Donald Trump

Donald John Trump, Sr. , is a pro-Russian American businessman, rapist, reality-TV host, four times indicted criminal, convicted felon,Alex Woodward (May 30, 2024). "Trump makes history as first criminally convicted former US president". The Independent. and conspiracy theorist who was the 45th President of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and is currently the 47th President of the United States after winning the 2024 election. He is an adjudicated liar,Federal judge finds that Trump lied under oath about voter fraud in Georgia while trying to overturn the 2020 election results by Sonam Sheth (Oct 19, 2022, 5:01 PM PDT) Business Insider. adjudicated rapist:Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll by Aaron Blake (July 19, 2023) The Washington Post. yes, he's a sadistic "sick fuck",What Biden *really* says about Trump behind closed doors by Jonathan Lemire et al. (02/01/2024 05:37 PM EST) Politico. and the first convicted felon to be elected President of the United States. He is the pioneer and namesake of Trumpism, an American fascist movement that still holds power and influence to this day. Due to his involvement in an attempted self-coup after losing reelection, he has the infamous dishonor of being the first president in American history impeached and acquitted twice by the House of Representatives,President Trump becomes first president to be impeached twice. BBC News. with the most bipartisan impeachment standing in US history.Was Trump Impeached With More Votes Than Any Other US President? Snopes.In the Senate, the vote to convict him was 57–43. While annoyingly not enough for rightful conviction, it still had the largest proportion of opposition voting to convict than ever before. Damn.
More proof of his self-described "very stable genius"Trump again labels himself a ‘very stable genius’ The Hill. comes from his public life and career reading like a Greatest Hits album of everything wrong with American society. Once tweeting a quote by radio host Wayne Allyn Root, who called Trump the "Chosen One and the King of Israel",'I am the chosen one': Trump again plays on messianic claims as he embraces 'King of Israel' by Sarah Pulliam Bailey (August 21, 2019 at 12:35 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post. he is infamous for being a bizarrely unsuccessful businessman,A look at Trump's most failed businesses, according to his tax records. Business Insider. brash television personality,Trump Lives by Ratings. He Won't Like This One. by Annie Karni (1 April 2019) The New York Times. fascist and neo-Nazi sympathizer,Trump's failure to condemn Virginia neo-Nazis is shocking but not surprising by David Smith (14 August 2017) The Guardian.How the President and Neo-Nazis Work Hand in Hand by Melissa Ryan (31 January 2018) The Progressive.Neo-Nazis and white supremacists celebrate Trump's SOTU: David Duke and Richard Spencer, among others 'thanked' the US president for his address. (31 Jan 2018) Al Jazeera. con artist,How Trump's Ridiculous Fundraising Emails Raked in $250 Million for 'a Fund That Didn’t Exist': The congressional committee on Jan. 6 has zeroed in on Trump's fundraising emails, which target mostly retirees, as the fuel of the Big Lie. by Dell Cameron (June 17, 2022) Gizmodo. honorary Russian Cossack,Trump Named Honorary Russian Cossack (Nov. 10, 2016) The Moscow Times. wrestling personality,Tech Times gives a brief rundown, not to mention the time when "Trump" wrestled "Rosie O'Donnell" in a painful moment for WWE. sexual-assault enthusiast, What History Teaches Us About Demagogues Like the Donald (June 20, 2016 3:05 PM EDT) Time. personality-cult leader,Democrats Need to Wake Up: The Trump Movement Is Shot Through With Fascism by Rich Benjamin (September 27 2020, 4:30 p.m.) The Intercept.Trumpism is American fascism by Michael Gerson (Feb. 1, 2021 at 11:44 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.Trump sneakers and the MAGA uniform: Merchandising fascism to the mainstream: nMAGA merchandise is a way of creating meaning among the faithful just as the walls close in on Donald Trump by Chauncey DeVega (MARCH 15, 2024 5:45AM EDT) Salon. and an aspiring Bob Corker accused Trump supporters of being 'cultish'. He helped create the cult. by Eugene Scott (June 14, 2018 at 9:11 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. Nobel Peace Prize nominee,Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by Eliza Collins (02/03/2016 04:05 PM EST) Politico. and subject of extensive false equivalency.This week should put the nail in the coffin for 'both sides' journalism by Margaret Sullivan (August 16, 2017) The Washington Post.News Coverage of the 2016 General Election: How the Press Failed the Voters by Thomas E. Patterson (December 7, 2016, 5:00 am) Shorenstein Center. Thanks to the confluence of his legendary narcissism and propensity for self-promotion, minimal attempts by his Republican supporters to moderate his malignant impulsivity, and four years at the tiller of perhaps the world's most influential public platform with an itchy Twitter finger, he holds the distinction of having likely told more public (and demonstrable) lies than any other person in human history."Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years", Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post, 24 January 2021"Legacy of lies -- how Trump weaponized mistruths during his presidency", Libby Cathey, ABC News, 20 January 2021"Trump Is Lying More Than Ever: Just Look at the Data", David Markowitz, Forbes, 5 May 2020"Donald Trump", PolitiFact, accessed 7 June 2020"Facts First: The 15 most notable lies of Donald Trump's presidency", Daniel Dale, CNN, 16 January 2021"Trump versus the truth: The most outrageous falsehoods of his presidency", Jane C. Timm, NBC News, 31 December 2020"A Political Obituary for Donald Trump", George Packer, The Atlantic, 9 December 2020"President Trump may be most memorable for his lies", Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 30 October 2020"The Lies of Donald Trump: A Taxonomy", James P. Pfiffner, SSRN, September 17 2018
Elected against all odds, Trump's presidency was an unmitigated disaster. Responsible for numerous human rights violations and outright crimes against humanity, he was condemned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,BBC News, "US election: Trump presidency 'dangerous', says UN rights chief", 12 October 2016. for taking migrant children from their parents at the Mexican border and putting them in literal cages.Trump Tried to Blur Responsibility for His Family Separation Policy in Final Debate. New York Times.New documents reveal chaos behind Trump's family separation policy. CBS News. His inflammatory rhetoric, defense of his antagonistic or outright homicidal supporters,"Trump defends supporters accused in deadly clashes," BBC News endorsement of police killings on leftists,"“There has to be retribution”: Trump’s chilling comments about extrajudicial killings, briefly explained," Aaron Rupar, Vox bragging that his government assassinated leftists and antifascists (and heavily implying under his direct orders),"Trump Boasts About U.S. Marshals Killing ‘Antifa’ Suspect," Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post"Trump Brags About U.S. Marshals Killing an Antifa Activist in Violent Raid," Molly Olmstead, Slate"Trump Boasts About Federal Task Force Killing Anti-Fascist Wanted for Murder in Portland," Robert Mackey, The Intercept"Donald Trump Sounds So Happy Describing How His Government Killed a Man," Tim Murphy, Mother Jones"Trump gloats about US Marshals' killing of Portland 'antifa' suspect," Jason Hanna and Josh Campbell, CNN"President Trump boasts of law enforcement who killed Portland protester: They didn’t want to arrest him," Ryan Haas, OPB"Trump Endorses Extrajudicial Executions: Killing of Antifa Suspect Was Retribution," Daniel Politi, Slate and vicious scapegoating of minorities directly inspired multiple acts of violence,"Violence in the name of Trump," Jon Swaine and Juweek Adolphe, The Guardian"'No Blame?' ABC News finds 54 cases invoking 'Trump' in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults," Mike Levine, ABCNews including against political rivals"Trump posted what he said was Obama’s address, prosecutors say. An armed man was soon arrested there," Eric Tucker, Denver Post and their relatives,"Pelosi attacker was immersed in 2020 election conspiracies," Jeremy B White, Politico and even actual politically-motivated murders by his supporters,Trump's hate map, America's Voice"Donald Trump is the accelerant," Fabiola Cineas Vox even against people unconnected to Trump."Man suspected of gunning down reputed mob boss mistook him as 'deep state' figure," David Li, ABC News
For many, his presidency could be summed up by a very simple phrase: "the cruelty is the point."Serwer, Adam (October 3, 2018). "The Cruelty Is the Point". The Atlantic. Nothing mattered to Trump or his supporters more than crushing any and all opposition. Not pride, convenience, practicality, nor pragmatism, just pure unadulterated suffering. All of this would lead to predictable results.
Following the inglorious end of his presidency, Trump gained the dubious honor of becoming the only former US president to ever face criminal charges, and later the first ever former President to be convicted of any crime. Presently, he is indicted in two cases, both relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results (resulting in the 2021 U.S. coup attempt)."Trump charged by Justice Department for efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss" by Eric Tucker, AP News, 1 August 2023Georgia charges Trump, former advisers in 2020 election case, Andy Sullivan, Joseph Ax and Sarah N. Lynch, Reuters 14 August 2023 He was also charged with espionage due to mishandling classified documents, but a biased Republican judge threw the case out on a technicality.Dismissal of Trump Documents Case Brings New Scrutiny to Judge With a History of Unorthodox Decisions, The New York Times. 15 July 2024.
After being indicted in a 4th criminal case for illegally forging business records after paying hush money to a porn star, on May 30, 2024, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts, with all charges elevated to a felony due to being part of a conspiracy to corruptly influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election."Former President Trump is found guilty in historic New York criminal case" by Ximena Bustillo and Andrea Bernstein, NPR, 2024 May 30
Separately, on February 16, 2024, Trump lost a civil fraud trial in New York and was ordered to pay a $355 million penalty. In addition, the judge () imposed a three year ban on Trump and his adult sons from serving in top leadership roles at any New York company (including his own)."Trump Ordered to Pay $355 Million and Barred From New York Business" By Jonah E. Bromwich and Ben Protess, New York Times, 2024 February 16 In another case, he was found liable for sexual abuse against a woman in the 1990s.E Jean Carroll: Jury finds Trump sexually abused writer in NY department store, BBC News. 10 May 2023.
To the surprise of no-one, he claims that all of those indictments and convictions were nothing more than a political witch-hunt and that he did no wrong.
Despite being a rapist and convicted felon, Trump won the election for US president in 2024 on an ALL-CAPS law-and-order/white supremacist/fascist/climate change denialist, anti-LGBTQ+ platform, the "build the wall", "stop migrant invasion", ending urban blight, fighting foreign drug cartels, "Great Iron Dome Missile Defense", (highly-unlikelyThe 2017 Trump Tax Law Was Skewed to the Rich, Expensive, and Failed to Deliver on Its Promises by Chuck Marr et al. (June 13, 2024) Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.) "large tax cuts for workers", and ending incentives to purchase electric vehicles.Platform Donald J. Trump. This makes him to be the first convicted felon to be elected president.
==But first…==
Some insight into Trump can be gleaned from his past. Indeed, he was raised by a literal sociopath and a complete racistToo Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump (2020) Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1982141468., but that doesn't answer the full question. Trump couldn't just sail into power in a hypothetical, politically stable America. Of course, there is some history prior to the rise of Trump in the United States, which clarifies the picture:
===Going back a few decades===
Despite the party's origins, mid-20th-century Republicans believed they could improve their electoral odds by winning the South. Barry Goldwater first accomplished this in the 1964 US Presidential election, sweeping the Deep South.1964 electoral map for your reference. He managed this primarily because of his record voting against anti-racism legislation, whereas incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson campaigned for civil-rights expansion. This proved to the Republican Party that they can win the South, and when your next nominee is the Tricky Dick himself, anything for votes! While Nixon initially failed to win the Deep South,The Deep South was instead won by openly pro-segregation former governor of Alabama George Wallace, who was running under the American Independent Party. he succeeded in 1972 when he destroyed However, this was only the beginning of the GOP's rapid descent.
Enter Ronald Reagan, working alongside racist ratfucker, Lee Atwater, who started his 1984 presidential campaign in fucking Mississippi.SEVEN THINGS ABOUT RONALD REAGAN YOU WON’T HEAR AT THE REAGAN LIBRARY GOP DEBATE, The Intercept His Reaganomics genius,He actually did raise taxes a few times after, but don't tell the Republicans that. anti-fact social conservative mentality, and perfection of dog-whistle politicsand when no one's listening, he blows the horn loud massively accelerated the rightward shift already imposed by the Southern Strategy, which Reagan himself used to get elected.
