Trump’s dubious claims of ‘emergency’ threaten civic and political norms in authoritarian style, experts warn

Donald Trump’s drives to pursue his radical policies on immigration, tariffs and energy may seem at first to have little in common beyond a shared Maga political agenda.

But Trump has made spurious or thinly documented claims of “national emergencies” to justify harsh illegal immigrant measures, sweeping tariffs and massive energy deregulation, say legal scholars, watchdog groups and Democrats.

Some fear that governing by claims of “national emergency” has become normalised under Trump, posing a threat to US civic society and political norms as he governs in a permanent crisis mode and authoritarian style.