TUE., JULY 15, 2025 — Tonight, FRONTLINE, the PBS investigative documentary series produced at GBH in Boston, will continue its slate of new programming debuting this month on PBS, on streaming platforms and in theaters, with the premiere of Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law. The documentary premieres tonight on PBS stations (check local listings), on YouTube, at PBS.org/frontline and in the PBS App at 10/9c.

The 90-minute special goes inside President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert presidential power, the reverberations throughout American government and society, and the showdown over executive authority that is now playing out in the nation’s courts.

From FRONTLINE filmmaker and veteran chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team, Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law offers in-depth reporting and analysis that goes beyond the headlines and traces the evolution of the battle over executive power from the Nixon era to 9/11 to today.

The film includes interviews with some of President Trump’s closest advisers and allies, advocates and critics of the controversial unitary executive theory of presidential power, lawyers Trump has directly clashed with; and other legal voices, experts and journalists.

From the pardoning of Jan. 6 defendants to the dismissal of charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams; from the dismantling of USAID to a dramatic illegal immigration crackdown and mass deportations, Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law traces key moments in the president’s far-reaching use of executive power. The film also explores how Trump’s steps are forcing the judicial system to decide just how much authority a president has, how his administration has responded to rulings it disagrees with, and the implications.

Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law will be supplemented by the latest installment of the FRONTLINE Transparency Project, which makes the PBS investigative series’ source material available to the public.

Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law will be available to watch on PBS stations (check local listings), on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel, on pbs.org/frontline and in the PBS App starting July 15, 2025, at 10/9c. It will also be available on the PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel. Subscribe to FRONTLINE’s newsletter to get updates on events, podcast episodes and more related to Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law.

Credits
Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law is a FRONTLINE production with Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. The director is Michael Kirk. The producers are Michael Kirk, Mike Wiser, Vanessa Fica and Philip Bennett. The writers are Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser. The reporters are Vanessa Fica and Brooke Nelson Alexander. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.

About FRONTLINE
FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. FRONTLINE has won an Academy Award® as well as every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 110 Emmy Awards and 34 Peabody Awards. Visit pbs.org/frontline and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to learn more. FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Support for Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law is provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.

Press Contact: frontlinemedia@wgbh.org