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Pelosi signs political trial charges against Trump 2:49
(CNN) - President Donald Trump will not wait to be acquitted of the crimes that led him to a political trial to prove that no one can prevent him from doing what he wants to do.
No Constitution, Democratic House of Representatives, accepted presidential code of conduct, foreign Islamic Republic, common notion of proportional force, factual verifier or legal precedent will stop it.
- READ: The prosecutors of the Chamber deliver the charges and the political trial reaches the Senate
On a day that was a leitmotif conducive to his administration, Trump was formally accused of abusing power and obstructing Congress when Democrats finally transmitted the charges of political judgment to the Senate. Then he simply continued with the kind of unrestricted behavior and violation of government conventions that got him into trouble in the first place, showing that for him, political judgment could be a stain, but it won't be a lesson.
In part, it's bravado: Trump is sending a message of defiance, refusing to give a “fraudulent” political trial the respect he deserves and showing voters that he is doing his job, announcing on Wednesday what he called a trade pact Historical with China.
"They have a fraud there, let's take care of that," Trump told Republican senators who will act as jurors at the White House signing ceremony on Wednesday, in front of senior Chinese stone-faced officials.
But after a tumultuous week in the country and abroad, Trump is also telegraphing to his enemies what his presidency will look like when armed with what he expects to be a vindication of the Senate.
And he is raising an implicit question: what restrictions will remain when the Senate led by the Republicans has done the work expected of him and voted to block an attempt by the House of Representatives to expel him from office? What will the Democrats do: prosecute him again?
Trump tests the limits of power
Trump's challenge to attempts to examine and restrict his conduct and the concept of an almost infinite presidential authority encompasses power duels in Washington and his gigantic actions abroad.
A week after a clash with Iran almost blew up a new war in the Middle East, the administration continues to defy congressional demands to obtain more information about the reasons for killing Tehran's top general.
Tensions escalated after the administration abruptly canceled the briefings on the situation, with few explanations, days after she was accused, even by some Republicans, of insulting legislators who performed supervisory duties.
Iran's crisis has revealed Trump's belief that the usual expectations of transparency and the need to explain serious decisions in times of war do not apply to him. Last week, he told Fox News that he did not believe that Americans had the right to know the specific objectives that, according to the White House, were evaluated by the dead general Qasem Soleimani.
Trump also surprised Washington when he said four US embassies were in the line of fire, but he has not submitted intelligence information to support the comment.
In part to meet the legal requirements, senior officials first justified the bombings by saying that Iranian attacks on US targets were "imminent" and were actively planned by Soleimani, head of the elite Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Now, as a sign of the blatant nature of the administration, Justice Secretary William Barr argues that the concept of imminence "is a false clue."
Given the fury in Washington over the political trial, his comments may not have received adequate attention. But they represent an extremely broad interpretation of the president's power under the Constitution, a concept by which Barr is known.
The White House's refusal to inform journalists periodically is another affront to transparency. The previous administration set up comprehensive public relations strategies before and after military attacks to try to attract the public and generate support for the president.
This administration has been challenging. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conducted media rounds and appeared on the White House podium with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. But such efforts seem more destined to reprimand critics of the administration's actions and provoke the media than to persuade.
Soleimani's death was in itself a sign of Trump's refusal to accept barriers that could have limited other presidents. The drone attack at the Baghdad airport seemed to enshrine a new principle that attacking high-ranking foreign leaders was now an acceptable tool of US foreign policy. Reportedly, the president's decision to scale things surprised some senior military planners.
Trends echo in Ukraine and Iran
Trump's approach to the Iran crisis reveals similar characteristics to the alleged pressure campaign in Ukraine that caused his political trial.
In both cases, he exercised power largely unilaterally, without restrictions by experienced foreign policy officials who were expelled from their circle for trying to control their wildest impulses. In the case of Ukraine, Trump seems to have used the presidential authority for personal political purposes. Many opponents believe that their motivation to eliminate Soleimani was also motivated by politics, something recurring throughout their foreign policy.
Just as he does not see the need to inform members of Congress about the deep intelligence work behind the Soleimani attack, Trump has no qualms about retaining key witnesses to the political trial investigation in an aggressive claim of absolute presidential immunity.
Even their perpetual disrespect for the facts and frequent lies are a statement of power. Trump has shown that when a politician in a democracy is not subject to the common concept of a nation's reality, he can open completely new paths that he can use to assert his power.
The president also stepped on the economic power of Congress by allegedly withholding US $ 400 million in military aid granted to Ukraine by lawmakers to try to force their leaders to investigate their potential political rival, Joe Biden.
It is entering similar territory by seeking to transfer funds from the Pentagon, which have already been appropriated by Congress for other purposes, to build its border wall. The president is considering rescheduling another $ 7.2 billion this year for a similar purpose, five times more than Congress authorized, The Washington Post and CNN reported this week.
Trump's ability to act with such impunity in these cases is a testament to his unquestionable power over the foundations of his party, a support block that he can use to intimidate Republican lawmakers who might think of committing him to control.
Any Republican politician who lacks his own national power base and who wants a future in the Republican ranks will have no political scope to question Trump's behavior in Ukraine or, ultimately, to support the political trial.
Trump's omnipotence aura is based on his life's lessons in business and countless legal scratches on politics. A revolutionary personality that explodes through restrictions and never allows adversaries to assess damage is a powerful political force. Trump's lack of shame in the face of extravagant behavior, the refusal to ever apologize and audacity constantly replenishes his political capital.
It is one of the reasons why Democrats said they had no choice but to accuse the president for his unofficial diplomatic scheme in Ukraine.
"We have always felt a certain urgency for this political trial, given that the president was trying to obtain foreign aid to cheat in the next elections," said the chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, Democrat of California.
Trump knows what's good for him, politically
The way Trump leads in times of crisis is not just the symptom of a rebellious personality. It can also illustrate a cunning political judgment.
The only thing anyone can say about Trump is that he became a native of Washington. He has been faithful to the groundbreaking person who destroyed the most promising group of conservative Republican aspirants to the White House in an entire generation and built an impregnable political base.
The authoritarian boss that Trump played in NBC's "The Apprentice" was an attractive image to many angry Americans with politicians of all kinds who simply wanted to tear down the power established in Washington.
Trump has inclined the presidency to his strident requirements and has refused to obey his codes of conduct designed for two and a half centuries.
So, it is unthinkable that Trump will emerge moderately from the political trial. Instead, he is likely to perceive the validation of his behavior, and he may consider, since he is qualified with a badge of historical honor, which does not have much more to lose and could ignore further restrictions.
With the Democrats in Congress playing their most important card, the courts could become the last line of constitutional defense.
Trump has repeatedly been bothered by restrictions, court orders and remains inflicted by judges, although the speed of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, to confirm conservatives in court could begin to change things. Even so, a judge recently rebuked the president by writing that "presidents are not kings."
Federal courts have repeatedly frustrated Trump, especially regarding his hardline immigration policies.
Once the political trial drama is finally over, American politics will focus on the next presidential elections. It will be a reminder that the final clash between Trump and accountability will come in November.
The political trial only happened because voters who apparently favored more presidential moderation handed over to the Democrats the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. In less than 10 months, they will have the opportunity to reassess Trump's unlimited vision of politics.
Political judgment