him back power.

It is easy, in the euphoria of victory – especially when it is a return to business after having been rejected by the electorate – to think that we will be able to rewrite history.

Mr. Trump believes he has found the solution by encouraging the creation of a movement that is essentially based on loyalty to his person. Even if it means harming the Republican Party in a future that could be closer than he thinks.

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