Sen. Angus King wears a crimson tie patterned with what first appears to be a chaotic design. But on closer inspection — as the independent senator from Maine often encourages — the scribbles reveal themselves as signatures of the Founding Fathers from the Declaration of Independence.

“These people were putting their lives on the line for the idea of America,” he told Scripps News from his office tucked away on Capitol Hill. “I think it’s incumbent upon us to take that seriously and realize the commitment that was made by these people and thousands of others throughout our history to maintain the idea of America.”

King has been sounding the alarm in recent weeks, expressing his belief that President Donald Trump is an increasing threat to democracy and the system of government the United States has had for almost 250 years. He’s taken to the floor of the Senate — the world’s greatest deliberative body, as it’s been deemed — to say that this administration is “ignoring the Constitution,” which he explained in more detail in a lengthy sit-down interview.

“It's pretty straightforward in a number of different ways. Number one is wiping out, destroying, eliminating agencies, whole agencies that were created by an act of Congress. The AID, the Department of Education, Voice of America,” he says, referring to some of the first actions the Trump administration took in office. King also points to another example, like impounding funds that have been appropriated by Congress and signed into law. King calls it “so dangerous” that the executive branch is encroaching on legislative work.

“The separation of powers that's in the Constitution was the fundamental premise of what the framers were trying to achieve, which was no monarchy.”

Without hesitating, King answers that the United States is in a constitutional crisis.

“I believe this is the most serious undermining of the structure of the Constitution in our history,” he said, noting there's always tension between the legislative and executive branches. However, he insists this goes beyond that.

“This is not just the normal tension where the president is trying to get a little extra power and the Congress is, you know, jealously guarding its power. This goes way beyond that. And the framers expected — and they wrote this in the Federalist Papers — they expected that the natural tendency to preserve your own power would make the Congress refuse to give in to the president. What they didn't reckon is part of the parties. The political party has now superseded the Constitution.”

King, caucuses mostly with the Democrats, concedes that calling President Trump a threat to democracy may not be a winning political issue. After all, opponents to President Trump ran in 2024 on the notion that he was a threat to democracy, and he won anyway. King still feels obligated to talk about this publicly, regardless of the 2024 outcome.

“People make their decisions on issues that directly affect them, on the price of eggs, on the price of gasoline, on whether they can get their kids to school on time and it's very practical. Campaigning on democracy, it's a kind of abstract and I don't claim that it's a winning political issue, but I feel like I'm duty-bound to raise this concern," King said.

As a sitting senator on the Senate Armed Services and Select Committee on Intelligence, King is also heavily focused on national and cybersecurity issues. Scripps News covered the revelations last fall that Chinese actors had hacked more than ten major American telecommunications companies in a widespread breach called Salt Typhoon, which King believes is an ongoing hack.

RELATED STORY | White House says at least 8 US telecom firms impacted by China hacking campaign

“It would surprise me if it wasn't. In fact, there's a compromise of our infrastructure in many ways,” he says. “One of the big problems with our cyber policy in this country is that there's no deterrent. Our whole strategy of defense is deterrence. We build ships, nuclear capacity, airplanes in order to tell our adversaries, ‘You better not attack us.’ I mean, that's been since World War Two, that's been our whole premise is deterrence, except in cyber. Salt Typhoon: tremendous attack on our telecommunication system. No response, nothing. We are not going to be able to patch our way out of this problem.”

King said the Biden administration should have done something, and he thinks the Trump administration should now be in charge of some response.

“It could be sanctions, it could be cyber, it could be any number of things," he stated.

Scripps News also asked King about President Trump's confirmation that he is prepared to accept a new Boeing aircraft as a gift from the Qatari government. While Qatari officials say discussions are still ongoing, the plane is valued at $400 million and would be one of the most expensive gifts ever given to the United States by a foreign nation.

RELATED STORY | Trump defends the prospect of Qatar gifting him a plane to use as Air Force One

King says it doesn’t pass the straight-face test.

“It's crazy on every level. Number one: national security. This is a plane that's been rebuilt in Qatar. We'd practically have to take it apart piece by piece, to be sure it's not compromised in some way,” he said. “Number two, the Constitution is absolutely clear: the executive cannot accept gifts from a foreign state unless approved by Congress. Number three: is it really a good idea to accept a gift that's this extravagant from another country? What are they getting in return? What are they buying? Are they doing it just because they’re just really nice people? No, they're giving away something worth four or $500 million, they're doing it for a reason.”

At the end of the interview, King reflected on how the United States may look by the end of this presidency, admitting that it’s hard to tell just three months into the second administration but called it a “rough ride” for the country so far.

“America's asymmetric advantage, our big advantage in the world are allies, friends. China has customers. We have allies. But this administration is sort of systematically poking our allies in the in the eye,” he says, pointing to the tariffs on Europe and Canada. While objecting to tariffs on certain nations, he gives President Trump credit for taking on the issue of trade with China.

“I understand China. I think there are issues with China, and I think the administration was right to say, Okay, let's try to adjust this trade relationship.”

However, he pushed back on the idea that the United States can be a “fortress America” and go it alone, saying: “History has told us that doesn't work.”