It’s possible, as President Donald Trump flings executive orders hither and yon, that he may sign one to regulate the flow of waters in the Gulf of America, or the tides in what may become the American Ocean. After all, did not King Canute do the same?

The tale of Canute and the tides is often told incorrectly — that a vainglorious king, drunk on power, ordered the tide not to roll in. When it did, the humiliated king was forced to concede that there are natural limits to executive power.