{"id":38620,"date":"2025-12-22T10:44:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T10:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=38620"},"modified":"2025-12-22T10:44:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T10:44:22","slug":"are-trumps-actions-unprecedented-we-asked-historians-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=38620","title":{"rendered":"Are Trump\u2019s Actions Unprecedented? We Asked Historians (Again)."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

Since the start of his second term, President Trump has cut budgets, made demands on public institutions, and attacked the media and speech in actions regularly called unprecedented.<\/p>\n

In April, we asked presidential historians if they could come up with comparable examples in previous administrations \u2014 and to tell us when they couldn\u2019t. You can read that earlier article here.<\/p>\n

We went back to the historians (and some political scientists) to help us categorize the administration\u2019s actions and pronouncements that have happened since: whether they\u2019re unprecedented, relatively common or somewhere in between.<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

President Trump has taken some actions that do not have a comparable historical example, according to historians.<\/p>\n

Used the military to attack and kill suspected drug smugglers<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump has ordered the military to kill people aboard boats he says have been smuggling drugs, claiming the power to redefine drug trafficking as armed conflict.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Historians said the closest parallels to Mr. Trump\u2019s strikes in international waters were attacks on pirates \u2014 from Thomas Jefferson\u2019s attacks on Barbary corsairs to Barack Obama\u2019s use of military force against Somali pirates in 2009. But President Obama\u2019s efforts were largely rescue missions; Jefferson was also responding to the capture of American ships.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the 1970s, presidents have claimed the right to take military action, including murderous assaults, against nonstate actors who threaten the United States,\u201d said Jeremi Suri, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. However, he said, \u201cthe United States has generally not targeted drug smugglers in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. has helped other governments in Central America to apprehend drug traffickers. No presidents have unilaterally killed alleged drug smugglers in international waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manisha Sinha<\/p>\n

Professor of American History, University of Connecticut<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Cast doubt on vaccine efficacy and safety<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, the Trump administration has begun to overhaul American vaccine policy. A vaccine skeptic, Mr. Kennedy replaced a vaccine advisory panel with handpicked members. The panel ended a decades-long recommendation to vaccinate babies against hepatitis B at birth. Mr. Kennedy also canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and contracts to develop mRNA vaccines. Mr. Trump hailed Covid vaccines as a miracle during his first term but has since questioned whether they work, and Mr. Kennedy has called them \u201cthe deadliest vaccine ever made.\u201d<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Previous presidents have typically promoted vaccines. The government has changed the vaccine schedule and pulled recommendations for vaccines before, including for a rotavirus gastroenteritis vaccine in the 1990s. And manufacturers have voluntarily withdrawn vaccines from the market. But no presidential administration has made such an effort to dismantle vaccine policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther presidents tried to expand vaccines. This goes all the way back to George Washington during the Revolutionary War, who mandated smallpox inoculations for his army.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Watson<\/p>\n

Professor of History, Lynn University<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Asked states to gerrymander to add more seats for his party<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump and his aides have pushed for lawmakers across the country to redraw maps in favor of Republicans.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

This has not been done publicly, though an adviser to George W. Bush, Karl Rove, was reported to have lobbied state legislators to redistrict in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo previous president has done this so overtly, but gerrymandering for political advantage has been a basic tool of political parties since the earliest years of the republic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendrick Clements<\/p>\n

Professor, University of South Carolina<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Owned a company that received a major investment from a sovereign state<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a state-controlled United Arab Emirates firm used $2 billion of cryptocurrency issued by World Liberty Financial \u2014 a start-up owned by the Trump family\u00a0\u2014 to invest in a crypto exchange. That effectively serves as a huge deposit for World Liberty, which can then generate returns in the tens of millions of dollars each year.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Historians said there was no comparable example.<\/p>\n

\u201cPast presidents took pains to put their holdings in a blind trust or to divest entirely from identifiable individual companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Rudalevige<\/p>\n

Professor of Government, Bowdoin College<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Tried to remove a member of the Federal Reserve Board<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump tried to fire a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud. (The Supreme Court stopped the firing until it could hear arguments in January, and she maintains her innocence.) It\u2019s part of a broader, stated effort to gain more influence over the board.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Presidents have fought with the Fed before; under President Harry Truman, the head of the Board of Governors resigned amid a disagreement with the administration. But no president has directly fired a Federal Reserve official.<\/p>\n

