Rev. Robert L. Montgomery
March 14, 2026, 5:02 a.m. ET
Many Americans, including me, have been shocked by the damage that President Donald Trump is doing to the nation by his authoritarian actions. He seems determined to exercise his personal power as widely as possible, without any checks. Thankfully, the Supreme Court last week decided that the decisions of Trump to raise tariffs whenever and however he wanted, was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled that the power to generate revenue for the nation by raising tariffs belongs to the U.S. Congress, not to the President.
We Americans have been proud of our democracy, but as many millions showed by their open demonstrations against Trump exercising the power of a king, our democracy is now seriously threatened by a president who is obsessed with exercising power. Trump has a character defect in his love of power or at least a major defect in his understanding of democracy. His misuse of power is passed on to the cabinet officials and even the federal agents who serve under him.
Republicans in Congress are right to be concerned about the upcoming mid-term elections because of the angry feedback they have had in town halls where they “hear the voice of the people.” The voice they have heard has been quite angry, so their fear of Trump has been augmented by their fear of the voters. Trump loves having many nations and businesses coming to him for exemptions as they shower him with praise and gifts. People are realizing that Trump is interested primarily in economic gain to benefit himself and his family, which is nothing but corruption.
The most important realization that has come with the Supreme Court ruling is that we are a nation that adheres to rule of law. This reality contributes more to our national prosperity than having a president that gives special favors to those who praise him and contribute to his personal wealth by giving to his private money schemes. One of the reasons that Epstein was able to build and maintain his wealth was that he was could give favors to people with access to power.
We are thankful that President Trump has received a major blow to his aims at control of the American economy. We believe that a democracy that treats all people alike and places all people under the obligation to keep the law as expressed in the Constitution is the democracy that in the end will be the best way to bring prosperity to the nation and most people in it.
I am glad that American democracy has been able to demonstrate that “pride goes before a fall” and that in the long run a haughty spirit is not suitable for an American leader. At the beginning of the nation, George Washington showed America the kind of character a national leader should have. Americans should elect leaders with integrity and a humble spirit. The American president should have the kind of conscience that prevents him or her from reaching for the kind of power that he or she has not been granted. In the current loss before the Supreme Court by President Trump, he was reaching for power to raise money that is given only to the legislature and not the nation’s administrative head.
Americans can rejoice that their democracy has stood the test, at least so far, of a president who tried to use “emergency” power to make a personal power grab. Donald Trump reached for the greatest power a leader can have – the power to raise money or impose tax. The American people saw that giving this power to one person, even the president, would mean giving too much power to any one person in democracy. Trump was on the way to ruining American democracy but he was stopped. We should never choose to go through again the ordeal of having to defend our democracy from someone like Donald Trump, but we can rejoice that our democracy is stronger for having succeeding in stopping Trump and his reach for power. The concentration of power in an individual or a limited number of people will cause a democracy to fail. Building a democracy is difficult, but maintaining a democracy is even more difficult. Why is that? Because of human nature which is attracted to power and resistant to correction. However, Americans have proven that individuals grabbing for power can be stopped and that a system can be self-corrective through various checks, especially by courts.
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The Rev. Robert L. Montgomery lives in Black Mountain.
