Quite a bit, says Harvard law professor Eric Posner in the New York Times. Let us count the ways:
...He could not build the Mexican wall without congressional support. But he could order immigration authorities to deport unauthorized immigrants... he could bar Muslims from entering the country under existing law, which authorizes him to bar classes of aliens whose entry he determines “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States"... Can he slap tariffs on China, as he has threatened? Yes, he can ...
Not great. But get this:
In May, Mr. Trump vowed to rescind President Obama’s environmental policies. He would be able to do that as well. He could disavow the Paris climate change agreement, just as President Bush “unsigned” a treaty creating an international criminal court in 2002. He could choke off climate regulations that are in development and probably withdraw existing climate regulations. Even if a court blocked him, he could refuse to enforce the regulations, just as Mr. Obama refused to enforce immigration laws.
Crazy as it may sound, he could use his tenure in the Oval Office to pay off old grudges.
Mr. Trump has expressed impatience with his critics and hinted that he would use federal powers against them. He wouldn’t be able to put someone in jail merely for criticizing him. But he could direct agencies to use their vast regulatory powers against the companies of executives who have displeased him, like Jeff Bezos, for example, the founder of Amazon. Mr. Trump has already hinted that he would go after Amazon for supposed antitrust violations.
The list goes on. Hillary would be on it. So would NATO and so would journalists who malign him. He could give Congress a rough time.
... Only a veto-proof majority in both houses, passing new laws, could stop Mr. Trump from exercising the legal authority that Congress has already given the president. Congress can threaten to withhold funds, but the president’s powers to veto legislation and appoint government officers give him a large bargaining chip. Removal of a president by impeachment is extremely difficult; it has never happened.
Probably smarter, cheaper and easier to vote for someone else in the first place.