A clip from a New York Times article in March 1951 about the resignation of the head of the Fed\u2019s Board of Governors.<\/span> TimesMachine<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have often put pressure on the Fed, but I don’t know of any president who has claimed the power to fire a sitting governor and tried to carry it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Greenberg<\/p>\n

Professor of History, Rutgers University<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Ended data collection efforts across government<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has stopped or plans to stop collecting data on environmental disasters, climate change, food insecurity, emissions from polluters and more.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

No president has stopped data collection at such a scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been other presidents who have appointed people as heads of agencies but who opposed the missions of those agencies. But that is a far cry from eliminating the government\u2019s longstanding practices of producing reliable data, on nearly everything of concern to the public and for which the government is responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Gerhardt<\/p>\n

Professor of Jurisprudence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Law School<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Ordered a review of public museums to align with administration views<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The White House told the Smithsonian Institution \u2014 a museum group founded and funded by the federal government \u2014 that it would have 120 days to change any content that the administration found problematic in \u201ctone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.\u201d<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no comparison for such a broad and public demand on the nation\u2019s museums, historians said.<\/p>\n

There have been instances of perceived pressure, or limited influence. A former Smithsonian administrator claimed that the National Museum of Natural History toned down an exhibit on climate change during the George W. Bush administration. And it was reported that the Nixon administration told what is now the National Museum of American History to close an exhibit on voting rights ahead of a ball that was part of Nixon\u2019s second inauguration.<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Cast doubt on official Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs numbers<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump claimed without evidence that weak job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were \u201crigged\u201d and fired the agency\u2019s commissioner.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

No president has done this publicly and so directly in the years the Bureau of Labor has been collecting and publishing data. (Since the late 1800s.) Ronald Reagan once said a framing of B.L.S. data was misleading, but didn\u2019t question the data itself. Richard Nixon\u2019s administration made some changes to how B.L.S. reported monthly data. But when he threw doubt on the B.L.S., it was in private conversation. (It was eventually revealed that he had blamed Jewish people working at the agency for unfavorable statistics.)<\/p>\n

\u201cPresidents have always spun bad numbers; few have declared war on arithmetic itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexis Coe<\/p>\n

Presidential historian and senior fellow at New America<\/p>\n

No clear precedent<\/p>\n

Sought damages from the Justice Department for federal investigations into him<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump is reported to have demanded that the Justice Department pay him $230 million in compensation for past investigations into his actions.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no real comparison, historians say. Andrew Jackson was once fined for suspending habeas corpus; he lobbied Congress for a refund. But that lobbying took place after his presidency, said Matthew Warshauer, professor of history at Central Connecticut State University. (It was successful.)<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

In several cases, Mr. Trump\u2019s actions are precedented, but there are details that make them different: scale, context, motivation or results.<\/p>\n

The following are events in which our scholars did not always agree on the extent of a precedent.<\/p>\n

Sent the National Guard to cities<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump has expanded the role of the National Guard, deploying its troops to cities as part of a stated federal crackdown on crime. In several cases, governors or local officials have sued to block the deployments.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Presidents have deployed the National Guard to cities numerous times, including to protect civil rights advocates marching from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama; to enforce Brown v. Board of Education in Little Rock, Ark.; in response to the 1992 Los Angeles riots; to quell a riot in Detroit in 1943; and to help Hurricane Andrew relief efforts in Florida.<\/p>\n

But in most cases, unlike President Trump, presidents deployed the National Guard at the request of, or with the cooperation of, state lawmakers. (That was not the case when presidents used the National Guard to support integration in Arkansas and protect civil rights activists in Alabama.)<\/p>\n

A California National Guard unit deployed in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots.<\/span> Joe Marquette\/Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the exception of using troops to protect American citizens during the height of civil rights reform, American presidents have typically respected the authority of states and only mobilized troops at the request of state lawmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicole L. Anslover<\/p>\n

