Photo: Rick Rycroft/AP
Photo: Rick Rycroft/AP

Ideas

How Trump Gets His Way

He commits to actions beyond the outermost limits of executive power, then confronts the courts with a risk of chaos if the limits are enforced.

First published in The Atlantic on September 2, 2025

by David Frum, The Atlantic
September 4, 2025 | reading time: 4 Min.

Last week, I paid a $26.05 tariff on a small purchase from the United Kingdom. On August 29, a federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. government had no right to take that money. It allowed the tariff to remain in place until October, pending further litigation. But the Trump administration has lost every round of this fight to date. If it keeps losing, the question will sooner or later arise: What happens to my $26.05?

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