Here’s Who Has Been Surprisingly Willing To Defy Trump In His Second Term

Since President Donald Trump won reelection and returned to office, he has managed to wrap institutions, companies and powerful figures around his finger, while crushing any opposition to his policy agenda.

But there are some notable exceptions.

Here’s a look at some of the people, institutions and businesses who have chosen not to fold under extreme pressure from Trump:

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell On Interest Rates

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who was first nominated for the top job by Trump in his first presidency and later renominated by Joe Biden, made headlines earlier this month with an extraordinary public message announcing that the Justice Department’s threat to criminally prosecute the U.S. central bank was politically motivated.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates, based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Powell said. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

Powell, who has long been targeted by Trump over the Fed’s resistance to adhere to Trump’s demands on interest rates, had previously largely ignored the president’s attacks.

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis On Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who announced he won’t be seeking reelection after Trump threatened to back a primary challenge against him over his opposition to the “big, beautiful bill,” has emerged as a frequent Trump critic and one of only a handful of Republicans willing to vote in opposition to the president’s wishes.

Most recently, Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, warned he would “oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed” as long as U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro continues her investigation into Powell.

Tillis has also criticized Trump’s push to acquire Greenland and supported Democrats’ efforts to put up a plaque in the Capitol to honor the police officers who protected lawmakers during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Rep. Thomas Massie And Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene On The Epstein Files

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) supported a bill forcing the Department of Justice to release its full trove of files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and criticized Trump’s effort to block the files from becoming public.

Her stance prompted Trump to renounce his support for her, calling her a “traitor” and threatening to support a primary challenge against her. Greene resigned from Congress in January, further shrinking Republicans’ majority in the House.

Greene’s former colleague, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), has also been willing to break with the president. He is one of the co-sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Massie has continued to use his platform to highlight the DOJ’s failure to comply with the law, which mandates the department to release the documents by Dec. 19, 2025.

The ‘Big Law Firms’ On Executive Orders

Four major law firms — Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block and Susman Godfrey — independently sued the Trump administration to block the executive orders the president issued against them.

Trump went to war against five law firms that either represented his political opponents or people with cases against the president or employed lawyers who worked in the government’s past cases against him.

While Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison struck an agreement with the administration, paving the way for eight subsequent deals with other firms that acted proactively to avoid Trump’s wrath, the aforementioned four firms successfully challenged the president in court, with judges finding Trump’s orders unconstitutional. Trump’s lawyers have appealed the cases.

The BBC On Lawsuit Threat

The president attacked the BBC over the editing of a “BBC Panorama” documentary that aired on the channel in October 2024.

Trump accused the public broadcaster of trying “to step on the scales of a Presidential Election.” The documentary didn’t air in the U.S.

In November, the president’s lawyers insisted that the BBC remove the documentary, apologize and compensate Trump, threatening the broadcaster with legal action if it didn’t comply with those demands.

The BBC apologized to the president but declined to offer compensation, prompting Trump to sue.

The BBC has moved to get the lawsuit tossed out.

Mark Carney On The International Stage

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered one of the most widely praised speeches at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, criticizing leaders wary of crossing Trump and pushing for a new international trade order as he has sought to make his country’s economy less reliant on the U.S.

“There is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety. It won’t,” Carney said.

While other leaders have sought to appease Trump, Carney made clear the approach is unwise, even though he didn’t explicitly reference the U.S. president by name.

Those remarks prompted fresh attacks from Trump, who chose to rescind an invitation for Carney to join his “Board of Peace,” as the two countries continue to drift further apart.

Ironically, Carney, who was elected prime minister on April 30, perhaps owes his rise to power to Trump’s relentless attacks on the country. Trump’s repeated references to Canada as the 51st U.S. state and his call to impose tariffs infuriated Canadians, prompting them to rally behind him.

Harvard University On Trump Demands For Academic Changes

Harvard University was one of the president’s major targets in his battle against higher education. The elite school has been subject to 13 investigations by 10 federal agencies over the past year, according to The New York Times.

Harvard sued the Trump administration in April over its decision to pull millions in federal funding from the Ivy League school because it refused to comply with his demands that included ending all diversity, equity and inclusion programs; limiting foreign student admissions; and requiring “viewpoint” diversity across all programs.

The two sides are now reportedly working to broker a deal.

Indiana Republicans On Redistricting

Over 20 Republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives last month voted against Trump’s effort to adopt a new congressional map designed to eliminate the state’s only two House seats held by Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Trump threatened to back primary challenges against GOP Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray and others for opposing his plan. He dispatched Vice President JD Vance to the state to pressure lawmakers to fall in line, while other White House officials also tried to pressure those Republicans to change their votes.

Costco On Tariffs

Despite seeing how Trump has treated companies that oppose him, Costco became one of the biggest firms to challenge the Trump administration’s trade policy.

The retailer sued the Trump administration for a refund of the tariffs the company has paid in the event that the Supreme Court finds Trump’s move to impose import taxes under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act illegal.