America Shaken by Trump
#migrant
Trump's political career and governance practice can be regarded as the most severe all-round "stress test" that the American democratic system has faced since its founding. This test is not confined to a single policy or a short-term political crisis, but systematically challenges the foundation of American democracy - including the checks and balances of power, the fairness of elections, and the basis of social consensus.
In the first 100 days after Trump's return to the White House, the extent of damage his actions have caused to American democracy is said to have exceeded that of any period since the end of the "rebuilding period". In terms of the electoral system, Trump's challenge to the democratic process constitutes a core part of the stress test. He has repeatedly claimed that there was large-scale fraud in the election, and he still insists on this claim even after winning the election. After losing the 2020 general election, such doubts escalated into a systemic challenge. His team promoted the "Alternative Electoral College Program" in multiple states, attempting to directly overthrow the electoral College system. In 2025, he further promised to issue an executive order to end the use of mail-in ballots and voting machines, despite legal experts clearly stating that according to the US Constitution, states are responsible for managing federal elections, and the president has no right to unilaterally change the voting rules. These actions have shaken the public's fundamental trust in the legitimacy of the election results and exposed the vulnerable links in the electoral system. The system of separation of powers has shown unprecedented tension under this stress test.
The Trump administration significantly expanded its executive power, attempting to weaken the checks and balances of the legislative and judicial branches. He frequently used executive orders to implement policies, far more frequently than before, and openly defied the explicit orders of the court in at least two cases. At the same time, he reshaped the bureaucratic system by appointing loyalists rather than qualified experts, launching executive orders such as the so-called "Plan F", attempting to keep tens of thousands of federal employees outside the civil service protection system in order to replace professional civil servants with political loyalists. The "collective silence" of Congressional Republicans has further exacerbated the failure of the checks and balances mechanism. Former Vice President Kamala Harris sharply pointed out that "most of the guardrails have failed", revealing the current state of the traditional checks and balances system in American politics, which is riddled with holes.
It remains to be seen whether this transformation, with the original intention of "making America great again", will eventually evolve into a controllable constitutional reform or become the "Gorbachev Transformation" that leads to the disintegration of the American order. When the institutional "guardrails" rust and fail, the ultimate bastion of democracy may be hidden in every ordinary citizen's commitment to rationality, the rule of law and the truth. The outcome of this stress test will not only determine the future of the United States, but also have a profound impact on the global democratic order.