==Scummy business==
===Complete incompetence===
It's always been a bit of a mystery just how much Trump buys into his own bullshit. He estimates his net worth at "OVER TEN BILLION", which is impossible for him to prove, but also impossible for anyone to disprove.Our favorite is when Romney called him out as a fellow politician and a businessman. Trump put on a freaking infomercial showcasing Trump Magazine, Trump Steaks, and Trump Wine/Vodka – most of which are fake in one way or another. The steaks were probably bought from a local butcher since they are no longer sold anywhere. The magazine he referenced was a different one from the one Romney said had failed. It has basically no distribution, existing only as a table decoration for one of his resorts. He's like that Tai Lopez guy in the YouTube ads bragging about his library and his cars; he needs to maintain the illusion to keep his business going. This isn’t just based on his assets (which are not terribly liquid), but also how he feels about his worth daily.Newsweek: How much Trump is worth? Depends on how he feels. In truth, the record shows a middling businessman with many structural advantages, who came out on top because of how rigged the system is.Because, if there's any business where the owners can't control income and expenditures, and where cash flow is at a trickle, IT'S A CASINO! It's not hard to make a lot of money in New York real estate, especially when your rich daddy gives you a big head start. In fact, over time, it becomes practically impossible to lose money.Campbell, Colin, "DONALD TRUMP: 'My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars'", Business Insider (10/26/15, 9:23 AM). He received a "small loan of a million dollars" (pocket change, really) from his multi-millionaire real estate developer father, who was named – this is a fact – Frederick Christ Trump. This is relevant to his claim that he can do an exceptional job of running the US government, since he hasn't been truly tested in a situation with no fawning yes-men or training wheels. Oh fuck.
Really, the Trump Brand still exists and is fiscally solvent because of his daughter Ivanka.D'Antonio, Michael, "The Quiet Power Behind the Trump Throne", 10/15/15. Supposedly, his sons are both dumbasses, but she is scarily intelligent. It was her idea to start selling off the name in exchange for royalties without putting up the capital costs of construction and running a property; Donald originally opposed this, but it is now the cornerstone of the company, since it's effectively free money. In 2016, Ivanka was apparently worried about damage to the Trump brand, trying to spin out a separate sub-brand; she's the one who staged a family intervention and convinced dad to fire his campaign manager.Drexler, Peggy, "Lewandowski firing: Power of Ivanka?", CNN (6/20/16, Updated 8:04 PM ET). He obviously resisted firing Corey for a long time. According to CNN, his own daughter (the only competent member in the family) had to threaten to leave the campaign to get him to do it.
Trump's record on predicting economic trends is also laughably lousy:Andrew Kaczynski and Christopher Massie, "Sad! Money: Trump's Many Incorrect Predictions On The Economy", Buzzfeed (Apr. 4, 2016, at 1:30 p.m.).
*In 1999, he predicted an economic crash worse than the Great Depression.
*Then, in 2001, he reversed his position and claimed the US market was strong right before a minor recession hit.
*In 2005, he claimed the real estate market was strong and followed this up with the launching of "Trump Mortgage" in 2006. Trump Mortgage subsequently went out of business when the housing market crashed the next year.
*In 2011, he predicted massive inflation, suggesting the price of a loaf of bread would soon be $25.
===Criminal connections===
His connections with mob figures run deep, according to journalist Wayne Barrett; they're mostly associated with his casino and huge erections, not exclusively limited to buildings."Donald Trump and the mob" by Chris Frates (Updated 12:37 PM ET, Fri July 31, 2015) CNN'.Blaze Destroyed Trump Testimony For Roy Cohn: Lawyer's disbarment records lost in 2015 fire May 17, 2016 The Smoking Gun.Former Mafia-linked figure describes association with Trump by Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger (May 17, 2016) The Washington Post. In 2015, it was revealed Trump was involved with Colombo crime family figures during the making of Trump's first name-branded product: a Cadillac limousine in 1988.Trump Limos Were Built With A Hood Ornament: Developer's first licensing deal was with New York Mafia figure (September 22, 2015) The Smoking Gun. Trump will never willingly release his tax returns, and Ted Cruz suggests those returns could show the extent of his mob dealings."Cruz suggests Trump has Mafia ties". New York Post. 28 February 2016. Trump and some of his spawn have been named as material witnesses in a massive tax-avoidance scheme by mob-connected Felix Sater.Trump And Family 'Material Witnesses' To Huge Tax Avoidance Scheme By Mobbed-Up Partner. Huh! by Doktor Zoom (July 15, 2016 - 12:20pm) Wonkette. As an aside, it has been reported that Trump himself paid no income taxes in 1978, 1979, 1984, 1992, and 1994.New Evidence Donald Trump Didn't Pay Taxes by David Cay Johnston (06.14.16 10:00 PM ET) The Daily Beast.
The tax schemes have apparently caught up with the Trumps: in 2018, The New York Times accused Trump and his siblings of engaging in vast tax fraud beginning in the 1990s based on confidential tax returns and financial records.Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father by David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner (Oct. 2, 2018) The New York Times. Following the Times' report, New York state tax officials began their own investigation into these allegations.New York state tax department reviewing fraud allegations involving Trump in NYT article by Brian Schwartz (October 2, 2018) CNBC.
Trump's connections to organized crime, according to Politico, date to shortly after his earliest forays into Manhattan real estate.Just What Were Donald Trump's Ties to the Mob? I've spent years investigating, and here's what's known by David Cay Johnston (May 22, 2016) Politico Magazine. Trump made friends with Roy Cohn, formerly Joseph McCarthy's legal counsel during the McCarthy Senate hearings, but who by then was a mob lawyer. Cohn likely introduced Trump to Genovese crime boss In his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback, Trump denied that there was any association between asbestos exposure and cancer, stating "I believe that the movement against asbestos was led by the mob, because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal. Great pressure was put on politicians, and as usual, the politicians relented."Donald Trump Called Asbestos Poisoning a Mob-Led Conspiracy, Now His EPA Won't Evaluate Asbestos Already in Homes by Nicole Goodkind (6/7/18 at 6:10 AM) Newsweek.Trump: The Art of the Comeback by Donald J. Trump & Kate Bohner (1997) Times Books. ISBN 0812929640. pp. 83-84. Ironically, it was Trump's hiring of organized crime-controlled companies that enabled his demolition contractor to hire the illegal workers that were exposed to asbestos.The Many Times Donald Trump Has Lied About His Mob Connections: He apparently lied under oath to deny he associated with organized crime figures by David Corn (Sep. 23, 2016, 5:00 AM) Mother Jones. Trump was still pushing asbestos denialism in 2018 via his EPA director Scott Pruitt, who announced that the EPA would cease evaluating asbestos hazards in the environment. This is some four decades after the last known time that the asbestos industry itself engaged in denialism.New Data on Asbestos Indicate Cover-Up of Effects on Workers by Bill Richards (November 12, 1978) The Washington Post.
In 1979, Trump hired a demolition contractor to take down the building on the site of the future Trump Tower. The contractor used undocumented, non-union Polish workers who were exposed to asbestos.Donald Trump Denies Dangers of Asbestos, Promotes Its Strength October 9, 2015, Sokolove Law Though the site was a union site, there was no picket because it was a mob-controlled union; Trump was fully aware that the Polish workers were in the country illegally. It came out in 2017 after a judge released the documents that he paid $1.4 million to settle the resulting class-action lawsuit.Donald Trump Paid $1.4 Million in a Dispute Over Undocumented Workers. Read the Newly Unsealed Legal Papers Time. November 28, 2017 Trump used overpriced concrete from companies controlled by Salerno and Gambino family crime boss to build Trump Tower and Trump Plaza. In fairness, though, the mob essentially controlled the entire construction industry in NYC at that time, so whether he can be blamed for this is debateable.
When Trump sought to build casinos in Atlantic City in 1982, he could hide his mob connections by persuading the New Jersey Attorney General John Degnan to only investigate him for the prior six months. At least one Trump company has been exposed as having ties to international money laundering from an ex-Soviet Union state,Dirty money: Trump and the Kazakh connection: FT probe finds evidence a Trump venture has links to alleged laundering network by Tom Burgis (October 19, 2016) Financial Times. and it has been speculated that the Trump casinos may have been used for laundering before bankruptcy.Did @RealDonaldTrump engage in extended/massive money laundering? by A Siegel (2017/01/08 · 16:18) Dail Kos. Trump bought land in Atlantic City at an inflated price from hitmen connected to of the as well as purchasing or leasing other land that likely benefitted the Scarfo mob.
In 1994, Trump was videoed having a conversation with Robert LiButti, an associate of the infamous "Teflon Don" New Jersey’s Most Notorious Gamblers: Robert LiButti by Marty Derbyshire. NJ Online Gambling.Video Shows Donald Trump With Alleged Mobster He Denied Knowing by Jennifer Bendery. The Huffington Post. Although Trump denied personally knowing LiButti, LiButti's daughter says her father was a personal friend of Trump and was granted personal use of Trump's private helicopter, and that Trump was invited to her 35th birthday party.Trump challenged over ties to mob-linked gambler with ugly past by Michael Isikoff. Yahoo News. LiButti was also a regular at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, which received a hefty fine in 1991 for having shuffled black and female casino workers to keep them away from LiButti, a noted racist.Casino Fined $200,000 For Moving Black and Female Dealers For High Roller by Henry Stern. Associated Press. He was convicted of tax fraud the same year he and Trump were seen together,Mob Ally's Daughter: Trump Was Close to My Dad by Gabrielle Levy. USNews. so you can see why Trump liked him so much.
A Saudi prince claims he bailed Trump out twice when the mogul got into financial difficulties. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal bought up a private yacht that Trump was forced to cede to creditors during the 1990s and later helped buy a NYC hotel when Trump was short of funds a second time. Said Saud is now embarrassed by the association."Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Trolls Trump: 'I Bailed You Out Twice'". msn.com.Emma Graham-Harrison. "Donald Trump is a disgrace to his country, says billionaire Saudi prince". The Guardian.
On January 1, 2017, Trump hosted and appeared on stage with at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.Trump hosted 'small-time mobster' Joey 'No Socks' Cinque at New Year's party. Joseph Cinque – reportedly a convicted felon who bestows hospitality awards, often to Trump – was seen at president-elect's New Year's bash at Mar-a-Lago by Lauren Gambino (Tuesday 3 January 2017 13.52 EST) The Guardian. Cinque is a Gambino crime family affiliate who was convicted of felony possession of a trove of stolen artwork.
At the end of his presidency, Trump ally Roger Stone presented him with a list of people, convicted and otherwise, who he felt Trump should grant presidential pardons to.Draft letter from Roger Stone to Donald Trump Documentcloud. The list included Colombo family figures Michael Sessa and Victor Orena (who were involved in the family's labor racketeering and general misconductUnited States v. Sessa, 821 F. Supp. 870 (E.D.N.Y. 1993), Justia), million-dollar drug dealerConvicted Drug Distributor Robinson: “I Sold to Everybody” Thoroughbred Daily News. Scott Robinson (whom Stone said had "busted [his] ass" helping Trump to get elected), and leader Demetrius Flenory, whom Stone advocated pardoning in order to win favour within the black community. Although no pardons ever materialised for anyone on the list, Trump was evidently willing to consider helping organised crime figures in order to score political points against Biden.
At a photo op in 2022, Trump was seen with former Mafia hitman although it's unclear whether Trump knew who he was.New Trump photo with mobster surfaces a day after outrage over ex-mob boss photo op. AOL. The DJT has also posed for photos alongside the alleged leader of the Philadelphia crime family who has previous convictions for racketeering and extortion.Trump poses for photograph with convicted mob boss, in a flashback to controversial dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Business Insider.
Trump has lied on numerous occasions about his connections to organized crime, including under oath.The Many Times Donald Trump Has Lied About His Mob Connections: He apparently lied under oath to deny he associated with organized crime figures by David Corn (Sep. 23, 2016, 5:00 AM) Mother Jones.
Trump also was good friends with P Diddy, a now disgraced ex-music mogul indicted for sex trafficking. He even defended Diddy on The Apprentice, calling him a "good guy" during a dialogue with a contestant who indicated the opposite.
To summarise the summary and return to this section's opening quote: Donald Trump's life and career have essentially been one decades-long Gish Gallop through the ethical badlands.
===Golf===
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, the real-life Auric Goldfinger has been trying to build a golf course on (what used to be) a protected wetland habitat in his mother’s native country.Donald Trump's Golfcourse, Ramblers Scotland He tried to have several of his Scottish neighbors evicted, including a local farmer by the name of Michael Forbes, who refused an offer on his property. For this, Forbes was awarded the "Top Scot" award in 2012. His actions were parodied in this song.
Since then, the Scottish government's plans to increase wind turbine capacity (Trump's opposition to which even led to a heated discussion over Twitter with the host of the British version of The Apprentice, Lord Alan Sugar)Donald Trump blasts Lord Alan Sugar in Twitter wind farm spat, The Telegraph have encouraged Trump to cancel his plans, proving once and for all that they are worth every penny. Trump reported to Scottish authorities that he lost millions on the project, whereas in his US presidential disclosure, he claimed that the project was highly profitable.Trump's top example of foreign experience: A Scottish golf course losing millions by Jenna Johnson (June 22 at 2:57 PM) Washington Post.
