Donald Trump will take office with unprecedented power

- YouTube

Donald Trump’s 2024 election win gives him a powerful mandate from voters frustrated with government gridlock and bloated bureaucracy. That, along with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential power, means Trump will take office in January with unprecedented impunity to enact his agenda, radically remake the Federal government, and rewrite institutional norms. So what happens next? On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Molly Ball, senior political reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and Nicole Hemmer, a political historian specializing in conservative media, discuss the implications of a second Trump presidency and how he plans to fulfill promises to voters frustrated with the status quo. Trump will be reined in by the Constitution, but beyond that, will face little accountability, giving him near-total power to enact sweeping changes to democratic institutions.

“I think a lot of people are frustrated with the feeling that our institutions are so calcified and bottle-necked that they don’t allow anything to get done,” Balls says, “So I think there is a mandate for Trump to actually execute on his agenda.”

“I think the idea that the president has free rein does have more popular support than I think many liberals and proponents of rule of law would hope,” Hemmer adds, “The idea that there are levers that can be pulled that will suddenly snap into place an accountability regime, those levers don't exist.”


GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).

New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).

More from GZERO Media

The White House is seen from a nearby building rooftop in Washington, D.C. on May 4, 2023.
(Photo by Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto) via Reuters

During the 2024 election campaign, US President Donald Trump made a plethora of ambitious promises to the American electorate, and pledged to make them come true fast. He even suggested that he’d be a dictator for a day to get them done. As he approaches the 100-day mark of his second presidency, GZERO assesses the extent to which he’s achieved his goals.

- YouTube

“We’re heading toward a substantial U.S. recession,” said Robert Kahn, Eurasia Group’s Managing Director of Global Macro. “We may even be in one now.” That notion challenges the official economic outlook released this week by the International Monetary Fund, which was more cautious in its assessment.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seen as he meets with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the Department of State in Washington DC on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Secretary Rubio has announced a dramatic reorganization and shuttering of multiple organizations within the State Department.
(Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA) via Reuters

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a reduction in State Department staff and bureaus on Tuesday as the Trump administration continues its staffing and program cuts. But some diplomats are breathing a sigh of relief.

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas speaks during a press briefing on the World Economic Outlook during the 2025 World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings on April 22, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Samuel Corum/Sipa USA

“Just since January, we’ve entered into a new era,” IMF’s Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told the press Tuesday at the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Containers on a cargo ship are seen at an industrial port in Tokyo, Japan April 3, 2025.
REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Chinese Premiere Li Qiang sent Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba a letter asking that they “fight protectionism together,” according to local reports Tuesday, as both countries face potentially disastrous US tariffs.

In this new episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer share insights on the early days of Microsoft and the pitch that convinced Ballmer to join the company. They explore his journey from scaling the company from a small 30-person startup to one of the most valuable companies on the planet. They also discuss how three traits — irrational confidence, realism, and persistence — have helped him succeed at Microsoft and today as the owner of the LA Clippers. Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.