Associate Professor of History, Florida Atlantic University<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Directed the attorney general to investigate or prosecute political rivals<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump has pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi and his Justice Department to investigate or seek criminal charges against his perceived enemies, including George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor; the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey; and the New York attorney general Letitia James.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Nixon also tried to use the federal government \u2014 including the Department of Justice \u2014 to go after his \u201cenemies list\u201d through investigations and other legal harassment. One memo from his White House counsel describes \u201chow we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u201cit was on a limited case-by-case basis, and many of his own appointees and federal workers thwarted his illegalities,\u201d said Robert Watson, a professor of history at Lynn University.<\/p>\n

A clip from a New York Times article in June 1973 about President Nixon\u2019s list of political enemies.<\/span> TimesMachine<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNixon tried to act in secrecy and deny his vendettas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeremi Suri<\/p>\n

Professor of History and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Carried out large-scale immigration raids<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

Federal agents have conducted immigration enforcement raids in several Democrat-led cities, arresting and detaining thousands in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C., among others.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Eisenhower carried out deportations of illegal immigrants, known at the time as \u201cOperation Wetback.\u201d These targeted Mexican migrants, and they were more focused on agricultural border areas than major cities.<\/p>\n

Mexican nationals seized for deportation in Southern California, June 17, 1954.<\/span> Associated Press, via Alamy<\/span><\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Arranged for a government stake in a U.S. company<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The Trump administration allowed Japan\u2019s Nippon Steel to take over U.S. Steel in exchange for a \u201cgolden share\u201d giving the White House a permanent say in the company\u2019s business. (The Trump administration has also purchased shares or options in other private companies involved in minerals, nuclear energy and semiconductors.)<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

The U.S. government received shares of auto companies while bailing them out during the Great Recession in 2009, but it sold those within a few years to recoup some of the money it had spent.<\/p>\n

The Trump effort has centered on national security concerns. Prior administrations have taken control of the private sector briefly during wartime, but those were not ongoing ownership stakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of an example when companies were forced to pay premiums of this sort to the U.S. government \u2014 even giving federal actors formal long-term decision-making authority for corporate behavior \u2014 as a cost of doing business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Rudalevige<\/p>\n

Professor of Government, Bowdoin College<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Carried out a major demolition and renovation of the White House<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The Trump administration took down the East Wing of the White House to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

The White House went through a demolition and renovation under President Truman, when the building was in danger of physical collapse.<\/p>\n

Other presidents have made renovations \u2014 including significant expansions \u2014 but historians could not name another demolition of a major part of the building.<\/p>\n

The gutted interior of the White House during a 1950 renovation under President Harry Truman.<\/span> The White House, via Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Struck a deal with drug companies to sell prescriptions at lower prices and set up an online drugstore with the president\u2019s name<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump has tried to lower prescription drug prices through two primary channels: He has made deals with numerous major drugmakers (including Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly) to sell drugs to Medicaid at lower prices; and he has committed to starting TrumpRx, a portal through which patients can buy drugs directly from drugmakers.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Previous presidents have tried various strategies to make prescription drugs more affordable, including negotiating with industry. (Most recently, the Biden administration brought drugmakers to the negotiating table.)<\/p>\n

A marketplace with the president\u2019s name on it is new.<\/p>\n

An excerpt from a speech on health care given by President Lyndon Johnson to Congress in 1968.<\/span> TimesMachine<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier efforts to cut drug costs \u2014 Bill Clinton\u2019s aborted price-control proposals, George W. Bush\u2019s Medicare Part D expansion, Barack Obama\u2019s negotiation push under the Affordable Care Act \u2014 were policy fights, not product launches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexis Coe<\/p>\n

Presidential historian and senior fellow at New America<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Pulled back public infrastructure grants in mostly blue states<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has frozen and terminated grants for infrastructure that were largely set to be in districts that vote Democratic, and the president has bragged about it. \u201cA lot of good can come down from shutdowns,\u201d Mr. Trump said in October. \u201cWe can get rid of a lot of things that we didn\u2019t want, and they\u2019d be Democrat things.\u201d (Some Republican districts have also lost projects.)<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Pulling back funds already allocated is unusual, scholars told The Times. Presidents have often directed government benefits to key constituencies and favored states and districts, but not in such a public and direct manner.<\/p>\n

When Nixon\u2019s administration made large cuts to military bases in the early 1970s, states in the Northeast were hit the hardest, leading to speculation that politics played a role.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresidents have always played politics with public monies, although often as discreetly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen F. Knott<\/p>\n

Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Signed large cuts to health care programs into law<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The sprawling policy bill pushed by the president and passed by Republicans in July contained more than $1.1 trillion in cuts to health care programs, including roughly $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid \u2014 about 11 percent of projected spending on the program over a decade.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Under President Reagan, Congress reduced Medicaid and Medicare spending. Medicaid cuts in the early 1980s totaled $1 billion each year, around 5 percent of annual Medicaid spending. The cuts came in the form of smaller payments to states, which then cut services. (People forced off welfare rolls by Reagan\u2019s administration often lost Medicaid benefits, too.) George W. Bush signed into law policy changes that made smaller reductions in Medicaid spending.<\/p>\n

The Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama in 2010, included more than $700 billion in reductions to Medicare, though the bill increased spending on health care overall.<\/p>\n

A protest of the Reagan administration\u2019s proposed cuts to Medicare in 1982 in Helena, Mont.<\/span> George Lane\/Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince the beginning of federal health care programs in the 1930s, policymakers have been more likely to expand than cut such programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendrick Clements<\/p>\n

Professor, University of South Carolina<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Auctioned face-to-face access<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump invited people who spent the most on his personal cryptocurrency to a White House gala dinner.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Many presidents have rewarded their major donors with special privileges. (Bill Clinton gave some top donors meals, outings and overnight stays; major fund-raisers also stayed overnight in George W. Bush\u2019s White House; and inaugurations have long been a way for donors to get close to the president.) But Mr. Trump, not his campaign, personally benefited from the crypto investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standards of White House conduct related to maintaining proper distance from acts of bribery, perceived or real, have demonstrably deteriorated over the years. In 1958, White House chief of staff Sherman Adams was forced to resign from the Eisenhower administration because he had accepted a vicu\u00f1a overcoat and a rug from a Boston businessman under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell Riley<\/p>\n

Professor of Ethics and Institutions, University of Virginia\u2019s Miller Center<\/p>\n

Has happened, but under different circumstances<\/p>\n

Attacked the media, including suing newspapers<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump has directed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The Times. He has also sued Paramount (before starting his second term) over a Kamala Harris interview; blocked reporters from parts of the White House where they\u2019ve been allowed for decades; threatened to pull broadcasters\u2019 licences over late-night hosts he dislikes; imposed restrictions on military reporters; and persuaded Congress to cut funding for public media.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

No other sitting president has specifically filed a defamation lawsuit against a newspaper. (Theodore Roosevelt did sue a small-town newspaper for libel for accusations of drunkenness, but only after leaving office.)<\/p>\n

There is, however, a long history of attempts by presidential administrations to pressure the news media over critical coverage. Abraham Lincoln shut down pro-Confederacy newspapers during the Civil War and arrested their editors; in World War I, the government charged some journalists who opposed the war under the Espionage Act; the Nixon administration tried to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Nixon also listed journalists on his \u201cenemies list\u201d and ordered wiretaps of reporters.<\/p>\n

On July 1, 1971, The Times resumed publication of its series of articles based on the secret Pentagon papers, after it was given the green light by the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/span> Jim Wells\/Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhite House grumping about critical coverage is an age-old feature of the Washington community. But rarely has this gone beyond a sharp elbow in the press room or maybe a back-channel call to the publisher to yelp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell Riley<\/p>\n

Professor of Ethics and Institutions, University of Virginia\u2019s Miller Center<\/p>\n

Not uncommon<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

A few of Mr. Trump\u2019s moves are, if not standard practice, still actions that other U.S. presidents have taken in recent decades.<\/p>\n

Put on a military parade<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

In June, President Trump presided over a procession of troops, weaponry and military vehicles in Washington in commemoration of the Army\u2019s 250th birthday and his own 79th.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Large-scale military parades aren\u2019t uncommon, though they often happen during or at the close of a war. Among other examples, George H.W. Bush held a large military parade in 1991 after the Persian Gulf War, and John F. Kennedy hosted one during his inaugural in 1961, at the height of the Cold War.<\/p>\n

Soldiers of the allied coalition carried their national flags past President George H.W. Bush during the National Victory Parade in Washington in 1991.<\/span> Ron Edmonds\/Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n

