Mother Jones illustration; National Archives; Getty
When Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence in the weeks leading up July 4, 1776, he wanted to not only rely on just high-falutin enlightenment ideals to justify the case for separation from Great Britain. His aim was also to present a slam-dunk indictment of King George III—to prove that the royal was a “tyrant” and that he and Parliament had forfeited their right to rule the Americans by breaking their own laws and trampling on the rights of their people. This is why about half of the Declaration is a list of 27 specific grievances lodged against the King and his regime.
Two hundred and forty-nine years later, many of these grievances apply to the reign of Donald Trump. Here’s a look at how Trump stacks up against the Mad King.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
This grievance refers to the King refusing to approve laws passed by the colonies. Trump used his veto power a few times during his first presidency and has not had to do so this year. But he’s shown his disregard for Congress by simply ignoring existing laws. The Elon Musk-led DOGE attack on the government violated numerous laws—including those governing privacy and data. Trump paid no heed to the War Powers Resolution when he launched a military attack on Iran. He illegally impounded funds approved by Congress. He has misinterpreted the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to claim powers not afforded the president. Legal experts have said that Trump’s firing of inspectors general and commissioners of independent government commissions is illegal—though some of these cases are still being litigated in the courts. He has also issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the Constitution.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
Trump’s Medicaid-cutting-deficit-busting-billionaires-enriching tax-and-spending megabill tried to prevent state legislatures from passing specific laws with a provision that would ban states from enacting measures to regulate AI for the next 10 years. (That piece was stripped out on Tuesday.) He threatened to withhold federal funds from the state of Maine if it did not ban transgender girls from participating in women’s sports, which, according to Gov. Janet Mills, would entail the state violating state law.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
Trump threatened to deny disaster relief to California if it did not abandon its legislative independence and change its water policies to Trump’s liking. He also threatened to cut off federal funding to New York City, should Democrat Zohran Mamdani win the mayoral race and enact laws or policies Trump opposes.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
The so-called Department of Government Efficiency has moved to relocate federal agencies and repurpose their office buildings (including the US Institute of Peace and the National Science Foundation) to make life uncomfortable for employees and officials. Watch out, Speaker Mike Johnson.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
Trump has not yet tried to dissolve any local governments. But Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem did state that the purpose of sending Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles was to “liberate” the city from its elected representatives.
By David Corn and Tim Murphy