Look at virtually any of the Trump administration’s actions, and you see government being used as a weapon.

Anyone or anything can be a target. Muslims are banned from entry to the U.S. Migrant children are separated from their parents at the southern border. Trade partners are attacked with tariffs. Government employees are threatened with a shutdown that will leave them without a paycheck and perhaps without a job at holiday time. Businesses are criticized or, in the case of General Motors, threatened with the loss of federal subsidies. The environment is assaulted on virtually every front through rollbacks of limits on carbon emissions, fuel mileage standards, protections for waterways and limitations on drilling on public lands, to name a few.

The list goes on and on.

In his two years as president, Trump has already established his legacy. He’s the first modern president to govern as an act of violence.

This is not how a democratic government should be used. It should be a process of unifying, of soliciting input, of finding compromise that benefits everyone, of careful and well-considered positions and negotiations.

Governing properly is the art of calming the waters, not throwing dynamite into them.

But to Trump and his administration, government is about violence and coercion, both domestically and abroad. Trump taunts President Emmanuel Macron as Paris burns amid rioting. He stands with the Saudis after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The administration tacitly endorses the annexation of Crimea and encourages Brexit.

And note that in most of these cases, there was no preceding negotiation, no clear enunciation of policy goals, no explanation of what the government actually wanted, and no process of engagement with the public in domestic issues or the international community in foreign issues before taking action, as is normally done.

Instead, we simply have abrupt and destructive action — seemingly almost for its own sake.

This is because our president has no actual policy goals, but rather just throws temper tantrums or acts in his self-interests.

The idea of government as an act of violence has precedent, and in fact is at the heart of some of the most shameful moments in our nation’s history. It was very much in play during the westward expansion of the U.S. in the 19th century, as we committed genocide against Native Americans, seized land, engaged in an unjust war with Mexico and committed other terrible acts in the name of Manifest Destiny.

But the grand story of the the 20th century is one of evolving our view of government and trying to become more enlightened. Thanks to that movement, we ended the century with 50 years without a world war and with major progress on civil rights, women’s rights and human rights.

Now Trump and his administration — and his GOP — return to the dark days of governance, only this time it’s weaponized across the board against fellow Americans, political opposition, refugees, American businesses and people who believe in a world where we can peacefully co-exist.

We know Trump has no ideological lodestar and no firm set of beliefs other than his belief in whatever is good for him personally. However, the entire GOP is complicit in this because they are not demanding restraint. The Republican Party has stood by as the very act of governing becomes weaponized.

The American people, however, are pushing back.

The midterm elections proved conclusively that Americans demand order and progress from our government and repudiate the idea of governing as violence.

Now, it’s time for the GOP to join the rest of the country. The head of their party is a political vandal who must be restrained.