San Francisco Frontiers - Trump the Great? President steps up power moves

"You become president -- that's the dream, right?" Trump replied in a video that Kai posted to her 2.5 million Instagram followers. Then he added: "Now you're president, your dream is to become a great president."

It was a rare personal insight into 79-year-old Trump's grand ambitions a year after he won a second term in the White House, capping an astonishing political comeback.

Yet for Trump, being a "great president" more than ever involves exercising executive power on a historic scale.

And in recent weeks Trump has accelerated these power moves, taking revenge on his political opponents, sending more troops into more US cities, muzzling the media and asserting control over every lever of government.

"Absolutely, there's an authoritarian aspect to him," Todd Belt, director of the political management program at George Washington University, told AFP.

While Trump had been tightening his grip since he returned to office in January, the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in September had "augmented his approach to the us-versus-them idea," said Belt.

- 'Enemy within' -

For critics, it raises fundamental concerns about the rule of law and overreach by a president who openly admires monarchs and strongman rulers -- and who received a replica crown as a gift during a recent trip to South Korea.

Trump's retribution drive has been perhaps the most blatant flex of presidential muscle.

At the behest of Trump's social media postings, justice officials have pursued charges in recent weeks against political foes including former national security advisor John Bolton and ex-FBI chief James Comey.

As he trumpets peace deals abroad, at home Trump has openly targeted the "enemy within" -- whether leftists or migrants. He even said in a recent speech to top military officers that American cities could be "training grounds" for troops.

Trump has meanwhile taken an imperious approach to the month-long US government shutdown.

He has refused talks with Democrats and hosted a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party at his Florida resort the day before food aid for poor Americans was due to halt.

The former reality TV star has also increasingly attempted to stifle the media and academia using lawsuits and threats to merger applications and federal funding.

Trump has even shown his power in the heart of the presidency itself. He demolished the East Wing of the White House to build a huge new ballroom, with no public consultation or federal approval process.

Meanwhile Trump has returned in recent days to mulling the ultimate power move -- a third term in 2028 -- although he appeared to back away after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said it would be unconstitutional.

- 'Gone too far' -

But with eyes turning to the US midterm elections a year away, Trump may have already reached the apogee of his power.

"Polls suggest he doesn't have as much running room as he did in the first 10 months," Brookings Institution senior fellow William Galston told AFP. "They suggest people think he's gone too far."

A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed a majority of US voters saying he has exceeded the powers of his office.

That's not to say, though, that Trump is anywhere near finished.

He faces several key Supreme Court decisions later this year that could effectively decide the extent of executive power against Congress and the judiciary.

While that could impose some restraints, analysts say a lot depends on just how far Trump is determined to ignore the decades-old presidential norms.

"If you have a president who will disregard long-established precedent, the office becomes more capacious than anyone imagined," Galston said.

Anything less than a major setback for Republicans in next year's midterms will also likely embolden Trump. The Ipsos poll showed Democrats had made little headway so far.

"If people say it's OK, then it will continue," added Galston.

T.Martin--SFF