Venezuela's President Captured by the U.S.

By Samara Rotenberg

For example, the tactics used by the Trump administration to accomplish his goals, including the recent occupation of Venezuela, attempts to purchase or militarily take Greenland, and entering into the dangerous conflict in Iran unauthorized by Congress are a stark reminder of the danger of forgetting the basis of our justice system. In America, a president has a responsibility to their citizens. Many people believe that President Trump’s use of executive power in a way that is beneficial only to him is an abuse of the power he’s been entrusted with. 

Anjali Nayar, 801, quipped, “ When you’re president, you're supposed to be looking out for all Americans.  Trump literally is just doing everything that benefits himself.” She shares that when a president uses his power for himself instead of his citizens, he is abusing his power, in her point of view. In his State of the Union address, given on February 24, he made it very clear that he believes very highly in his ability to perform well and effectively for the United States, but went so far as to attack the Supreme Court, saying that their rulings were “totally wrong”.

In Congress, the United States has a system called “checks and balances”. Checks and balances mean that whenever a branch of government, judicial, legislative, and executive, makes a decision, the other branches can “check” or override it if they think it’s not in the best interest of the country. “Balances” is the equal distribution of power between all 3 branches of government. For example, the legislative branch, the Senate and House of Representatives, who write the laws, can impeach the president, which is to find the president guilty of a crime while he’s in office, if two thirds of the Senate or House votes to impeach. This system prevents one branch from being too powerful or dominant. When these checks and balances are disrupted, the government in America is supremely disrupted. 

The recent anniversary of the riots on January 6th, 2021, is a reminder of one such abuse of power allowed by the disregard for checks and balances.

 On January 6th, 2021, many Republicans and Trump supporters rallied and led riots at his instigation at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. to prevent a meeting to finalize the count of votes that would prove President Biden winner of the 2020 election. After the riots were over, many people were charged for crimes such as using deadly weapons, attacking law enforcement, defacing public property, and more. Almost 1,600 people were awaiting trials or sentencing by the end of the investigation into the riots, and more than 600 were convicted of assaulting law enforcement and 170 of using deadly or lethal weapons. 

In 2025, in his second term, President Trump gave a two layer pardon to everyone convicted of crimes committed on January 6th. For a select few, namely far right violent organizations, he reduced their prison sentences to “ending on January 20th, 2025.” For all of the others convicted, he pardoned them, no strings attached. He pardoned almost 1,600 people, all of whom had been convicted and found guilty in an American court of law. The president of the United States is the only person who can grant a pardon for these crimes. 

When Congress formed the January 6th committee to investigate the riots, they found President Trump as the instigator of the violence, as stated in their final report that was released on December 22, 2022. Wade Rimer, 803, defined not abusing presidential power as “using it in a way that benefits America.” Granting the pardon seemed to many like the opposite.

The use of harsh threats and intimidation or a government waist-deep in manipulation are not considered to be reflective of a safe, prosperous democracy. The abuse of power is a prominent factor in getting on the road we often recognize as leading to destruction.