Trump vs. The Courts (w/ Nathaniel Zelinsky)

The guest, Nathaniel Zelinsky, a former big law appellate attorney who left his firm in 2025 to co-found the non-profit Washington Litigation Group, delivers a sobering yet hopeful assessment of the current state of the rule of law under Donald Trump’s presidency. He details a landmark legal victory in the Kennedy Center case, where a federal judge ruled that only Congress can rename the institution—affirming that Trump’s attempt to rename it after himself and shutter it for two years was unconstitutional. The ruling, backed by extensive evidence from cultural leaders and scholars, underscores the danger of treating national institutions as personal fiefdoms. Zelinsky argues this case is emblematic of a broader pattern: Trump’s administration is systematically dismantling institutional integrity through visible acts of authoritarianism—renaming monuments, shuttering venues, and weaponizing government for personal gain. These actions, while not always directly threatening liberty, erode public trust and normalize corruption. He highlights the slush fund case—where Trump allegedly settled a fake lawsuit against his own Justice Department to fund political allies—as particularly corrosive because it’s tangible and easily understood by the public. Meanwhile, in other cases, the Justice Department has claimed it can fire any federal employee for any reason, undermining civil service protections and constitutional safeguards.