General Discussion

of control. Even Trump (and a modern POTUS is the single most powerful global power position in human history) has not, to use healthcare as an example, been able to have that level of effect. He has not even been able to do away with the ACA, for instance.

A POTUS does have one thing they can do to have the ultimate level of real time power, and that power is not for the good, it is pretty much 100 per cent destructive: They have the power to launch all (or at least much of) of the US nuclear arsenal, which would end (with help from the other nuclear powers launching theirs as well) most (not all, but a HUGE percentage) of global human life, plus a shedload of plant and animal life on Earth as well.

Russia and probably China (as they have a lot of nukes, but many are not actively deployed atm) are at that level as well. France and the UK could also kick it off and then their targets would likely respond and finish the job. Maybe the same for India, Pakistan, and Israel (depends on who they targeted). NoKo, not so sure, but they could still really fuck shit up to a degree that would be madness even if it was not global human near annihilation.