"Anything Is Legal When Saving the Country" Trump Remarks Controversy

Posted on SNS Amid Controversy Over Unconstitutional and Illegal Policies
Criticism Mounts: "Speaking Like a True Dictator"

"He who saves his Country does not violate any law"

This is a post that U.S. President Donald Trump uploaded on his social media service (SNS) on the 16th (local time). The phrase is used to justify a leader's emergency measures in a national crisis, and controversy is spreading over President Trump's remarks, which seem to claim his extralegal status.

US President Trump signing an executive order. Photo by Reuters, Yonhap News Agency

On the 17th, Yonhap News reported that President Trump posted this phrase on his SNS, Truth Social, and pinned it to the top of his feed. He later posted the same phrase on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Many foreign media outlets interpreted President Trump’s posting of the phrase on SNS as a backlash against courts repeatedly blocking several executive orders he signed immediately after taking office. The phrase is known to have been said by Napoleon Bonaparte, the former Emperor of France, and is mainly used to justify a leader’s extralegal emergency measures during national crises.

Since taking office, courts have been putting brakes on some of President Trump’s executive orders to determine their legality, including suspending their implementation. The executive orders under scrutiny involve socially impactful issues such as abolishing birthright citizenship and stopping federal support for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Several courts in the U.S. have ruled President Trump’s executive order to abolish birthright citizenship as unconstitutional and have suspended it. They have also ordered a halt to the decision to stop federal grants and loan payments. Additionally, courts have blocked the executive order to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and suspend overseas aid spending for 90 days.

In this context, the quote posted by President Trump is interpreted as an assertion that if the motive is to save the country, then even if his actions violate the law, it should not be considered a problem.

Criticism also poured in, calling Trump’s post dictatorial. Democratic Senator Adam Schiff criticized on his X, saying, "He is speaking like a true dictator." Norm Eisen, who served as the White House ethics official during the Barack Obama administration, pointed out that Napoleon’s remark is an excuse for illegal acts.