'No Kings' has become a popular rallying cry during Trump's second term as protests spring up across the U.S. to challenge the president's military parade coinciding with his birthday. While this slogan evokes the spirit of republicanism, it may be more accurate to label Trump's rule as 'No Warlords'. Unlike kings who claim legitimacy, Trump's power stems solely from his authority. His recent actions to politicize the military illustrate this authoritarian approach, signaling an intent to undermine traditional governance structures.
After all, kings base their power on some claim (however spurious) to tradition-sanctioned legitimacy. Trump's abuse of power is cruder than that, based on nothing more than his assertion that as president he should be able to order around anyone in the government without checks from the judiciary or Congress.
That Trump is an aspirant warlord is clear from the way he has tried to break down the tradition of keeping the military depoliticized. Trump has taken actions that make it clear he wants the military to be subservient to himself alone.
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