Attorney General Doug Chin has formally opposed so many initiatives by President Trump’s administration that he refers to a small book of his handwritten notes to make sure he isn’t overlooking any.

By Chin’s count his office has taken positions against more than 20 Trump policies and practices, mostly through lawsuits, legal briefs supporting other states’ lawsuits and official letters sent to the administration or Congress.

In one of those cases, Chin took the lead in suing the federal government over a travel ban affecting eight countries — an unprecedented step for a Hawaii attorney general.

Several legal experts contacted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser couldn’t remember any prior attorney general suing the federal government over a major policy or even joining other states in suing the administration on multiple matters.

As Trump was en route to Hawaii on Friday, the Star-Advertiser spoke to Chin, 51, about his prolific opposition to the president’s policies and what he would tell the country’s leader if he had a face-to-face meeting with him.

“I hope that during his brief time here in Hawaii that the president can just understand that there are parts of the country that mostly do not agree with his different policies,” Chin said. “And I hope that he can appreciate the values and priorities that our state and other states in the U.S. stand for.”

The opposition that Chin has mounted covers a range of areas, from immigration and health care to the environment and education. Of the six lawsuits the state is involved with, it took the lead on only one, the travel ban.

Chin said he was not under any illusion that he could talk Trump out of pursuing his campaign agenda and that the most important thing is to let the challenges take their course through the checks and balances system.

“Unfortunately, a lot of those agenda items are either against the Constitution or against our existing laws,” he said.

From a legal perspective, Chin expressed disappointment in Trump’s presidency, saying his policies aren’t being properly vetted or he is ignoring the advice he’s getting.

“Time and time again, courts are striking down different policies of the Trump administration, and it’s not for political reasons, but purely because it doesn’t follow the basic tenets of the Constitution.”

Chin has taken heat for having his office devote so much time to these national matters, with some political observers speculating that he is positioning himself through these public challenges — including news releases announcing each one — for a run for elected office. The attorney general in Hawaii is appointed.

Michael Lilly, who served as attorney general in the mid-1980s under Democratic Gov. George Ariyoshi, said challenging national policies would not be outside the scope of the AG’s duties.

However, he added, “I would be using my resources for more pressing things locally.”

Chin said work on these national matters has not come at the expense of the office’s regular, day-to-day duties — a contention some have questioned — and applauded his staff for taking on the extra load.

“It’s been a lot of late hours, a lot of weekend work and frankly a lot of time away from family,” he told the Star-Advertiser.

Chin said his opposition to Trump policies has nothing to do with any possible run for office and is important for Hawaii’s people. “If we don’t take a stand against these positions, then we’re in danger of finding ourselves in a really bad place somewhere down the road due to our silence,” he added.

Asked whether he intended to run for an elected office, Chin declined to discuss that.