===Trump University===
Trump University was essentially a diploma mill, a scam in which people were promised an education in real estate by hand-picked experts in exchange for exorbitant "tuition". Salesmen were told to apply high-pressure tactics on vulnerable people. Some students were given instruction on raising their credit card limits to pay, others had to cough up their disability money, etc.Stuart, Tessa, "Meet the Trump University Teacher at Center of Class-Action Suit", Rolling Stones 6.3.16. In return, they received bare-bones real estate education from people Trump never even met, though he was very much involved in the marketing aspects.Tales from the Trump University legal vault by Maggie Severns (03/03/16 12:54 PM EST) Politico. He got a cut in return for these "institutions" being allowed to use his name.Zadronsky, Brandy, "What Trump Knew About 'Kardashian U'", Daily Beast (5/23/16 at 10:13 PM ET).
An even bigger issue lies with the name Trump University itself and its claims to offer certain degrees: graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral. This is in violation of New York law, which requires you to obtain a charter to call yourself a university. In 2014, the New York Supreme Court held that Trump was personally liable for running an unlicensed school and making false promises through his "university", the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative;Trump University changed its name to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative during its last year of operations.State educrats give failing grade to Donald Trump's 'misleading' Trump University by Douglas Feiden (Thursday, April 15, 2010, 11:27 PM) New York Daily News. Congratulations, you've just earned a degree from Trump University. It's just as useless as it sounds.New York judge finds Donald Trump liable for unlicensed school by Karen Freifeld (Thu Oct 16, 2014, 4:14 pm EDT) Reuters. this was confirmed by the testimony of a former salesperson and the court-released "Trump University Playbook".Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman and Dalton Bennett, "Donald Trump said 'university' was all about education. Actually, its goal was: 'Sell, sell, sell!'", WaPo (7/4/16 at 4:52 PM).Trump University 2010 Playbook. Ein Volk. Ein Reich. Ein Führer. One Company. One Culture. One Goal.Declaration of Ronald Schnackenberg in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification United States District Court, Southern California District, Case 3:13-cv-02519-GPC-WVG. About 8000 former students sued Trump U. in two separate class-action lawsuits, one of which involved the (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.Trump University's ex-students give enterprise a failing grade by Nanette Asimov (March 10, 2016 Updated: March 10, 2016 9:52am) San Francisco Chronicle. "If the Democratic Party hasn't recruited a group of disgruntled Trump University students to film a commercial, they should be sued for malpractice." — Republican Bill Whalen a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution In August 2016, Judge Curiel ruled that Trump must face a civil trial for fraud and racketeering under RICO, which automatically requires triple damages.Judge Curiel Rules Trump Must Face Trial for Racketeering in Trump University Suit by Frank DiPrima (2016/08/02 · 19:34) Daily Kos.
This is the case in which Trump attacked a “Mexican” judge's ancestry (he's actually from Indiana) because he made a judgment Trump didn't like.East, Kristen, "Trump attacks 'Mexican' judge in Trump U lawsuit", Politico (05/28/16 09:55 AM EDT).THEY'RE NOT SENDING THEIR BEST PEOPLE!! ... oh wait, they are. But all this shows is that Trump is willing to do anything to help us make him realize his American dream, even if it means ruining us financially.
Trump managed to settle the Trump University lawsuits for a fraction of the damages.Donald Trump's pending lawsuits and his presidencyDonald Trump Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Trump University Settlement by Kenneth Lovett & Nancy Dillon (Nov 18, 2016 | 8:35 PM) New York Daily News. No, we're not sure how this works.
===The multilevel marketing company===
In 2009, Trump "partnered" with the founders of Ideal Health International (est. 1997), a multilevel marketing business, rebranding this pyramid scheme as The Trump Network.Quackwatch: "The PrivaTest: Another Scheme to Sell You Something" "Partnering" in this case is just another Trumpian term of art. It was yet another Trump brand rental where he claimed not to be involved with the company's operations, even though he, company representatives and advertising for the network implied there was an actual partnership "that was certain to lift thousands of people into prosperity"; after the brand rental came to an end in 2012, its assets were bought off by a Canadian and rebranded.
The "business", which consisted of selling a urine test device with customized vitamins,Donald Trump's Naturopathic Vitamin and Diet Pyramid Scheme by Taylor Hermes (25 August 2015) Naturopathic Diaries.The Trump Network (May 21, 2009) not only made investors lose money buying the highly overpriced products, but also buying customized infomercials on local TV channels.
===Fraudulent valuations===
In 2019, the former Trump attorney testified in Congress that the Trump Organization manipulated its business asset valuations in order to obtain favorable financial terms (for example, inflating asset values when applying for a loan in order to get favorable treatment, while deflating asset values when reporting to the government in order to reduce real estate taxes.) The manipulation of these valuations was egregious enough to potentially be fraudulent."Cohen said Trump inflated his wealth as an ego booster, but it may have been a crime" by Kara Scannell, CNN, 2019 February 18 Several other media outlets came to the same conclusion after their own investigation."Never-Before-Seen Trump Tax Documents Show Major Inconsistencies" by Heather Vogell, ProPublica, 2019 October 16"How Donald Trump Inflated The Value Of His Los Angeles Land–And Got A Tax Break" by Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes, 2022 February 3 
One particular noteworthy example of this manipulation was Trump's own home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. In financial documents, Trump presented the home to be worth as much as $612 million. In contrast, an outside appraisal put the value of the property as $28 million."How much would your house be worth if the Trump Organization owned it?" by Philip Bump, Washington Post, 2023 September 27
Such raised some major red flags with the newly elected attorney general of New York, who had won the 2018 election in part by vowing to investigate Trump's New York business dealings."The New York AG’s first 100 days of war against Trump" by Sonia Moghe, CNN, 2019 April 10 After a lengthy investigation by James (in part lengthened due to attempts from Trump to stonewall the investigators),"Attorney General James Takes Action to Force Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump to Comply with Ongoing Investigation Into Trump Organization’s Financial Dealings", Office of the New York State Attorney General, 2022 January 18 in 2023, New York sued the Trump Organization, claiming that Trump's valuation manipulations was indeed fraud."Trump inflated his net worth by $2.2 billion, New York AG says in filing" by Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 2023 August 30 
In late September 2023, Manhattan Supreme Court judge concurred, finding that between 2014 and 2021, Trump overvalued his assets to the tune of between $812 million and $2.2 billion. Engoron issued a partial in favor of the state of New York."Ruling Confirms Trump Used Fraud to Hype Property Values" by Heather Vogell, ProPublica, 2023 September 29 A civil trial was set up in October 2023 to determine how much Donald Trump and his business owed in penalties."Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial: What’s at stake?" By Jack Queen, Reuters, 2 October 2023
On February 16 2024, Engoron issued his judgement regarding the penalties. Trump was ordered to pay a fine of $454 million. Engoron also barred Trump for serving as a director or an officer of any New York corporation for three years. Other members of the Trump Organization, including Trump's sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were also issued fines and business leadership bans."Trump ordered to pay $454 million in fines and interest in NY business fraud case" by Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 2024 February 16[https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2024/02/nyag-v-trump-verdict-20240216.pdf "PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, BY LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Plaintiff - v - DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP JR., ERIC TRUMP, ALLEN WEISSELBERG, JEFFREY MCCONNEY, THE
DONALD J. TRUMP REVOCABLE TRUST, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, INC., TRUMP ORGANIZATION LLC, DJT HOLDINGS LLC, DJT HOLDINGS MANAGING MEMBER, TRUMP ENDEAVOR 12 LLC, 401 NORTH WABASH VENTURE LLC, TRUMP OLD POST OFFICE LLC, 40 WALL STREET LLC, SEVEN SPRINGS LLC, Defendants"], Arthur F. Engoron, Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, 2024 February 16
==="Charity"===
thumb|right|250px|As of 2015, Trump owned 30% of the Bank of America building in San Francisco, location of the "Banker's Heart" statue. Apparently, this is where he left his heart.[http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/bankers-heart.html "Bankers Heart"]. Public Art and Architecture from Around the World. [http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Does-Trump-own-Bank-of-America-Building-in-San-6345119.php Does Trump own Bank of America Building in San Francisco?] by Kathleen Pender (June 23, 2015) San Francisco Chronicle.
Donald Trump has been called "the least charitable billionaire in the world".Donald Trump: The Least Charitable Billionaire In The World by Ben Davis (2015) NewsExaminer. Take, for example, his donations to 9/11 charities: $1,000 (his own backyard, no less). The donation went to the anti-psychiatry Scientology front group, the "New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Fund", which was co-founded by Tom Cruise.Trump Made No Donations To 9/11 Charities: Billionaire was a zero in aftermath of terror attack (November 3, 2015) The Smoking Gun."When It Came To September 11 Charity, Billionaire Donald Trump Actually Had His Hand Out", The Smoking Gun 2.17.16. Trump, who owns 40 Wall Street, actually received $150,000 for damages due to 9/11 from a special federal fund earmarked for "small businesses", even though the building wasn't damaged.Feds Gave Donald a Quick Bundle: He's among titans who got 9-11 funds set for small biz by Russ Buettner (Sunday, January 29, 2006, 12:00 AM) New York Daily News.
Many of Trump's larger donations are on their face self-serving, in the form of donations to:Trump: The Least Charitable Billionaire: The Donald is a miser, not an "ardent philanthropist". (April 12, 2011) The Smoking Gun.There's something fishy about Donald Trump's charitable donations by Marcia Dunn (Aug. 2, 2015, 11:04 AM) Business Insider.
*His sons' schools
*Golf-related charitiesDonald Trump's Donations Put Him in Line for Conservation Tax Breaks: Republican front-runner frequently donates development rights for properties, giving him the ability to claim a tax break in return by Richard Rubin (Updated March 10, 2016 10:41 p.m. ET) Wall Street Journal.
*Celebrity-related charities
*Land donations with golf easements
*Asbestos-contaminated land from failed golf-course projects ("Donald J. Trump State Park")Town Board Discusses Trump Park's Dog Park by Plamena Pesheva (June 25, 2010 1:05 am ET) Yorktown-Somers Patch.
To prove his anti-vaxx bona fides, Trump's foundation gave $10,000 to Jenny McCarthy's "charity" Generation Rescue.
As for real charities, Trump has a pattern of stiffing them:Trump's pattern of stiffing charities by Dana Milbank (June 1, 2016) Washington Post.Trump promised millions to charity. We found less than $10,000 over 7 years by David A. Fahrenthold (June 28, 2016) Washington Post. The Donald J. Trump Foundation had actually received more donations from a single other donor (World Wrestling Entertainment) than Trump himself contributed during the period 1990 to 2009 when he gave a paltry $3.7 million. In 2014, Trump personally gave $0 to his own foundation.Donald Trump Still A Miser, Tax Return Shows: Billionaire's foundation again staked by NYC ticket scalper January 15, 2016 The Smoking Gun.
The office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was reported to have been considering an investigation of Trump University just before requesting and receiving a $25,000 political donation from Trump himself.Florida AG asked Trump for donation before nixing fraud case by Jeff Horwitz et al. June 6, 2016 Associated Press. The donation allegedly came illegally from a non-profit Trump family foundation, which is not allowed to make political donations because of its tax status. It's also come out that he may not have been donating the proceeds of several business ventures to charity as he had promised to do, which could amount to fraud. This is aside from the veterans' charity snafu.Fahrenthold, David A., "Four months after fundraiser, Trump says he gave $1 million to veterans group", WaPo 5.24.16. These include Trump U, Trump Vodka, and his new book Crippled America, all high-profile activities with profits supposedly going to benefit charity. The harsh spotlight of a presidential run was suddenly not working out for him.Ben Schreckinger, "Trump's charity claims could violate fraud laws", Politico (06/20/16 05:18 AM EDT ). The Trump Foundation has been illegally soliciting money in the State of New York because it is not registered to do so as required by law.Trump Foundation lacks the certification required for charities that solicit money by David A. Fahrenthold (September 29 at 8:25 PM) Washington Post. On October 3, 2016, the Trump Foundation was ordered to cease and desist fundraising immediately by the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office.Trump Foundation Ordered by New York AG to Stop Fundraising by Katy Tur and Benjy Sarlin (Oct 3, 2016, 1:15 pm ET) NBC News. The charity did not register properly as it should have and investigations by the Washington Post suggested Trump benefited personally from spending by the charity.End NY fundraising, Trump foundation told Additionally, the New York tax-collecting agency opened an investigation in July 2018 into the Trump Foundation, which could result in criminal charges.New York's tax agency opens own probe of Trump Foundation by David A. Fahrenthold (July 20, 2018) The Washington Post.
===Become president, give nothing back===
The question naturally arises, does this have anything to do with his presidency?
