Trump obliterates lines between governing and campaigning in service of his reelection

In recent weeks, Trump has acknowledged he was opposed to funding for the U.S. Postal Service because he does not want the money used for universal mail-in voting. He sent Homeland Security authorities to quell social justice protests in what he termed “Democrat cities.” He signed a stream of executive orders that circumvented Congress and delivered overtly partisan speeches at official White House functions, including a 54-minute Rose Garden monologue blasting Democratic rival Joe Biden last month.

Trump also has used federal resources and personnel to re-create the enthusiasm of his campaign rallies that were curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic. He invited patrons at his private golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., to attend news conferences there, with many of them heckling reporters. And he held a campaign rally in Yuma, Ariz., last week with 200 off-duty Border Patrol union members, many wearing masks emblazoned with “TRUMP” and “MAGA.”…

Presidents of both parties, including Trump’s recent predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, have mixed a measure of campaigning with official White House business, especially in election years. But Trump has trampled over norms once respected by both parties and challenged legal boundaries that limit political activity by federal officials, ethics lawyers said.

Beyond the legal questions, Trump’s speech at the White House this week would send “a very strong message to the federal workforce that if you are in a high-level position, the government is there to serve you,” said Walter Shaub, who served as the director of the Office of Government Ethics in the Obama administration. “It turns the idea of public service on its head.”