Trump leans into unprecedented power ahead of midterm elections

President Trump boasted this weekend of his growing power in his second term – and all the things he's doing now that he wouldn't dare in his first term, such as changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

"I don't think I could have done this in my first term," he told supporters in Northern Kentucky, "This is a much more powerful term. I can do stuff that's unbelievable."

He joked about how big companies wouldn't take his call in the first term, but "now they kiss my ass."

Less than two weeks before the election, Trump continues to crash through barriers that he wouldn't dare cross in his first term – and pointing to that power to make his case to midterm voters.

Trump's Justice Department is raiding a congresswoman's home. He's knocking down trees in Washington, D.C. against a judge's wishes. And he's making deals with Russia that fly in the face of congressionally passed sanctions.

Trump is hardly the first president to become frustrated and test the limits of executive authority.

George W. Bush issued controversial "signing statements" to challenge or reinterpret bills passed by Congress. Barack Obama famously said he had a pen and he planned to use it. Trump is part of that trend.

Trump inherited an increasingly powerful presidency, said Tevi Troy, is a presidential historian, who worked in the George W. Bush White House.

Congress has been basically giving away its own power for a quarter of a century. And Troy says Trump is using that power in a distinctive way - and not to just get around congressional gridlock.

Trump's using it to also go after political and cultural opponents.

"His goals include going after some of his opponents reigning in 'woke' or "DEI" stuff at universities, pushing back against the media," Troy said, adding. "He's what I call a unilateralist. He doesn't have an ideology, he has a methodology, and the methodology is unilateralism."

The targets are not entirely surprising. Trump has spent years attacking news organizations, criticizing regulators and confronting political opponents, including members of his own party.

Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist who helped lead Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, described Trump as a brawler who won't hesitate to use those extraordinary powers in all those fights.

"Trump has made it very clear that he wants to approach his second term in a way where he gets what he wants," Williams said. "He's the president, he's the boss, and he's not going to be restrained by traditions or aides that may say you should hold back."

The question is no longer how much Trump can accomplish through executive action. It's how far the president can go and what, if anything, will constrain him.

In another example, the Trump administration announced earlier this month investigations against nine universities, including Harvard and Yale, for allegedly bringing in international students in order to undercut American wages.

If the administration doesn't like a person or organizations point of view, Trump officials are "prepared to take the gloves off," said Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief who is now a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University.

Sesno said that could be waged in court or through contracts, revoking security clearances or launching investigations.

These are the extensions of power that can only be exercised in many ways by the executive branch of the federal government" Sesno said.