Yes! Trump used his office to enrich himself and his associates, retaining ownership of his businesses in violation of the US Constitution.Profiting off the Presidency: Trump’s Violations of the Emoluments Clauses. American Constitution Society. He had the gall to charge the Secret Service for the "privilege" of protecting him,Trump’s businesses have charged the Secret Service more than $1.1 million, including for rooms in a club shuttered for the pandemic. Inquirer. golfed more than 500 times at his own clubs on taxpayer money,500 Visits to Trump golf properties. Citizens for Ethics. and raking in cash from foreign governments through the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC.Trump's Suite of Power. TIME. Trump's businesses brought in $1.9 billion in revenue in the first three years of his presidency.Trump’s businesses bring in $1.9bn in revenue during first three years of presidency, report reveals. The Independent. Perhaps not the most intellectually inspired choice voting for a person who is completely out of touch with ordinary people, but Trump himself hasn't cared about intellectual matters; he is a master in conning people, a skill he frequently operated on during his tenure as president.
====Tax returns====
Donald Trump is the only presidential candidate in decades other than Gerald Ford who hasn’t released his tax returns; Ford published a summary of his instead.Kurt, Daniel. Reviewed by Michael J. Boyle. History of Presidents and Federal Income Tax: What's Normal? Investopedia. Updated August 23, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2022. Trump specifically said he was unable to because he was under an audit at the time, however there is no law preventing somebody from making their tax returns public while also under an audit, Richard Nixon even did so back in 1960.Fact Check: Trump on releasing his tax returns after IRS audit Although the chances of the bill passing are low, Democrats are proposing legislation requiring presidential candidates to release ten years of tax returns. In support of forcing Trump to release his tax returns, the organization Americans for Tax Fairness argued that this would shine a light on the means by which wealthy people evade taxes in general and on Trump's potentially illicit business interests in particular. Trump has been accused of using public office to enhance his private business interests,Get Trump's tax returns, progressive group tells House Dems. NBC News. January 3, 2019. which we can easily see as valid given the above evidence.
According to legal experts, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Trump's ties to Russia, almost certainly had Trump's tax returns. However, he could not release them unless they were relevant to a criminal case.
The New York Times allegedly leaked 10 years of Trump's tax returns in an article in 2020."Long-Concealed Records Show Trump’s Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance" - The New York Times (September 27, 2020). This included a claim that Trump paid $750 in 2016, which matched the exact number that was then discovered by the House Ways and Means Committee to be true. The committee also discovered that in 2020, Trump paid $0 in taxes that year."6 years of Trump tax documents released by House Ways and Means Committee" - ABC News A rather interesting amount of money for an apparently successful millionaire to be paying in taxes, but it gets a bit more interesting to consider the context of why the IRS has been so lenient towards Trump. As it turns out, Charles Rettig, who was Commissioner of Internal Revenue, had undisclosed assets given to him by Trump since 2006."Trump IRS nominee owns property at Trump-branded hotel" - CNN (June 28, 2018). According to CREW, Rettig was earning something to the tune of $100,000-$200,000 a year from 2018 to 2020 from Trump International Waikiki units."Trump’s IRS chief has made hundreds of thousands from Trump properties while in office" - Citizens for Ethics The IRS did not complete a single audit into Donald Trump during his first term."Watchdog Calls for Investigation Into IRS Over Repeated Failure to Audit Trump" - Truthout
==Rhetoric, deceit, mental health and overall behaviour==
Donald Trump is notorious for his rabble-rousing and inflammatory, pernicious rhetoric, especially as used toward his political opponents and journalists. He frequently uses coarse language, and has the verbal ability of a grade-schooler on a broken record: no big bad words or nuance. This makes a dangerously convincing combo with the power of repetition, especially when Trump speaks to his audience's racist, antisemitic,Trump attacks American Jews, posting they must ‘get their act together’ on Israel by Rosalind S. Helderman (October 16, 2022) The Washington Post.Trump’s long history of trafficking in antisemitic tropes by Aaron Blake (October 17, 2022) The Washington Post. xenophobic, or sexist insecurities. This is why people claim that he says it "as it is" when he does nothing of the sort. In fact, the incoherent and often perfidious way he talks (such as labeling news he dislikes "fake news"Trump doesn't believe his own damaging rants about 'fake news' by Margaret Sullivan (February 4, 2019) The Washington Post.) muddies understanding of his real thoughts and is open to interpretation; it also frequently sets off political fact-checkers like Politifact, FactCheck.org, and Snopes. For instance, his claims that "when Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best" and "they're animals" set off a debate over which group he's really referring to. His poor English is exacerbated when other countries try translating what he's saying.Pour les traducteurs, Trump est un casse-tête inédit et désolant by Bérengère Viennot (14 décembre 2016 à 6h58) Slate.Donald Trump confuses French translators with mixed-up speeches: 'Trump’s vocabulary is limited, his syntax is broken; he repeats the same phrases over and over' by Chloe Farand (21 January 2017 20:30) The Independent
Psychologists at the University of Texas and Princeton University studied over three million texts dating back to 1789, belonging to political leaders of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus news stories, books, movie subtitles, and cable news transcript. They noticed a clear trend of politicians speaking more simply but with greater confidence. Donald Trump accelerated that trend. In fact, he ranks first on confidence, but last on analytical thinking compared to all other U.S. presidents. John Quincy Adams topped the U.S. chart with just under 99 points in analytical speech, while Trump scored only 16 in a 2015 debate. The average for U.S. presidents is 90, with everyone other than Trump and Barack Obama scoring above 70. In speaking with confidence, Trump's score is 89; the average for U.S. presidents is 64.Trump's speech: Less analytical, more sure than predecessors. Associated Press. February 11, 2019. Accessed February 14, 2019.
The Harvard Republican Club refused to endorse Trump, which is the first time in 128 years they would not endorse the Republican candidate. "He isn't eschewing political correctness. He is eschewing basic human decency.""Flirtations with fascism" Butterflies and Wheels.
Trump thinks that slurs are "just words".Back to Videos Trump Responds To 2005 Tape: "It's Just Words, Folks, Just Words" - RealClearPolitics
Perhaps the most enduring phrase from Trump's 2016 has been his slogan, Make America Great Again. While Trump claimed to have coined the phrase, the similar Let's Make America Great Again was famously the slogan of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, and the phrase was also used in speeches by Bill Clinton in 1992.Margolin, Emma. 'Make America Great Again'—Who Said It First? 2016 Election. NBC News. September 9, 2016.
===Compulsion to lie===
Trump's near-total disdain for the truth has been characterized as either gaslighting everyone he speaks to,What we talk about when we talk about Donald Trump and 'gaslighting' by Caitlin Gibson (January 27 at 1:25 PM) The Washington Post. or as pathological lying,Trump just proved he's a pathological liar. Which part is worse: The lying or the pathology? by Tom Toles (November 28, 2016) The Washington Post.Bernie Sanders: Donald Trump is 'pathological liar': 'He changes his mind every single day' by Ben Kentish (Friday 9 December 2016) The Independent.Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year. by Glenn Kessler (Jan. 23, 2021 at 3:35 p.m. PST) The Washington Post. though not in a clinical sense.We Asked a Psychologist Whether Donald Trump Is a Pathological Liar by Celeste Katz (May 04, 2016) Mic. His gaslighting also forms part of the full-spectrum of DARVO (deny, attack, reverse victim and offender) behavior, and shows up as his unwarranted and perpetual expressions of victimhood.Deny, attack, reverse – Trump has perfected the art of inverted victimhood: Trump tries to undermine allegations against him by attacking his accusers, sowing confusion and painting himself as a martyr by Sidney Blumenthal (1 Feb 2024 15.09 EST) The Guardian.
The alarming nature of Trump's behavior after the 2016 election led psychologists to break the so-called Goldwater rule of the American Psychiatric Association's code of ethics which rejects a clinical analysis of an individual who is not a member's patient. In 2017, John D. Gartner, a psychotherapist who formerly taught at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, has explicitly broken the rule without caveat to warn the public of Trump's dangerousness.Temperament Tantrum: Some say President Donald Trump's personality isn't just flawed, it's dangerous by Olive Murphy (Jan. 27, 2017, at 6:00 a.m.) U.S. News & World Report. Gartner said, "Donald Trump is dangerously mentally ill and temperamentally incapable of being president." Gartner diagnosed that Trump has an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, aggression, and sadism. Many other mental health professionals have also expressed their concern over Trump's mental state.Harvard professor says there are 'grave concerns' about Donald Trump's mental stability: 'An apparent inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality leads us to question his fitness for the immense responsibilities of the office' by Lucy Pasha-Robinson (Sunday 18 December 2016) The Independent.8,000+ mental health professionals tell Sen. Schumer Trump is mentally ill and must be removed by Hal Brown (2017/01/30 · 06:57) Daily Kos.Citizen Therapists Against Trumpism Dr. Allen Frances, the chair of the DSM-IV taskforce, the one that wrote the definition of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), stated that while Trump "may be a world-class narcissist", he does not have NPD.An Eminent Psychiatrist Demurs on Trump's Mental State by Allen Frances (February 15, 2017) The New York Times.The psychiatrist who wrote the definition of narcissistic personality disorder says Trump doesn't have it: Calling the president 'mentally ill' is an insult to people who have genuine conditions, says Professor Allen Frances by Harry Cockburn (Thursday 16 February 2017 07:43 GMT) The Independent. Dr. Allen went further to state, "He can, and should, be appropriately denounced for his ignorance, incompetence, impulsivity and pursuit of dictatorial powers."
===Mental health issues===
By 2019, Gartner has called for a professional examination of Trump's mental health because of apparent worsening of Trump's speech patterns that could indicate dementia: confusing people and generations, semantic paraphasia, and tangential speech.Trump's cognitive deficits seem worse. We need to know if he has dementia: Psychologist by John Gartner (Published 3:15 p.m. ET April 9, 2019 | Updated 4:13 p.m. ET April 9, 2019) USA Today.
Later, he totally did not have a series of mini-strokes before his unexpected visit to Walter Reed Medical Center.Reports, Trump tweet about 'mini strokes' spark speculation about president's health: What we know by Jeanine Santucci & Savannah Behrmann (Sept. 2, 2020) USA Today.
In February 2024, when Joe Biden was still likely to be standing the following November, Gartner once more called attention to Trump's frequent paraphasias, calling Trump "dangerously demented."Dr. John Gartner on a tale of two brains: "Biden's brain is aging. Trump's brain is dementing": "This is a fundamental breakdown in the ability to use language," the renowned mental health expert says of Trump by Chauncey DeVega (February 23, 2024 5:45AM EST) Salon. Gartner stated:
Examples given by Gartner and psychologist Vincent Greenwood for Trump's recent paraphasias are:Dr. John Gartner: The world is watching "a fundamental breakdown in Trump’s ability to use language": Experts say Trump's decline may be "caused by his incapacity to manage the stress caused by multiple indictments" by Chauncey DeVega (March 7, 2024 5:45AM EST) Salon.
But from this one can see there were earlier signs of dementia as evidenced from paraphasias during Trump's presidency. In 2017, "coverage" became "covfefe".A brief history of ‘covfefe’ by Chris Cillizza (11:18 AM EDT, Fri April 29, 2022) CNN. ("Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe'??? Enjoy!" he later tweeted."Who can figure out the real meaning of 'covfefe'??? Enjoy!" - @realdonaldtrump (3:09 AM - 31 May 2017). Archived.)
In 2018, the countries Nepal, Bhutan and Namibia became "nipple", "button" and "nambia".Trump Thought There Was a Country Called “Nipple” by Bess Levin (August 13, 2018) Vanity Fair.
===HS quarterback===
A significant Overton window shift has been anyone believing that Donald Trump is "anti-establishment".His life's work has been about creating things and spaces exclusively for the wealthy. Trump Tower – the way the interior is laid out – is probably actually a perfect illustration of how Trump thinks about politics: he thinks about the American Dream in terms of creating opportunities for people to ride in gold-plated elevators (there are literally gold-plated elevators). This might also explain something about his preoccupation with China. Liberals and conservatives are just wired differently. Republicans generally respond better to displays of strength and forthrightness, whereas Democrats typically respond better to bipartisanship and compassion.Sargent, Greg, "Morning Plum: Democrats want compromise. Republicans don't. That's bad for Democrats.", WaPo 11.14.14. For better or worse, Trump looks at life like buying a used car. You go in with bluster and threaten to walk if they don't give you what you want.
