The myth of Donald Trump’s absolute power rests on everyone believing it’s true.

So, hints of vulnerability, successful challenges to his authority, or portents of a not-so-distant future that he doesn’t dominate spell political danger for the president.

The commanding first nine months of the second Trump administration were anchored on the premise that if you don’t like what he’s doing — try stopping him. Trump, in many cases, outraced legal and political checks and balances meant to constrain presidents and imposed his audacious view of vast executive authority.

He shattered decades of convention at home and abroad, launching trade wars and spurning allies. He’s sent troops into US cities, sparking constitutional crises; gutted entire government departments; and bullied universities, legal firms, media organizations and corporate chieftains, who bent to his will.

The republic’s defenses aren’t dead. Constitutional and political accountability is always retrospective and takes a while to stir. That’s one reason why Trump’s wild and whirling start to his second term has stirred fears of autocracy.

But a sense of permanence and omnipotence conjured by the president just took a dent, following a bumper off-year election night for Democrats, apparent skepticism among Supreme Court justices of Trump’s emergency tariff powers, and reminders that the Constitution should deprive him of a third term.

Winning gubernatorial candidates Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey might on