Not uncommon<\/p>\n

Established fast-track visas for wealthy immigrants<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The president has launched a program that is intended to allow people to buy legal residency in the U.S. with a $1 million \u201ccontribution\u201d to the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

The U.S. has long had a program that allows entrance to wealthy immigrants: the EB-5 program, for people willing to invest $1 million (less in some circumstances) in a business that would hire Americans. President Trump\u2019s program is new in style \u2014 it\u2019s called the \u201cgold card\u201d \u2014 but not in function.<\/p>\n

\u201cBill Clinton created the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, with Obama extending the idea to the Regional Center Pilot Program. It\u2019s actually not a new thing what President Trump is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas Balcerski<\/p>\n

Presidential Historian, Eastern Connecticut State University<\/p>\n

Not uncommon<\/p>\n

Helped broker an agreement for a cease-fire in Gaza, and an exchange of hostages and prisoners<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s deal between Hamas and Israel in October \u2014 which Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump\u2019s son-in-law, helped broker \u2014 resulted in a cease-fire and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

It\u2019s common for American presidents to step in and help negotiate deals between Israel and Arab nations; President Biden negotiated a cease-fire and prisoner exchange, though the deal fell apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump should be applauded for his effort in the Mideast. This is his greatest foreign policy achievement so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilbur C. Rich<\/p>\n

Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College<\/p>\n

President Bill Clinton with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization at the signing ceremony for the 1993 Oslo Accords.<\/span> Paul Hosefros\/The New York Times<\/span><\/p>\n

Not uncommon<\/p>\n

Pulled back United Nations funding<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump has withdrawn or frozen U.S. funding for several agencies within the U.N., including the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

The Reagan administration, claiming mismanagement at the U.N., withheld funds in the 1980s. George W. Bush withheld money from the U.N.\u2019s Population Fund over concerns about abortion and other family planning issues.<\/p>\n

A clip from a New York Times article in July 2002.<\/span> TimesMachine<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe anti-U.N. rhetoric has been part of the Republican political discourse for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manisha Sinha<\/p>\n

Professor of American History, University of Connecticut<\/p>\n

Not uncommon<\/p>\n

Attacked Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S ACTIONS<\/p>\n

President Trump ordered an attack on three key nuclear sites in Iran in June, without seeking congressional authorization.<\/p>\n

IN THE PAST<\/p>\n

Though Mr. Trump was the first to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, previous administrations have engaged in sabotage of Iranian nuclear systems \u2014 including the George W. Bush and Obama administrations\u2019 development and use of the computer worm Stuxnet. (That was a destructive program that targeted centrifuges and delayed Tehran\u2019s ability to make nuclear weapons.)<\/p>\n

More broadly, presidents have long taken military actions without congressional sign-off.<\/p>\n

About the data<\/p>\n

For this project, we reached out to dozens of historians and political scientists, including some participants of C-SPAN\u2019s Presidential Historians Survey. We asked them to provide us with relevant precedent to specific Trump actions, if there were any, and to describe how those precedents were and were not similar to what Mr. Trump has done.<\/p>\n

We received responses from 36 experts. In addition to those we quoted, we used notes and research from: Andrew Bacevich, Paul Brandus, Vernon Burton, Jeffrey Engel, Michael A. Genovese, Harold Holzer, Chandler James, Scott Kaufman, Thomas J. Knock, Douglas L. Kriner, Allan Lichtman, Bruce Miroff, Barbara Perry, Gary Richardson, Robert Schmuhl, Craig Shirley, Brooks Simpson, Robert Strong, Tevi Troy, Mark K. Updegrove, Ted Widmer, B. Dan Wood and David B. Woolner.<\/p>\n

We categorized actions based on the overall responses, along with additional reporting and research.<\/p>\n

Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus of the Presidential Greatness Project assisted in establishing a list of historians and constructing the initial survey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the start of his second term, President Trump has cut budgets, made demands on public institutions, and attacked the media and speech in actions regularly called unprecedented. In April, we asked presidential historians if they could come up with comparable examples in previous administrations \u2014 and to tell us when they couldn\u2019t. You can<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[5586,878,21117,71,3199],"class_list":{"0":"post-38620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-actions","9":"tag-asked","10":"tag-historians","11":"tag-trumps","12":"tag-unprecedented"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}