President Donald Trump stabbed criticism and alarm over the weekend as he issued a blunt and cryptic statement that apparently hinted that the nation’s laws do not apply to him.
“Whoever saves his country does not violate any law,” Trump wrote on his personal X and truth social accounts on Saturday.
The White House later shared the statement from his official X account, but did not elaborate on why he published it or what he meant by it. Although its exact origin is unclear, the quote is often attributed to Napoleon, the French general who effectively declared emperor in the early 1800s.
The White House refused to comment when ABC News asked Monday what Trump intended to say with the position.
Democrats quickly accused Trump of talking as a dictator. Reince Priebus, a Republican who served in Trump’s first administration, neglected it as “entertainment for Trump” and “Catnip” for the media.
All of this comes as Trump and his team push a sweeping theory of presidential authority – one who claims he has only control over the executive branch and what Congress set up as independent agencies.
Constitutional experts warn Trump’s aggressive view of the presidential power, especially his latest comment, goes directly towards the country’s basic principle of control and balance.
“Trump’s statement is about because it is almost identical to things that Hitler and Napoleon and Mussolini all said, none of which is good for the rule of law. It is the rule of law that protects against executive tyranny in this country – and not vice versa , “Said Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional expert at the University of North Carolina.
“Our entire political system was provided for fear. Fear grew out of King George III, who abused his power by being a judge, the jury and the executioner,” said David Schultz, a constitutional expert at Hamline University.
“His statement, to me, indicated that he just doesn’t get the basic elements of American constitutional law or the basic basic elements of American democracy, which is that no person gets the last call for what is legal,” Schultz said of Trump’s post.
President Donald Trump greets as he participates in the Nascar Daytona 500 Auto Race at Daytona International Speedway, February 16, 2025, in Daytona Beach, FLA.
Roberto Schmidt/Pool via AP
In fact, lawsuits against the Trump administration continue to be poured up. It is less than a month since his dedication, but Trump’s actions – almost all unilateral – have resulted in at least 73 litigation.
Challenges play out against his order to effectively end Birthright citizenship; His Directive on freezing federal grants and loans already allocated by Congress; Attempts by the Elon Musk’s Department of the Government’s Efficiency to dismantle agencies such as USAID and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; And more.
A case is already coming to the Supreme Court. The Trump administration submitted its first emergency appeal to the judges trying to reject a temporary restriction order against his steps to shoot the leader of the Independent Office of Special Advisor, Hampton Delling.
“The Delling Case is a trial balloon to test how much power the Supreme Court is willing to waive the exercise of agreements,” said Ray Brescia, professor at Albany Law School.
Before Trump’s statement this weekend, both he and the White House said he would comply with court decisions. Trump told ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott last week, “I always comply with the courts and then I have to appeal it.”
But his attack on judges who have temporarily stopped some of his agenda paired with previous proposals from his allies, whom he could defy decisions, have raised questions about how far he is willing to go to get his second term agenda implemented .
There are only a few examples in America’s 250-year history where presidents have ignored the laws or courts.
Former President Abraham Lincoln, whom Trump has repeatedly compared himself, suspended Habea’s corpus during the civil war without the approval of legislators – a case that the Supreme Court said exceeded his authority.
But experts say the current climate does not look like the national crisis that enveloped Lincoln’s presidency and noted that Lincoln later asked for ratification of his decision from Congress and effectively received it after several years.
Still, Trump and his team are likely to continue to push too broad force as he wades further into legal challenges.
Trump only seemed to double himself on his napoleonic message and share Sunday in truth social a picture from another user who put the quote “he who saves his country does not violate any law” against a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte running On horseback.
“If the president wants to start parrot Napoleon, he may want to read about how it all turned out to him: a coalition of the willing cooperation to remove him from power not once, but twice,” said Brescia.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
