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Post-Trump laws will have to prevent abuses of power and personal enrichment

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by Myra Adams, opinion contributor - 04/17/26 7:00 AM ET

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by Myra Adams, opinion contributor - 04/17/26 7:00 AM ET

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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

“I am not a crook” is one of President Richard Nixon’s most enduring phrases from the Watergate scandal, a declaration made at a November 1973 press conference. Nine months later, on Aug. 8, 1974, Nixon would announce his resignation rather than face certain impeachment and conviction.

After Watergate, a host of bipartisan laws was enacted to prevent or counteract the wide-ranging abuses of executive power committed by Nixon and his henchmen. Across seven presidential administrations, those legislative guardrails largely held until the reign of President Trump.

In 2022, after Trump’s first term, Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith wrote an assessment titled “Watergate era reforms 50 years later.” The sub-headline read, “Laws and norms established after President Nixon’s resignation ‘had a great run,’ but the Trump presidency proves new reforms are needed.”

Goldsmith concluded that “ultimately, the efficacy of checks on the presidency depends on the identity of the man or woman whom the American people choose to elect, and the types of pressure that the public places on members of Congress and other government actors to resist executive branch abuse.”

Four years into Trump’s unforeseen second term, his administration has figuratively bulldozed post-Watergate laws and norms while physically bulldozing the White House East Wing.

Ironically, as we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, we should collectively acknowledge the dangerous shift in modern presidential behavior from the “I am not a crook” president, forced from office, to the incumbent president’s “I am not a dictator,” denial of authoritarian leanings, and “sometimes you need a dictator.” Then, sometimes, you need to crown yourself king and portray yourself as Jesus.

Trump’s all-powerful image projection signals that his I-am-above-the-law presidential overreach has reached critical mass. Daily headlines document power grabs, high-stakes international aggression, extreme weaponization of federal power, especially the judicial branch, and blatant, ongoing personal and family enrichment, earning billions.

Therefore, post-Trump, no matter which party controls Capitol Hill or the White House, numerous pieces of bipartisan legislation must be enacted to protect constitutional integrity, prevent executive-branch abuses, and serve the national good. Let the post-Watergate era guide our leaders in keeping power-hungry future presidents in check. What follows is a list of suggested reforms.

First: The incumbent president should be prohibited from owning a public company. There are inherent conflicts of interest, ample profit-generating opportunities, potential for dirty dealing through access to power, and investor risk due to political volatility.

Second: The incumbent president should be prohibited from owning a public or privately owned communication platform that channels official presidential messages.

Trump is the majority stockholder (52 percent) of Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Truth Social (stock symbol DJT). On Dec. 19, 2024, then-president-elect Trump transferred all his shares (nearly 115 million) into a trust controlled by his son, Donald Trump Jr. But the president remains “the settlor and sole beneficiary of the Trust.”

The president and family have long tentacles, reaching into powerful and lucrative economic sectors. Included are offers of financial investments, merging with a company to build nuclear fusion energy plants, and a streaming “patriotic” news and entertainment network that can influence voters. See the company’s 2025 annual report.

Third: We must prohibit the president and his family members from owning stakes in companies engaged in cryptocurrency that could benefit from presidential policies. We should also outlaw presidential family involvement with prediction market companies due to direct access to inside information.

Fourth: The president, his closest family members and their spouses should be forbidden from engaging in foreign real estate transactions or any foreign investment valued over an amount set by Congress, on behalf of a company in which they own or are employed. (See Trump Inc. and Jared Kushner.) The law must also include military weapons companies. (See Don Jr.)

Fifth: We need a