QUICK HIT: What Power Does Pres. Trump REALLY Have?
SmartHERNews
Jenna Lee
4.9 • 663 Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Trump, like all presidents before him, has the power of the pen but not a magic wand.
We take a a closer look at two of President Trump’s first moves in office: issuing pardons and executive orders – and both the extraordinary reach and extraordinary limitations of a president’s power (in less than 10 minutes!)
Key Takeaways:
- Presidential power is often perceived differently than it is in reality.
- The power of forgiveness is a significant aspect of presidential authority.
- Clemency can take the form of pardons or commutations, each with different implications.
- Pardons restore civil rights but do not erase criminal records.
- Critics argue that executive actions can overstep presidential authority.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Did you ever watch He-Man? I don't know why this popped into my head this morning when writing |
| 0:04.0 | about presidential power, but here we are. Let's talk a little bit about the power of the presidency. |
| 0:08.8 | I'm Jenna, and this is Smarter News. |
| 0:28.8 | I may have cartoons on the brain because my kids are home from school on a very, very rare Texas snow day. |
| 0:34.6 | But actually a little humor might work here because oftentimes our image of presidential power really differs from the reality. |
| 0:37.8 | And presidential power is in focus because of the early actions taken by President Trump. And I can already see the headlines and all the opinions. And as per usual, |
| 0:42.9 | we have a lot of commentary, but not a lot of context. So let's break this down. The presidency comes with |
| 0:47.9 | extraordinary power that is also extraordinarily limited. The power to pardon and the power |
| 0:53.7 | of executive action are two examples |
| 0:55.5 | of presidential power, and President Trump has already wielded both. But the stroke of the pen |
| 1:00.3 | is not a magic wand. Understanding the privilege of the presidency and the limits to its power |
| 1:05.8 | is critical to understanding these stories and forming your own opinion. So let's take that approach. Let's start |
| 1:11.6 | first with presidential pardons. One of President Trump's first actions as commander-in-chief |
| 1:16.4 | was to pardoned those convicted for crimes or investigated for alleged crimes committed on January 6, |
| 1:22.3 | 2021. I say alleged because some of these people are still awaiting trial. This presidential |
| 1:27.4 | action will likely impact more than 1,500 people, according to the Associated |
| 1:31.6 | Press. |
| 1:32.6 | Of those 1,500 people, more than 1,000 pleaded guilty to crimes. |
| 1:36.5 | 250 were convicted of crimes by a judge or a jury. |
| 1:40.3 | Two were acquitted, and then you have this bunch that are awaiting, awaiting trial. |
| 1:43.8 | President Trump essentially says he shares something in common with these people, |
| 1:47.1 | that together they were all treated unfairly by the same Justice Department. |
... |
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