With that in mind, it's no surprise that the candidate with the best “tell it like it is” game on Twitter and in debates won. It's a strategy in touch with the perceptions of the GOP base. Many still think that Romney had the general election sealed up, but choked. (In truth, Romney failed because he couldn't even build up a coalition of his fellow Republicans, with near sixty percent of them opposing him when he got the nomination.It’s Romney, the GOP Candidate Opposed by 59 Percent of Republicans The Republican base was unable to see past their visceral and totally-not-racist hatred of Obama to recognize that to the rest of the country, he was a popular incumbent and thus their party's chances in the 2012 election were always a longshot.) It's why Don's portrayal of his opponents as boring, dumb, nerdy,Engel, Pamela, "Donald Trump taunts Jeb Bush for ditching his glasses in favor of contacts", Business Insider (2/17/16, 11:40 AM). losers,Bump, Phillip, "Losers: A list by Donald Trump", WaPo 8.8.15. low-energy,Wilstein, Matt, "CNN Helps Trump Brand Jeb Bush as 'Low Energy'" Mediate (9/8/15 6:26 pm). chokersMerda, Chad, "Trump on Romney: 'He just choked, choked like a dog'", Chicago Sun Times. or "choke artists"Donald Trump Calls Mitt Romney 'Irrelevant' 'Choke Artist' by Paola Chavez & Veronica Stracqualursi (Mar 3, 2016, 2:40 PM ET) ABC News. has been so effective.
In the minds of the base, it's never been the case that the country has become more progressive, or that 12 years of Bushes were more regime change and Reaganomics than voters ever wanted. Nope, the perception is that McCain, Romney, Bush, Rubio – these candidates all “choked”, in concert with the American people wanting them all to be President but just not knowing it yet. They're all presumed guilty of giving the country two more Democratic terms based on supposed personal and strategic failures, never on a disconnect between what voters wanted and what these candidates were selling. The RNC propping up Romney (again!) in opposition to Trump shows that they can't even grasp this basic fact about their own voters.
===Idiocracy, the ass-clown===
Trump is neither an intellectual nor someone interested in deep thought or reading, both of which are crucial when running a country. Indeed, he has been accused by many of being the Dunning–Kruger effect incarnate,Pressler, J. Donald Trump, the Dunning-Kruger President. The Cut. January 9, 2017. Thomas, J. Donald Trump Is The 'Dunning-Kruger' President For A 'Dunning-Kruger' Age. The Intellectualist. January 30, 2019. Purtill, C. This psychological quirk could explain why Trump's least experienced lawyer feels so confident. Quartz. March 30, 2018. DeVega, C. One year later: How do we resist Donald Trump's malignant reality? Salon.com. November 14, 2017. and it becomes rather hard to argue when David Dunning himself tends to agree.Dunning, D. The Psychological Quirk That Explains Why You Love Donald Trump. Politico Magazine. May 25, 2016. 
Trump is quintessentially an ass-clown, part asshole and part buffoon.A Taxonomy of the Ass-Clown: On Donald Trump: Showman, Salesman, and Major Bullshitter by Aaron James (May 25, 2016) Literary Hub.Donald Trump, Ass-Clown by Scott McLemee (10.03.2016) Jacobin. Given that Trump would much prefer being recognized as the unapologetic asshole and that he hates being laughed at,Trump: And, they laughed at me. I hate when people laugh at me. I hate it. I hate it. by @Acyn () X (archived from 28 Jul 2024 16:55:03 UTC). it is far better to laugh at his stupidity at every chance possible.How to confront authoritarianism? With joy and unity. These 10 principles could create a cross-partisan alliance and help the Harris campaign. by Jennifer Rubin (July 28, 2024 at 7:45 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post. Humor provides a powerful means of confronting authoritarians: authoritarians such as Trump come to power by creating fear, and consequently cannot stand to be laughed at.Not Just a Punchline: Humor and Nonviolent Action: How Comedy Can Provide Relief and Promote Resistance in Authoritarian Environments by Adam Gallagher & Anthony Navone (May 16, 2019) United States Institute of Peace.
===Unclear yet present danger===
Human beings are really bad at processing information that falls outside of their heuristics and reconciling information that seems contradictory on the surface-level. Consequently, if a candidate does not fall squarely into one of the two buckets we associate with politics – "conservatism" and "liberalism" – then he must be in the middle, despite not logically fitting as a "moderate" in any sense. And because many people subconsciously believe in the golden mean, Trump is using the same strategy almost every authoritarian populist has used to craft a successful coalition: pair radical ideas from one end of the spectrum with ones that either come from the other extreme end or are appealing for their "moderation". For example, pair your extreme views on immigration with opposition to trade or rhetoric opposing "hedge fund guys" and other selected wealthy capitalists who are unpopular across the board. This becomes a net win for Trump. He "tells it like it is" or "calls out both sides".
Donald is an empty suit, and he invites us all to try him on:
===Feud with HBO and Last Week Tonight===
In March of 2013, Trump attacked Jon Stewart on Twitter for changing his name from Leibowitz to Stewart, tweeting:
Two years later (in 2015), while spending a portion of May 31 embarrassingly trying too hard to flame Stewart,The Independent: "Donald Trump calls Jon Stewart 'the most overrated joke on television' after broadcaster roasts Republican for his Isis claims" Trump also insisted that the original tweet quoted above never took place while repeating the accusation, tweeting:
Trump then proceeded to weave the tale that (Stewart being the former boss and colleague of Oliver) had tried to get Trump to appear on Last Week Tonight,
 something which Oliver maintains has never happened.Last Week Tonight, (28 February 2016). "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Donald Trump (HBO)". Retrieved on 4 August 2016 – via YouTube. Oliver even checked to make sure nobody had accidentally invited him, and nobody had.
In response to all of this, on February 28 of 2016, Oliver started the #makedonalddrumpfagain campaign, explaining:
Oliver also revealed that HBO had even officially filed paperwork to trademark the name "Drumpf". HBO has also purchased the domain donaldjdrumpf.com and released an official Chrome browser plugin called the "Drumpfinator", which changes every instance of "Trump" to "Drumpf" in the browser."Drumpfinator". google.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.
Now, for people who don't know about that little spat, the Drumpf meme might come across as Oliver making fun of Trump's German ancestry. Crucially, however, the serious thought underlying the (entirely overtly satirical) relabeling of Trump to Drumpf is that Trump's image and persona are based on the Trump brand – and thus, if people instead knew him as Donald Drumpf (the way his family's name was spelled before the Thirty Years' War),Gwenda Blair: The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire then hopefully people would stop automatically knee-jerk associating him with the fame and fortune attached to the Trump brand, and instead see the man (Donald) for who he really is as a person."News about #makedonalddrumpfagain on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. The Trump fortune was in fact predicated upon Fred Trump's lying to Jewish customers about his German ancestry and claiming that he was Swedish, a lie repeated by Donald in The Art of the Deal.Fred C. Trump, Postwar Master Builder of Housing for Middle Class, Dies at 93 by Tracie Rozhon (June 26, 1999) The New York Times.Donald Trump Even Lies About Being Swedish (He's Actually German): A Swedish website teases the world's most famous comb-over for continuing to peddle his grandfather's fake origin story by Michael Daly (03.24.16 10:02 PM ET) The Daily Beast.Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All: The Art of the Deal made America see Trump as a charmer with an unfailing knack for business. Tony Schwartz helped create that myth – and regrets it by Jane Mayer (July 25, 2016) The New Yorker.
===Credentialism===
During his 2016 campaign, Trump frequently referred to his degree from the University of Pennsylvania as "super genius stuff", and claimed that it was difficult to get admitted to Wharton.Trump has referred to his Wharton degree as "super genius stuff". An admissions officer recalls it differently. by Michael Kranish (July 8, 2019, at 8:00 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. At the time of his admission (1966), Wharton admitted 40% of applicants, fairly high. James Nolan, an admissions officer and friend of Trump's brother Fred Jr., was leaned on by Trump's father to get him admitted. Nolan was unimpressed by Trump, stating later, "I certainly was not struck by any sense that I'm sitting before a genius. Certainly not a super genius." Later, it was alleged by Trump's elder sister Maryanne, that his friend Joe Shapiro was paid to take his college entrance exam (SAT).In secretly recorded audio, President Trump's sister says he has 'no principles' and 'you can't trust him' by Michael Kranish (August 22, 2020, at 6:51 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post. Elsewhere, SAT fraud has resulted in criminal charges, and could result in the rescinding of a degree.Secretly recorded audio of Trump's sister prompts new call for investigation into his admission to Penn by Michael Kranish (August 28, 2020 at 12:50 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post. But no worries, Trump has rightfully earned a B.S. in B.S.!
===Pretending to be religious===
Of course, winning votes and popularity among the US conservatives requires you at least masquerading as a religious person. He pulled in Mike Pence to give him a hand there.For I was an hungred, and ye sold me Trump Steak®: I was thirsty, and ye sold me Trump Water®: I was a stranger, and ye put me in a cage ... (paraphrased from ).
It should not have surprised anyone that Trump embraced prosperity gospel-types, particularly heretic/charlatan Both the Trump family preacher, and the prosperity gospel concept were rooted in the 19th-century New Thought movement.Why you should know about the New Thought movement by Christopher H. Evans (February 15, 2017 10.21pm EST) The Conversation. Trump has frequently cited Peale, who was described as a 'Christian libertarian', as an influence. James Dobson of Focus on the Family believes that Trump was recently born again, but not everyone agrees.A Born-Again Donald Trump? Believe It, Evangelical Leader Says, The New York Times
When asked the inevitable leading question, "What is your favorite book?" Trump answered with the usual pandering reply, "The Bible!", although he couldn't provide a favorite verse.Trump says Bible is his favorite book but declines to share favorite verse by Eugene Scott (Updated 12:31 PM ET, Thu August 27, 2015) CNN. The book of Job, now back to work, you!. Eventually, Trump found one: "Two Corinthians" (he meant Second Corinthians, which incidentally is a book, not a verse), which earned him an endorsement from Jerry Falwell Jr.Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. endorses Trump by Robert Costa and Jenna Johnson (January 26, 2016) The Washington Post. With a bar that low, who needs legs to get across? It also leads one to wonder how frequently he takes holy communion, despite Trump's claim of "as often as possible""Donald Trump accidentally put money in the Communion plate at an Iowa church". independent.co.uk. 1 February 2016. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. – quite the dedication to drinking wine for someone who is also a teetotaler.Donald Trump and nine other teetotalling moguls Forbes
Regarding the prospects of electing a hypothetical born-again Trump prone to fiddling with the nuclear football when bored or intoxicated, Hemant Mehta remarked that:"Christian Liar David Barton: You'll Have to Answer to God One Day, So Vote for Donald Trump". patheos.com. 
While not dying from nuclear war, many Trump supporters in fact did get to meet their God. Just through something microscopic since 2020.National Public Radio, Retrieved on June 10, 2022.
