Donald J. Trump has been in office for 11 days. Really? Only eleven? We are in week two of the second Trump administration. On Tuesday, we will have completed one percent of the four-year term he was elected to serve.
Anyone having any second thoughts yet?
Trump’s inaugural committee received millions of dollars in donations from firms in the cryptocurrency industry, an industry that is already seeking special attention from his administration. Elon Musk must be involved.
Trump’s first two days in office resulted in a record number of executive orders, including one that would revoke the 14th amendment of the Constitution (illegal) and another to rename the Gulf of Mexico (who cares?), and Mount Denali (a name that Alaska residents support overwhelmingly). Has anyone noticed the price of eggs?
He signed another order stripping government employees of their civil service protections, which insulated them from political pressures; those employees can now be fired at will.
That order seems to dovetail well with his order to stop the “weaponization” of the Justice Department. Although it seems curious that his office has signaled that Justice Department prosecutors, assigned to Jan-6 prosecutions, and FBI agents that investigated Jan-6 actions are being fired from their positions.
While MAGA loyalists may applaud the firings of folks who were doing the jobs they were assigned to do, because it impacted Donald Trump, it might be appropriate to consider that these people are losing their careers for doing their jobs. That sounds just a little bit like weaponization and will have an enormous impact on the lives of real people.
The U.S. has withdrawn from the World Health Organization while Congress determines whether to confirm a wild, conspiracy theorist for a Cabinet position as Secretary of Health and Human Services. What could go wrong?
The President ordered a reevaluation of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), and has indicated he prefers to eliminate the agency, returning disaster tasks and funding to state control. Keeping in mind that FEMA provides funds and relief for natural disasters like hurricanes and the California wildfires, we might speculate how cash-strapped states will handle future catastrophes.
President Trump, in yet another executive order, rescinded the U.S. ban of TikTok, contradicting an act of Congress and a 9-0 Supreme Court decision upholding the Congressional order. Is the concept of three co-equal branches of government no longer applicable?
On Monday, one week into his term, Trump’s budget office sent a memo freezing all federal loans, including funds already allocated, to government agencies, non-profit groups and health organizations that depend upon those funds to function.
By Wednesday, after Congressional pushback, public blowback, and myriad legal challenges, the memo was rescinded. Prior to that pullback, a federal judge had blocked the action.
Though failing to execute the order, the President’s administration officials insist that a review of all spending will continue. A review of spending is a good thing, but let’s use some common sense, which the President claims he has in abundance, as you will see in a moment.
After this week’s first U.S. commercial plane crash in 15 years, the comforter-in-chief, which is what a president traditionally becomes in such times of tragedy, spent 90 seconds on comfort before devolving into rants of blame.
Trump claimed, without evidence, or even any research, that DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) policies were responsible for the crash. He blamed President Biden, who happened to have no commercial crashes on his watch. Then he went back to blame President Obama for his policies, even though Trump served a term AFTER Obama.
When a reporter had the temerity to question how the President could make such claims before any investigation, the response was, “Because I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.” Who could argue with that logic?
When asked if he’d visit the site, Trump responded “what’s the site? Water? You want me to go swimming?”
With 50+ bodies still in the Potomac, Trump attacked his opposition without evidence, crowing about what he’s done while blaming everyone else. His words must have been comforting to the victims’ families.
As confirmation hearings continue for the most controversial slate of Cabinet nominees ever, the new President has demanded absolute loyalty from his party and is now pushing to see how far that fealty goes. Apparently, it goes all the way.
Whew!!! I am exhausted. But, has anyone noticed the price of eggs?
Curt MacRae is a resident of Coldwater, MI, and publishes his opinions regularly.
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