All the Things Trump Thinks He Owns [View all]

https://archive.ph/Y5imE

"The White House does not belong to Donald Trump. It is the property of the United States — of the American people... The Smithsonian Institution does not belong to President Trump, either. It is not even part of the executive branch. It was established by Congress in 1846 as a “trust instrumentality,” an independent organization backed by the government and administered by a Board of Regents that consists of the chief justice and the vice president of the United States, federal lawmakers and private citizens. In the broad sense, then, the Smithsonian also belongs to the American people, as an expression of their interest in “the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge.”

And it should go without saying that Washington, D.C. — a city of 700,000 people with its own government and elected leaders — is neither the president’s plaything nor his possession.
Of course none of this has kept the president from acting as if he does own the White House, the Smithsonian, the District of Columbia and practically everything else under the flag as well....

Trump’s pretense to ownership of public goods and public spaces isn’t some quirk to be ignored or waited out — “there goes our Donald!” — but a direct expression of his autocratic ambitions and despotic cast of mind. We can almost see him as he sees himself, not as president of a republic — and subject to external constraints — but as an American Bonaparte (albeit more Louis Napoleon than the original) sitting astride the nation itself. Less a caretaker bound to the rhythms of constitutional time than a sovereign ruler of limitless authority...

But Trump can’t fire anyone from the Federal Reserve Board, and Cook says she won’t resign...
The president will no doubt try to pressure both Cook and her boss, Jerome Powell, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll succeed. Cook has the law on her side, and she may well prevail. Her choice to stand her ground is a reminder that while Trump may want to be a king, it is still up to us, as Americans, whether we treat him like one."

Jamelle Bouie's analysis is incomplete, in that it sits within a larger context that existed before 2016.
"All the Things Trump Thinks He Owns" is part and parcel of the past privatization strategy of the oligarch network that now drives his 2.0 goals. So whether he accomplishes the 1%'s goals with kingly style or with menace, the 1% intend to permanently establish minority rule by 2028.

Trump is the drama of menace and lawlessness. His hidden oligarch network are the enemy of the people.