===Creepy behavior===
====Access Hollywood====
In October 2016, The Washington Post obtained video caught on a hot microphone in 2005 of Trump talking to who was, at that time, anchor of a television show called In the clip, Trump discussed a failed attempt to seduce a woman ("I did try and fuck her. She was married") and creepily infamously described his celebrity status as a carte blanche excuse to molest anyone he wanted ("When you're a star, they let you do it. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.")."Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005" by David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post, 2016 October 8
This naturally became a significant scandal during the 2016 presidential election, and could have been a fatal blow to Trump's campaign had Wikileaks (with the help of state-sponsored Russia hackers and trolls on r/thedonald) not coordinated their own with leaks of DNC emails, aka the Podesta Emails."How October 7th, 2016 Shaped the Course of American History" by Emerson Brooking and PW Singer, Rolling Stone, 2018 October 5 Since what became known as the Access Hollywood tape was revealed, at least 26 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct as of September 2020, allegations which Trump categorically denies but stretch back to the 1980s."The 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct" by Eliza Relman, Business Insider, 2020 September 17"Porn star Stormy Daniels is taking a victory lap after Michael Cohen's guilty plea. Here's a timeline of Trump's many marriages and rumored affairs." by Kate Taylor, Business Insider, 2018 August 25
====E. Jean Carroll sexual assault and defamation====
In 2019, advice columnist published an article in as well as detailing in her memoir published that year, allegations that Mr. Trump allegedly raped her in 1995 or 1996. Trump, of course, denied all allegations."E. Jean Carroll Accuses Trump of Sexual Assault in Her Memoir" by Alexandra Alter, New York Times, 2019 June 21 In 2022, New York governor signed the into law, an act which empowered survivors of sexual offenses to file suit regardless of when the abuse occurred."Governor Hochul Signs Adult Survivors Act", New York State press release Minutes after this law took effect, Carroll's attorneys sued Trump over the alleged sexual assault incident."Writer E. Jean Carroll sues Trump under new N.Y. sexual assault law" by Jennifer Hassan and Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post, 2022 November 25 On May 9 2023, a jury found Trump guilty of battery and defamation and rewarded Carroll $5 million in total damages for both claims."A jury finds Trump liable for battery and defamation in E. Jean Carroll trial" by Becky Sullivan, NPR, 2023 May 9 Notably, Trump did not personally testify in his own defense; made bizarre public posts about the case on Truth Social while the case was ongoing (earning a rebuke from the presiding judge and, in a deposition for the case created in October, appeared to double-down on his Access Hollywood "grab them by the pussy" remarks. Carroll was supported by other witnesses that described how Trump also engaged in inappropriate behavior (non-consensual kissing and groping) with them."Trump will not testify in E. Jean Carroll battery, defamation case, his attorney says" by Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 2023 May 2"3rd accuser testifies Trump started 'kissing me' during 2005 visit to Mar-a-Lago" by Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 2023 May 3"Trump, in deposition, doubles down on 'Access Hollywood' remarks about grabbing women" by Olivia Rubin and Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 2023 May 5"“Entirely inappropriate”: Judge rebukes Trump over E. Jean Carroll attack on Truth Social" by Tatyana Tandanpolie, Salon, 2023 April 26
Prior to the above battery / defamation case, Carroll had previously sued Trump for defamation in November 2019, only to have the case stall in court. In September 2023, Kaplan ruled that Trump was liable for defamatory comments brought up in the 2019 case as well. In addition, one day after the May 2023 verdict, Trump (not knowing when to keep his mouth shut) made additional defamatory comments about Carroll; this defamation was amended to the original 2019 complaint."The second trial between Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll began Tuesday. Here's what to know." by Clare Hymes, Graham Kates, Katrina Kaufman, CBS News, 2024 January 16 A trial on this case (whose purpose was only to set damages) began in mid-January 2024; the trial notably featured Trump furiously walking out of the courtroom during closing arguments. After closing arguments, the jury deliberation was swift; on January 26 2024, Carroll was awarded an additional $83.3 million in damages for defamation."Trump must pay $83.3 million for defaming E. Jean Carroll, jury says" by Graham Kates, Katrina Kaufman, CBS News, 2024 January 26
====Extramarital affairs hush money====
In addition to the sexual misconduct allegations, Trump has engaged in several affairs, alleged and confirmed. Prior to his presidency, in one early, highly gossiped about case, Trump reportedly cheated on his then-wife with a model (and eventual second wife) named This led to his first divorce. 
During Trump's first presidential campaign, two adult models, and alleged an extramarital affair. In the case of McDougal, the National Enquirer bought the story for $125,000, but never ran it. (Later, the office of the National Enquirer admitted that they buried the story "to prevent it from influencing the election".)"National Enquirer owner admits to paying off Playboy model to protect Trump" by Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 2018 December 12 In the case of Daniels, Trump's personal attorney chose to pay Daniels $130,000 in order to keep quiet about the affair. Cohen then sought, and received, reimbursement (to the tune of $420,000, paid in monthly installments) from the Trump organization to cover this expense."There are many, many similarities in Stormy Daniels’ and Karen McDougal’s stories about Donald Trump" by Z. Byron Wolf, CNN, 2018 March 27"Timeline: Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels and the $130,000 payment to buy her silence" by Stefan Becket, CBS News, 2023 March 20
In 2018, the Wall Street Journal published an article detailing Cohen's $130,000 payment. This opened a flurry of investigations into whether there were any financial shenanigans associated with the hush money, resulting in multiple convictions. In August 21 2018, Cohen plead guilty to eight charges of tax evasion, fraud, and campaign finance violations that occurred due to the hush money payment. Cohen told the federal court that Trump directed him to make the payments. One week later, the office opened an investigation into whether the Trump Organization also broke any laws. In 2022, two Trump Organization companies were convicted of all 17 charges of tax fraud it was indicted with; its chief financial officer also pled guilty to fraud and tax evasion charges.
====Other dubious sexual behaviour====
Countless women have accused Trump of sexually assaulting them. His first wife, Ivana Trump, accused him of rape in a deposition in 1989 at the time of their divorce, though she later said her account only used the word figuratively.Donald Trump's Ex-Wife Ivana Disavows Old 'Rape' Allegation, ABC News, July 28, 2015
In 1996, Trump bought the beauty pageant corporation (which also ran affiliated beauty pageants like Miss USA and Miss Teen USA). During Trump's first presidential campaign, multiple contestants reported that Trump would enter the dressing rooms of the contestants while they were in various stages of undress (including the dressing room of the Miss Teen USA competition, when many of the girls were underage). Other contestants have alleged other sorts of creepy behavior, such as inappropriate kisses on the mouth and boorish banter. Trump denied these allegations when they came out, but in 2005, Trump seemed to admit to this behavior when talking to radio shock jock 
====Reactions from the "Moral Majority"====
Following decades of preaching family values and supposed Bible-based morality (including a huge evangelical trope against pornography),"Why so many Christians blame pornography for other sins like adultery" by Emily St. James, Vox, 2015 August 26 the Religious Right and the Moral Majority did not condemn someone very prominent who allegedly committed marital infidelity with a porn star. Instead, many leading fundamentalist Christian figures completely defended Trump's reputed porn-star-fucking. Usually, the defense was something along the line of the politics being more important than the sin.
Robert Jeffress:
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, who previously said evangelicals were willing to give Trump a "mulligan" for his past transgressions:
Franklin Graham, going for the fake news defense:
Jerry Falwell Jr., who later was revealed to be no stranger to this type of sin:
A poll showed that white evangelical support actually increased after the Stormy Daniels affair was reported."White evangelical support for Trump has increased amid Stormy Daniels reports" by Summer Meza, The Week, 2018 March 19 Of course, this is not surprising given many of these people have admitted to being more dedicated to Donald Trump than Jesus Christ, with the aforementioned Robert Jeffress even saying he would vote Trump over Jesus in a hypothetical election.Megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress would vote for Trump over Jesus: The Bible calls for a 'strongman'
For many, the events all but confirmed the moral hypocrisy of these evangelical leaders, even leading to a rebuke in the National Review."An Open Letter to Trump’s Evangelical Defenders" by David French, National Review, 2018 May 3 A few commentators saw the hypocritical quotes as proof that the only "values" evangelicals really valued were worship of the patriarchy and the white male privilege, and observed how many of these evangelicals who were so quick to forgive Trump were hardly forgiving (and in fact, outright hostile) when it came to other "sinners", particularly LGBTQ individuals."Holy hypocrisy: Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels and the religious right" by Amanda Marcotte, Salon, 2018 January 25"How Evangelical Leaders Are Responding to the Stormy Daniels Story" by Jack Holmes, Esquire, 2018 January 26
==2016 presidential campaign==
George H.W. Bush started this when he considered Trump for vice president and planted the idea in his head, not realizing that Trump was some kind of Cthulhu in the making and unknowingly screwing his second son out of the chance.Richardson, Bradford, "Trump as George H.W. Bush’s running mate? 'I was asked that question'", The Hill (November 08, 2015, 10:39 am).
If there is anything this election has taught us, it's that Trump is playing Korean Starcraft while everyone else is playing checkers. He registered the slogan "Make America Great Again" six days into Barack Obama's second term.Gates, Marie-Elise, "Trump Trademarks “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”", Trademarkology 5.16.16. There has been some (mostly baseless) speculation that Trump's entire candidacy is revenge for Obama's Roast jokes.
===Testing the waters===
Trump was a long-shot Republican contender for the 2012 Presidential nomination, so he could have run against Barack Obama. Trump had no political experience, though he had a good deal of bankruptcyBankers Dispute Trump's Story of Financial Comeback: Bankers who worked with Trump when he was near bankruptcy say it was not the GOP nominee's deal-making triumph but their intervention that enabled a comeback 7/18/16 at 12:00 AM Reuters. business experience. Trump's ongoing activities were hard to reconcile with "conservative" positions: he owes a substantial portion of his wealth to his involvement in the gambling industry, and his apparel line is manufactured in the very country that he wanted to hit with punitive tariffs.Hypocrite of the Week: Donald Trump, Dispatches from the Culture Wars. In 2011, he also became the first presidential hopeful to use the word "fucking" in a speech.Donald Trump Shouts ‘F Word’ Multiple Times In Las Vegas Speech, Wonkette
When compared side-by-side with old Fox News personalities, it's pretty clear Trump was doing something akin to that (You suck, America! Now buy my book and I'll tell you why). Content to surf the media wave and pocket the donations,He opposes gay marriage because of new trends in golf putter preference., HuffPo. Trump didn't hesitate to jump on the birther bandwagon, demanding to see Obama’s long-form birth certificate. He also believes Bill Ayers ghostwrote Dreams From My Father.Tea Partiers Rallying in DC Praise Donald Trump's Birther Stance, TPMTrump: Bill Ayers Wrote Obama's Book, TPM. Remember when being a Birther was basically the peak of crazy in political discussions? Times have changed, man.
He dropped out of the race after the aforementioned speech, which went against his work ethic heavily endorsed on The Apprentice. (Don't give up!) It can be speculated that this was an elaborate ruse to pump up the show in ratings. After NBC took The Apprentice off the air in '07, Trump returned to hawking steaks.When asked about the venture, James Levin (former CEO of the Sharper Image) said "we literally sold almost no steaks. If we sold $50,000 of the steaks grand total, I'd be surprised." One food critic described Trump Steaks™ as "edible, but not particularly good." Hardly glowing reviews for a product Trump pitched as "the world's greatest steaks... in every sense of the word." Conan milked it for its seemingly endless comedic value. Just goes to show you, never write a candidate off this side of Arlington Cemetery.
Much to the dismay of GOP power-brokers and the delight of comedians everywhere, Trump declared in June 2015 that he is again running for POTUS on the 2016 Republican Presidential ticket. Blunders and confusion mark the Trump campaign, with some even going so far as to suggest that Trump may be suffering from Alzheimer's or senile dementia due to his age;HHH Is My Hero (August 2, 2016). Could It Be Alzheimer's Or Senile Dementia?. ChicagoNow. since his father suffered from Alzheimer's before his death in 1999, this conspiracy theory isn't as far-fetched as it sounds...King, Steve (October 1, 2015). "Does Donald Trump have dementia?". Death and Taxes.
He immediately received backlash for his racist comments against Mexican immigrants during his announcement speech, which cost him his beauty pageant and other television deals.Ishaan Tharoor (17 June 2015). "Top Mexican official blasts Donald Trump’s ‘absurd’ comments on migrants". Washington Post. "Univision Drops Miss USA Pageant After Donald Trump's Comments About Mexicans : People.com". PEOPLE.com.Jeremy Stahl (29 June 2015). "Donald Trump fired from NBC: Celebrity Apprentice star and Republican presidential hopeful loses his job with NBC for anti-immigrant racism.". Slate Magazine. 
===Trust me with donated campaign money===
Trump gave $35,000 to an advertising company called Draper-Sterling. Like, from Mad Men.Federal Election Commission, itemized disbursements for Donald J. Trump For President, Inc. He'd better turn those hats upside-down and start asking for handouts... The firm doesn't exist, and this is their address in New Hampshire. So far he has paid $4 million to himself for flying in his own plane, $200K to Trump Tower, and $400K to his campaign headquarters in Palm Beach (his own country club). Most hilarious is $1.8 million paid to the company making/distributing Trump hats, which is owned indirectly by Trump’s son Eric. Drew Griffin, Paul Murphy and Theodore Schleifer, "Trump directs nearly one-fifth of his money to his own businesses", CNN (Updated 6/22/16 at 10:39 AM ET). Suspiciously much money ($6 million estimate) goes to Trump owned companies and Trump's family."Cui bono?". freethoughtblogs.com. 21 June 2016. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. Hillary Clinton joked, "What is Trump spending his meager campaign resources on? Why, himself, of course.""Trump's campaign spends $6 million with Trump companies". ap.org. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.
It's like Trump is skimming off the top, except his fundraising is so bad that the "top" is the whole thing. It's also unheard-of for a major party convention to be begging for $6 million at the last minute. These should be huge red flags to anyone.Alex Isenstadt and Shane Goldmacher, "GOP Cleveland organizers beg Adelson for $6 million", Politico (Updated 07/15/16 11:52 AM EDT).
===Platform===
Donald Trump has plenty of bad ideas. The people are being conned and misled, as is so characteristic of Trump's schemes. He has a whole AOTD chapter dedicated to making promises, no matter how grand, by drawing on the emotional side of a person. Because this is when you can start working them.Feloni, Robert, "Donald Trump's core business philosophy from his bestselling 1987 book 'The Art of the Deal'", Business Insider (6/16/15, 2:38 PM). Trump: I play to people's fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That's why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.
Issue 	"Solution"
National Security	As with most of Trump's positions, the answer is "all of the above". (America can't afford to be the world's policeman. We need to expand the military.Hongo, Hudson, [Gawker.com: archive.is, web.archive.org "Donald Trump Promises to Build Big, Bad Military "Nobody Will Mess With""], Gawker (4/19/16 10:45pm).)
