It begins with an irony that only flourishes in the depths of political power: A president who claims America has recovered from chaos under his leadership governs as if the country were in a state of permanent emergency. In his second term, Donald Trump hasn’t simply sharpened the tools of the executive branch – he has reforged them. Into a sledgehammer. And with it, he strikes not only his opponents – but the Constitution itself. It’s now being called the “911 presidency model”: a rule by emergency, a form of governing based on emergency laws that were originally meant for war, terror, and national disasters – not for political impatience. In the first six months of his second term, Trump has issued 30 out of 150 presidential orders based on emergency powers – a rate that surpasses all of his predecessors. George W. Bush – the president of 9/11 – resorted to such laws only 14 times in his first term. Trump has turned the exception into the rule.
What was once a rare and well-justified exception has become everyday practice under Trump. Emergency is no longer a condition – it is a style of governance. He justifies punitive tariffs with alleged economic emergencies, deploys troops to the border citing an “invasion situation,” lifts environmental regulations invoking “imminent danger.” The Constitution? According to Trump, not blocked – but bypassed. “If Congress won’t act, I must,” is the core sentence of his second presidency. And the legal basis comes from a 1977 law: the “International Emergency Economic Powers Act” (IEEPA) – originally created to rein in presidential authority, now turned into a blank check.
That law was only ever meant for “unusual and extraordinary threats from abroad.” But Trump’s administration has already invoked it 21 times – to impose tariffs, override trade agreements, or block investments. Also revived is the Alien Enemies Act from the 18th century – a tool historically marked by arbitrariness – now used again to deport Venezuelan migrants without hearings. The justification: alleged links to the Tren de Aragua gang – a claim that U.S. intelligence agencies themselves have not confirmed.
Trump is not the first president to use emergency laws. Franklin D. Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans during World War II. George W. Bush authorized warrantless surveillance. Barack Obama declared public health crises national emergencies. And Joe Biden tried to cancel student debt under a post-9/11 law – until the Supreme Court blocked him. But Trump goes further. More systematically. More confidently. More dangerously. He exploits the gaps where Congress remains silent. And when Congress speaks, he doesn’t care. When it tried to nullify Trump’s emergency declaration in 2019 to fund the border wall, he ignored the vote – with a veto. Back then, it was a constitutional overreach. Today, it’s routine.
“He’s not using emergency powers to respond to unforeseen challenges,” says John Yoo, former Justice Department official under George W. Bush. “He’s using them to step into political vacuums because Congress won’t act.” And further: “Trump has simply taken this principle to the next level.” But not everyone is standing by. JD Vance, vice president under Trump, openly defends the strategy: “We are in an emergency – not everyone sees it yet.” When foreign governments, Vance says, threaten to cut America off from essential supply chains – for example, pharmaceutical ingredients – that is, by definition, a national emergency. “This is not about plastic toys. This is about survival.”
Congress? Paralyzed. Attempts to limit emergency powers legislatively have repeatedly failed. In 2023, Democrats and moderate Republicans tried to pass a law that would make every emergency declaration expire after 30 days unless Congress actively extends it. It failed – miserably. Since Trump’s return, not even a new attempt has been made. Today, Congress must actively vote to end an emergency. Which never happens – out of fear, opportunism, or calculation.
Elizabeth Goitein from the Brennan Center for Justice calls it a “quiet constitutional breach.” For decades, she says, the instrument of emergency powers was rarely abused. But now, everything is different. The temptation is too great – and the consequences too distant. The question is no longer whether Trump is overreaching his authority. It’s whether the system is still capable of stopping him. The separation of powers has found an adversary who knows how to outsmart it – using laws that were originally meant to uphold it. Emergency becomes normalcy. Crisis becomes calculus. And the president becomes a power center no one can control.
It’s no longer 9/11. But America has a president who acts as if it were – every single day.
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