Is Trump subverting American democracy? Will the constitution get in his way?

The second series of the MLS podcast JUSTICE with Jon Faine has launched, with an interview with constitutional law expert Professor Will Partlett about the latest moves by US President Donald Trump.

Professor Partlett’s topic was ‘Is Trump subverting American democracy? Will the constitution get in his way?’ The podcast is available on Apple and Spotify, with new episodes every second Tuesday.

The discussion ranged over the way President Trump started the war on Iran without Congressional approval, and reissued tariffs after the Supreme Court’s ruling against them. Some of his political strategists are floating plans to control who can vote in future elections. Is any of this legal?

JUSTICE with Jon Faine unpacks legal complexity, analyses cases and often prompts calls for law reform. It scrutinises the way our laws do, or don’t, produce just outcomes, and examines their many effects on the lives of everyday Australians.

Future episodes this season will look at topics including whether alcohol should have warning labels about cancer; whether doctors should be able to refuse to provide care if it offends their conscience; and whether AI scribes in doctors’ consulting rooms should be regulated.

Jon Faine left the ABC airwaves after 30 years in 2019 and is now a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Melbourne, based in the Melbourne Law School.

He worked as a commercial litigation lawyer and at Fitzroy Legal service before joining the ABC in 1989, initially to host The Law Report on Radio National and then as host of the Mornings program.