*Trump thinks we should "close up" the internet to stop ISIS. Just like that! Which likely means, Whatever I don't like will be shut down.David Gilbert, "Donald Trump Wants Bill Gates To Turn Off The Internet To Stop ISIS", International Business Times (12/08/15 AT 6:31 AM).
*In what Tricky Dick on a bender might mistake for a foreign policy strategy, Trump said that the way to defeat ISIS was to "bomb the shit out of them", then send [Exxon]Mobil to suck out all the oil.Trump on the stump: A closer look at The Donald's proposed policies by Eugene Scott (Updated 2:29 PM ET, Sat June 20, 2015) CNN 
*He advocates for civilian deaths in war, saying we should "take out their families." Further, he's talking the whole family: grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, half-siblings, children, siblings-in-law, and their children. Whoever has a familial connection to the terrorist, he wants to wipe them out, regardless of their culpability.David Edwards, "Donald Trump: To defeat ISIS ‘you have to take out their families’", Raw Story.Tom LoBianco, "Donald Trump on terrorists: 'Take out their families'", CNN. (Clue Brick: It's also a war crime under Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention.)
*He'll bring back torture, though he knows it doesn't work, since "they deserve it anyway."Ben Jacobs, "Donald Trump on waterboarding: 'Even if it doesn't work they deserve it'", The Guardian. He'd also "go much further" than waterboarding suspected terrorists, and thinks that dipping the bullets in pigs' blood before shooting Muslim prisoners is a cool way to deter terrorism, and certainty not a recruiting bonanza.Jeremy Diamond, CNN (20 February 2016). "Donald Trump cites story of general who dipped bullets in pigs' blood to deter Muslims". CNN. 
*Trump supports the ability of the NSA to be able to collect bulk metadata and has enjoyed himself at the idea of the surveillance of mosques.Where Do the Presidential Wannabes Stand on the Patriot Act? by Ken McIntyre On (5/22/15 at 1:29 PM) Newsweek.Trump: 'Err on the side of security' by Eric Bradner (Updated 2106 GMTDecember 1, 2015) CNN.
Border security 	Hispanic people are lazy and come here to get welfare and commit crime. Also they're stealing all our jobs.Lloyd, Green, "Trump in Phoenix: Mexicans Are Coming to Take Your Jobs And Kill You", Daily Beast (7.11.15 8:48 PM ET). Oh, and also rape our women.
*The wall Trump proposes to stop illegal Mexican immigrants is a non-starter. Mexico will not pay, and Pew research suggests more Mexicans are returning to Mexico than are emigrating to the United States.Brian Latimer. "Former Mexican President: We're Not Paying for a 'Stupid' Wall". NBC News. In any case, we doubt Mexico would forgive being extorted out of $20 billion dollars. Moreover, the majority of US construction workers are undocumented Mexican immigrants. D'oh.Olivio, Antonio, "At Trump hotel site, immigrant workers wary", WaPo 7.6.15.
*He's talked about the materials the wall will be built of. He's talked about putting his name on it. Metaphorically, of course.Pennacchia, Robyn, "Trump Surrogate: Mexico Border Wall Actually Just Donald Trump’s Imaginary Friend", Wonkette (5/19/16, 12:28pm). The wall is about his only concrete idea (pun intended) that he has consistently campaigned on, and he's already waffling on it.
*He has since doubled down, explicitly calling for a national database that registers and identifies all Muslim Americans. (We really need more Inquisitions.Nastasha Bertrad, "Donald Trump gave credence to a major right-wing conspiracy theory about Muslim 'training camps'", Business Insider. They're going to be sent to a detention facility were all they can do all day is watch Trump U. videos.Steve Holland and Ginger Gibson, "After Florida shooting, Trump hardens stance on Muslims", Reuters (6/14/16 and 10:41pm EDT).) In a rally in Wisconsin, he clarified to Chris Matthews that the register wouldn't apply to wealthy Muslims. That the policy only applies to poorer Muslims might make them more disposed to fight ISIS and help MAGA!Sayare, Scott, "http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/05/europe-counterterrorism-failure-khaled-kelkal/481908/", Atlantic 5.9.16. Interestingly, a ban might actually make another Orlando more likely, as many Muslims in the U.S. will rightly feel like they've been targeted, and that's one of the causes of radicalization. For the alt-right, that's the point."Trump says he'd allow 'rich Muslims' to enter U.S.". msn.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. He's like the kid that just read the back of the book before writing a book report, and will literally fight you if you tell him he got the whole general plot wrong.
Foreign policy 	It's abundantly clear he doesn't know anything about foreign policy.Fisher, Max, "We painstakingly annotated Donald Trump's strange and revealing foreign policy interview", Vox (9/4/15, 12:34 p.m. ET).
*You get a nuke! You get a nuke! Everybody gets a nuke!Hellman, Jessie, "Trump Would Consider Letting Japan and South Korea Build Nuclear Arsenals, The Hill (3/26/.16, 03:24 pm). Donald handing out nukes like a pedophile handing out candy to kids. Particularly silly in that Japan already has all the technology and know-how to produce both a fission bomb and deliver it, but don't want to, for reasons that are obvious to anybody who's studied history.
*In response to further military provocations by North Korea that apparently failed to alert him to the fact that North Korea probably <I>wanted</I> him to overreact like this, Trump gave a speech at the United Nations on September 19th, 2017 that can be considered quite batshit with some justice, especially considering a singularly odd reference to a mid-70's song by Elton John.Washington <I>Post</I>, "Why Trump’s threat to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea is extraordinary — even for him"
*Trump has begun to pivot away from his earlier statementsHensch, Mark, "Trump: I’ll be ‘neutral’ on Israel and Palestine", The Hill (2/17/16, 09:41 pm). Well, that's refreshing to hear... ("sorta neutral") about Israel. But that's just evidence of his famous "flexibility.""Trump: Israeli Settlement Construction in West Bank Should 'Keep Going'", Haaretz (6/24/16 at 9:13pm IDT). −WHAT? But I thought he was going to use his deal-closing skills to negotiate!"Trump Would Support Israeli Annexation of Parts of West Bank, Says Adviser", Haaretz (6/23/16 at9:24 PM IDT). Perhaps Israel will be offered more and bigger walls. That'll surely fix it right up.
*Trump also wants to Mafia-ize the U.S.'s national security posture. (It'd be a sad sight if Russia invaded you next week.) The military is oversized because of their own military adventures, and he has the gall to chastise Europe for not chipping in.Collinson, Stephen, "5 candidates make closing arguments on CNN", CNN (Updated 3/22/16 8:45 AM ET). The US leaving NATO would be like the Pope quitting Catholicism.
*Trump has hinted he may go to war if Mexico refuses to pay for nonsensical building projects."Mexican media: Trump threatens war with Mexico to collect border wall payment". Fusion. Because crashing the Mexican economy is a good way to decrease illegal immigration into America.
*Trump said, in interviews with The AtlanticCalamur, Krishnadev. "Donald Trump's NATO Remarks Stuns U.S. Allies". theatlantic.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. and the New York Times,Sanger, David E. (21 July 2016). "Envisioning Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy: The U.S. Steps Back". Retrieved on 4 August 2016 – via NYTimes.com. that he would ignore NATO's defense policy if NATO members do not increase defense spending. He has however stopped short of saying the US should actually leave NATO;
*Trump is also lukewarm on the idea of actually going to war to <I>defend</I> fellow NATO member states, using tiny Montenegro as a particularly surreal example - because, as he put it,"They're very strong people, they're very aggressive people. They may get aggressive and, congratulations, you're in World War Three."'Stupid statements' - Trump WW3 jibe stuns Montenegro, bbc.co.uk, July 18th, 2018
*Trump does "not so much" trust intelligence (presumably because he doesn't have any of his own), because Iraq."#LoserDonald: I Don’t Trust US Intelligence". August 17, 2016. The Young Turks, via YouTube.
Economic plan 	Get rid of NAFTA, NATO, NASA, the NAACP, and anything with an N.Tani, Maxwell, "'I don't mean just a little bit better': Donald Trump threatens to leave NAFTA if elected", Business Insider 6.29.16.Pindell, James, "Trump loves NASA, but backs privatization of outer space", Boston Globe 1.1/11/15.
*It's dizzying how quickly Trump has hitched himself to the Brexit campaign (right down to NAFTA's equivalent of "Article 50"). He argued that Hillary Clinton is "100% wrong" because her view of the referendum differed from the outcome, whereas Trump wisely chose the side that "won." Trump is doing the media's work for them by branding Brexit a dry run of what a Trump presidency would be like.Savanskry, Rebecca, "Trump hits Clinton for attacks after '100% wrong' Brexit prediction", The Hill (6/26/16 at 08:13 am). He has even gone so far as to call himself "Mr. Brexit", claiming that as the crooked media kept skewering those damn polls for the remoaners, the crooked media is skewering these damn polls over in the US for Clinton.McCarthy, Tom (August 18, 2016). "Trump says he'll be known as 'Mr Brexit' despite poor poll showing – politics live". The Guardian.
*What is his position on jobs? He's going to "bring them back!"Drezner, Daniel D., "Donald Trump’s Big Lie about the global economy", WaPo 8.3.15. It's the establishment versus the working class. The Republicans have catered to low-income voters for quite a while now, and those are the main demographics who are severely affected by free trade. That demographic ("small business") has been voting against their own interest by sending their jobs overseas. Republicans and Democrats have already dropped the ball on helping those most affected by outsourcing; Trump wants to roll back free trade and raise tariffs, but that won't necessarily fix the problem.Krugman, Paul, "Trade, Labor, and Politics", NYT 3.28.16. Republicans oppose trade because protectionism is the only way they know how to deal with the fact that it creates losers as well as winners, whereas believers in a strong safety net can take all sorts of other measures to protect workers without bringing down the country as a whole.McKee, Guian, "This is what Trump and Sanders Get Wrong About Free Trade", WaPo 5.17.16. On the contrary, it's a threat to eliminate hundreds and thousands of American jobs.Tankersley, Jim, "Donald Trump’s trade war could kill millions of U.S. jobs", WaPo 3.25.16. Their paychecks wouldn't even keep up with inflation if they get what they want.Byrnes, Jesse, "Trump: 'Who the hell cares if there's a trade war?'", The Hill (May 19, 2016, 10:07 pm). Republicans will be all for free trade when their "low low prices" increase by 50% at Wal-Mart. But the average voter won't look a whole lot deeper than that free trade is "killing us!"
*Trump's 18th century economic plan (aka mercantilism) sounds like the work of a businessman who's made strategic use of bankruptcy.Kessler, Glenn, "Donald Trump's Unusual Plan to Lower the National Debt: Sell Off $16 Tril in Assets", WaPo 4.2.16. If it works for wines, steaks, and luxury hotels, of course it will work for foreign policy! It would wreak havoc on the dollar and turn US Treasury Bonds from the safest place to put your money into a risky proposition which investors would stay away from. You can't unring the bell on his plan; just ask any country that ruined their currency long-term for a short-term benefit.Barro, Josh, "Donald Trump is floating an insane idea that would tank the American economy", Business Insider (5/6/16, 11:59 AM).
*The Trump Tax Cuts aren't just right-wing, they're crazy-wing. They've been criticized by conservatives for the huge deficits that would result, and by liberals since the main beneficiaries of his cuts are the very wealthy.MJ Lee and Sara Murray, "Donald Trump Slashes Taxes on the Poor — and the Wealthy", CNN (Updated 0/29/15, 11:39 AM ET). Tax Policy Center: "On the corporate side the tax cut is very large. On the individual side it's very large. There just aren't enough tax breaks out there to make this work.""Donald Trump's false claim that his tax plan wouldn't increase the deficit" Politifact.com. The ideology of "spend more, tax less, repay debt!" doesn't exist because mathematically it's nonsense."How the candidates' tax plans will affect you, in 4 charts" Vox.com
Environment 	Jerry Brown tends to be frugal with his endorsements. Hearing Trump say asinine things regarding climateRyan Kowonowski, "It Snowed Once And Other Things Donald Trump Thinks Prove Global Warming Is A Hoax" ThinkProgress. Global warming is just Mexican climate hopping our border. We need to build a climate wall.Page, Samantha, "Sanders Blasts Trump on Weird Climate Change Claim", ThinkProgress (1/5/16 1:08 pm ST). Trump is “not a believer” in man-made climate change, an issue he dismisses as something “created by and for the Chinese.” Ahhh, America. Where you've got so much freedom, science is an opinion. ("there is no drought!"Jill Colvin and Ellen Knickmeyer, "Trump tells California ‘there is no drought’" , WaPo 5.27.16. No shit, it was sucked dry by the very factory farms that are complaining now.) must have pushed him over the edge.
