We knew Trump was a felon, a sexual abuser, swindled his donors for $2m, paid $25m to Trump University students he deceived. But what we didn’t realize is that he’s not in control of his decisions because he’s emotionally incapable of experiencing guilt, shame, remorse and of feeling the pain of others. Instead, anger, an obsession with power and what he thinks will appeal to his supporters drives his decisions–not what’s best for America; and he always comes first. But it may not be too late to rid America of this sociopath if we put Democrats and rational Republicans in Congress.
The most recent example is his decision, two days after his inauguration, to eliminate a key committee that strengths aviation security. Then, before any investigation and without a scintilla of evidence, Trump blamed Presidents Biden and Obama for the January 30 collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter for lowering FAA hiring standards by their policy of diversity in hiring government employees, evidently believing that it would appeal to his MAGA followers.
For example, Trump just instructed federal agencies to stop any financial assistance programs effective, February 4, without specifying which of the thousands of programs would be effected. Astonishingly, he took no time to understand the impact of his freeze or its legality.
Federal aid reaches every corner of Americans’ lives. It funds education, health care, anti-poverty programs, housing assistance, disaster relief, infrastructure and much more. Not surprisingly, a federal judge blocked its implementation citing the devastation that would ensue and its illegality. Then, Trump rescinded the order.
Trump also had to be ignorant or not care that the Constitution, federal law and court decisions make it clear that the freeze was illegal. The foreign aid payments were authorized by Congress and Article I Section 8 of the Constitution which gives the power of the purse to Congress. The Supreme Court has ruled that the president has no power to overrule Congress by impounding funds Congress authorized.
Even more worrisome, in the final month of Trump’s last presidency it took General Milley, the Chairman of Trump’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to stop him from misusing the country’s nuclear arsenal, presumingly out of anger at losing the 2020 election and to manufacture a crises that would keep him in office. Milley had to call the head of China’s military to assure him there was no such plan to avoid a crisis. Trump also told Republican donors that the US should put the Chinese flag on military planes and “bomb the sh*t” out of Russia.” There’ll be no General Milley to stop him this time, only Pete Hegseth, Trump’s alcoholic, sex offending co-host and grossly unqualified Secretary of Defense.
On January 24th – just 5 days after taking office, Trump winged it by suspending nearly all U.S.-funded foreign aid programs, including for health, education, food, and all other humanitarian areas without knowing the benefits of foreign aid. His Secretary of State had to walk back his freeze saying it didn’t apply to “lifesaving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence, and supplies and the costs necessary to deliver such assistance.”
Stopping aid might appeal to MAGA folks as saving money, but it’s less than 1% of the US budget and, at .02% of gross national income, it’s near the lowest percent of any country.
Trump had to be unaware that foreign aid builds America’s influence, exports and military might around the world. For more than fifty years, foreign aid has been a core tool of US engagement, which provides critical strength to the military. Freezing these initiatives would put the United States military strategies at risk. It’s crucial for the U.S. to continue deploying military assets globally to slow China’s and Russia’s advancements. Foreign aid is an effective tool in achieving this.
He had to be ignorant of the importance of foreign aid. It bolsters economic and political stability in developing countries and reduces the risk of coup’s by hostile and corrupt leaders. It also strengthens the U.S. economy and benefits its workers by growing foreign industries that buy U..S exports. As countries get richer, they want to buy more U.S. products and services. Over the past 10 years, nearly two-thirds of the growth in U.S. exports was to major recipients of U.S. aid and was critical to pulling the U.S. out of the most recent recession.
While it’s true that certain foreign aid programs are not effective in solving the long-term poverty, bad governance and corruption because their recipients are developing countries, but given the very low cost of foreign aid, it would be better to improve those programs rather than imposing a cold turkey stop on the recipients.
Trump launched his 2017 steel and aluminum tariffs out anger at Chief of Staff John Kelley’s downgrade of Jared Kushner’s security clearance, Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s handling of an investigation of a Trump campaign associate, the absence of consensus from his staff on tariffs, and Hope Hicks’ testimony before Congress regarding Russian meddling. They were announced without any review by government lawyers or his staff. Whether they were good for America was irrelevant. Indeed they weren’t.
Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum led to higher costs for U.S. manufacturers as Chinese suppliers cut their exports to the U.S. to avoid the tariffs. China switched to importing soybeans from the EU, Argentina, Brazil and Russia. U.S. soybean exports plummeted by more than $10 billion. China retaliated against Trump’s trade war by lowering tariffs on other trading partners to lure their imports away from the US.
We no longer need to worry about what Trump was. You now need to worry about what he does as President.