But when it affects Trump's golf course, then climate change IS real, it IS happening, and urgent action must be taken.Schreckinger, Ben, "Trump acknowledges climate change — at his golf course", Politico. (05/23/16 05:35 AM EDT) Trump applied to build a wall to prevent coastal erosion at his Trump International Golf Links seaside golf resort in Ireland — and has explicitly cited risks posed by climate change in his application.
Energy 	Trump wants to pull out of all climate agreements, get rid of environmental regulations, and increase the use of coal (which is not surprising, given his statement that "I have friends that own [coal] mines".Ashley Parker and Coral Davenport, "Donald Trump’s Energy Plan: More Fossil Fuels and Fewer Rules", NYT 5.26.16. Ironically, GOP energy policy doesn't benefit coal anymore. The only way to benefit coal is to provide them subsidies. The rate of return on coal is terrible now. Standard GOP pandering.Koenig, David, "AP FACT CHECK: Trump's vow to create Appalachian coal jobs", The Big Story (5/5/16 at 3:31 PM EDT). He also states that he wants energy independence. He dislikes renewable energy, saying that "wind [turbines] kill all your birds" (a patently false claim — cats kill many times more birds) and that solar power doesn't work well (another absurd statement).
Wait... is he still using "America First"?Timothy Cama and Devin Henry, "Overnight Energy: Trump outlines 'America First' energy plan in North Dakota", The Hill (05/26/16 05:54 PM EDT). (He's going with the Third Reich's "worker's party" thing too.Savransky, Rebecca, "Trump: My GOP will be a 'worker's party'", The Hill (May 26, 2016, 08:59 am).) Can't tell if he is intentionally fucking with us, or is actually adopting Goebbels' playbook.Don't say that to him though: He once threatened to sue a Vanity Fair reporter for documenting that he kept a book of Adolf Hitler's speeches by his bed at night. Sweet dreams, mein Führer.Kascynski, Andrew, "Trump Once Threatened To Sue Over A Report He Owned A Book Of Hitler Speeches", BuzzFeed (Feb. 18, 2016, at 1:22 p.m.).
Healthcare 	So, pretty much Obamacare except that the insurance companies can headquarter in whichever states have the weakest consumer protection laws and force their plans on everyone else."Healthcare Reform". donaldjtrump.com. 
For all of Trump's macho-man image, this is a remarkably pusillanimous plan. Trump's candidacy is based on ditching GOP orthodoxy, but this healthcare plan is a standard Republican nothingburger that is indistinguishable from what a lot of others have offered up. This indicates that Trump does not feel secure about his position in the nomination process, and is trying to signal to the establishment that he can adopt some of their stances, too.Demko, Paul, "Who is Advising Donald Trump on Health Care?", Politico (02/20/16 11:43 AM EST).
First Amendment 	It's becoming of a bit of a running gag how Trump keeps threatening to sue people who are critical of him."For Donald Trump, ‘Get ’Em Out’ Is the New ‘You’re Fired’". The New York Times. 14 March 2016. Eugene Scott, CNN (12 February 2016). "Donald Trump threatens to sue Ted Cruz". CNN. "Donald Trump Promises To Sue The Media For Negative Stories About Him If He's Elected President". Media Matters for America. February 26, 2016. (As you may have guessed, Trump rallies tend to be a gold mine for muckraking reporters.) So of course he wants to "open up the libel laws," which would completely undo the First Amendment, making it easier to sue media outlets that dare to criticize him.River Clegg (2 March 2016). "Libel Law, Trump-Style". The New Yorker. Jose A. DelReal (29 February 2016). "Trump, taking aim at the press, vows again to ‘open libel laws’". Washington Post. 
Since actions speak loudest, especially where Trump is concerned, what has he done in the meantime? Ejected journalists at his rallies simply for being journalists.South Florida Sun-Sentinel (14 March 2016). "Mayo: My choice at Trump rally - Leave or go to jail". Sun-Sentinel.com. No person, no problem!
Khizr Khan's claims at the 2016 Democratic National Convention that Trump had not read the US Constitution seemed to be reinforced by Trump's comments that Khan "had no right" to claim that he had not read the Constitution – clearly not reading the First Amendment, giving him the right to free speech.Lopez, German (July 31, 2016). "Donald Trump proves he hasn't read the Constitution in statement claiming he has". Vox.
Is someone protesting in a way Trump doesn't approve of, such as burning an American flag? The solution is simple: lock them up for a year or strip them of their citizenship - although the Supreme Court might take issue with the legality of such a move.Trump suggests loss of citizenship or jail for those who burn U.S. flags, Washington Post Come to think of it, <I>Trump</I> took issue with this strategy until he got elected President.Trump had a different take on flag burning when he visited David Letterman last year, Washington Post
Abortion 	It sounds like the main takeaway from Paul Ryan's sit-down was that Trump agreed to nominate anti-abortion advocates to the Supreme Court.Associated Press, "Paul Ryan's Endorsement of Donald Trump Comes With Caveats", Fortune (6/3/16 at 3:53 AM EDT). In 1999, Trump said that while he hated the concept of abortion, he viewed himself as "very pro-choice.""Trump in 1999: 'I am Very Pro-Choice'". Meet The Press.
At that aforementioned event in Wisconsin, Trump floated an idea to punish women who seek abortions. While speaking with MSNBC host Chris Matthews about how he would enforce it, he very quickly reversed the statement to say that he would make the procedure illegal and punish doctors who do so. The best part was when he said that penalties for abortion should not apply to men.Gladu, Alex, "Donald Trump's Abortion Punishments Don't Include Men For Whatever Misogynistic Reason", Bustle 3.30.16. I read The Handmaid's Tale and I thought it was a great blueprint for America. Shhhhh... Trump is pointing out the inherent contradiction in the conservative platform.
Trump has been confronted with a near-total ban of abortion in some states following the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, one that Trump took credit for from his court appointments. During his 2024 presidential campaign, he couldn't decide whether this was politically beneficial for him or not and waffled on abortion bans.Trump’s latest waffling on reproductive health shows he’s still struggling to find an answer for what he created by Steve Contorno (7:47 PM EDT, Fri August 30, 2024) CNN. What he does know though is that hates Democrats for his fantasy of what Democrats support:President Donald J. Trump Releases Statement on Life (April 08, 2024) Donald J. Trump (archived from April 9, 2024).
LGBT rights
thumb|A polygamous relationship gone wrong	While lukewarm on LGBT people getting married and serving openly in the military, in 2000 he concluded that “‘Don't ask, don't tell’ has clearly failed,” and even blasted Pat Buchanan for engaging in the sort of chicanery which Trump is now."READ: Donald Trump's Advocate Interview Where He Defends Gays, Mexicans". advocate.com. 28 September 2015. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. DT "Buchanan actually said gay people had chosen 'Satan and suicide.' Now he says he welcomes gay people into his campaign. The guy is a hypocrite." Flash-forward: 
*Now he's touting "traditional marriage"—a concept he grudgingly admits is totally alien to him.Edwards, David, "CNN host calls out Donald Trump: ‘What’s traditional about being married three times?’", Raw Story (6/28/15 at 09:37 ET). He has promised to appoint judges to overturn same-sex marriage if need be,Duffy, Nick, "Trump says he’d consider overturning same-sex marriage in shock U-turn". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. despite dismissing traditional marriage as a "dead issue" in the past,Duffy, Nick, "Donald Trump admits opposing equal marriage is ‘dead issue’". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. and attending the wedding of David Furnish and Elton John.McCormick, Joesph Patrick, "Donald Trump celebrated Elton John’s marriage in 2005". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. (Yes, technically this was a civil partnership and not a marriage, but Trump's easiness using the word "marriage" referring to it clearly indicates that he wasn't too bothered.)
*In the Prime Universe, Trump opposed the transgender "bathroom bill," saying trans people should be free to "use the bathroom they feel is appropriate."Parker, Ashley, "Donald Trump Says Transgender People Should Use the Bathroom They Want". The New York Times. 21 April 2016. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. Mirror!Trump, on the other hand, says it should be up to the states,Duffy, Nick, "Donald Trump reverses his ‘support’ for transgender rights". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. and is actively working to remove all protection and rights for transgender people.
*He's stated that he "wouldn't block laws" that permit discrimination based on sexual orientation.Duffy, Nick, "Donald Trump ‘wouldn’t block’ law to permit homophobic discrimination". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. But at least he won't behead anybody.McCormick, Joseph Patrick, "Donald Trump says he supports ‘the gays’ at a rally – ‘the gays’ respond perfectly". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 June 2016. DT: "Ask the gays what they think and what they do, in, not only Saudi Arabia, but many of these countries, and then you tell me – who's your friend, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?"
Second Amendment 	In the course of a single convoluted sentence, he managed to say we shouldn't have guns in classrooms, we should have guns in classrooms, switched back to we shouldn't, and then finally wound up saying we should.Wolf, Leon H., "Trump: I’m not Advocating for Guns in Classrooms, I’m just Advocating for Guns in Classrooms Sometimes", RedState (5/22/16 at 2:26 pm). The secret service had a word with Trump after he claimed that "the second amendment people" should go out and shoot Hillary Clinton.Buncombe, Andrew (August 11, 2016). "Secret Service 'talks to Donald Trump' camp after Second Amendment comments about Hillary Clinton". The Independent.
Trump and Obama/Hillary at least agree on one point: he is against allowing people on the no-fly list to buy guns, even if they have not been convicted of a crime.MacNeal, Caitlin, "NRA Says It's Willing To Meet With Trump About Guns And The No-Fly List", TPM (6/15/16, 1:32 PM EDT). Weakness on guns combined with anti-Latino rhetoric could possibly open up Texas, so expect this to be backtracked in a few days or hours.Kapur, Sahil, "Trump Walks Back Remarks on Guns at Orlando Club After NRA Disagrees", Bloomberg (6/20/16 at 10:09 AM PDT).
IRS 	With Trump cratering in the polls, he suggested that we repeal the Johnson Amendment of 1954, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations (namely churches) from purchasing and running political ads. Nobody seriously expects the IRS to enforce the law, but it's meat that Trump is throwing to the evangelical wing and they're eating up like fools.Michelle Boorstein and Julie Zauzmer, "Thrilling Christian conservative audience, Trump vows to lift ban on politicking, appoint antiabortion judges", WaPo (6/22/16 at 2:25 PM). When he panders, he panders hard. This is funny because it reads like Trump scrambling to bring in voters who ordinarily be locked-up in November.Gettys, Travis, "Trump panders to evangelical leaders by promising to force store clerks to say ‘Merry Christmas’", Raw Story (6/21/16 at 13:48 ET). He needs them now, because a lot of them are threatening to sit out the election. Voting for a thrice-married adulterer isn't their thing.Kelley, Marty, "LOL Hillary Clinton Might Beat Donald Trump In Utah", Wonkette (6/13/16 at 3:01pm).Guerra, Daniel, "Actually, Most Evangelicals Don’t Vote Trump", Christianity Today 5.28.16. Turns out there are people who identify as evangelical and those who go to church weekly. The latter went for Cruz.
Trump wouldn't be able to change the law via executive action (tax law is Congress's domain), but he could order the IRS not to enforce the ban, which would amount to the same thing. That being said, it would be hilarious if American mosques started electing more Muslims to public office.
#Metoo movement 	
It has been noted that Trump only complains about lack of due process when it pertains to people that he is supporting. Trump once took out a full-page New York Times advertisement calling for the execution of the and continued to call them guilty even long after the accused were fully exonerated based on DNA evidence.President Trump Complains, Laughably, About 'Due Process' by Benjamin Hart (February 10, 2018 11:52 am) New York Magazine.
... and that, boys and girls, is how a former pro-choice liberal in a shitty toupee stole the Republican Presidential Nomination.
===Where did we go right?===
Trump accumulates a few nuggets of cocktail party knowledge about political topics (7-11 was an inside job!Engel, Pamela, "Donald Trump mistakenly invokes '7-Eleven' when talking about 9/11 terror attacks", Business Insider (8/19/16 at 9:30 AM ).) and sort of freewheels through it while trying to steer the conversation back to the main talking points, which are Building Stuff and Making America Great Again®. On Baltimore, he knows that people torched a Rite-Aid."A transcript of Donald Trump’s meeting with The Washington Post editorial board", WaPo 3/21/16 On climate change, he knows the difference between climate and weather, kind of.Romm, Joe, "Trump Even Gets Climate Denial Wrong", ThinkProgress Mar 24, 2016 8:00 am Someone back at headquarters didn't know there were two different organizations called "La Raza" and sent out orders to use that defense in the Trump U. case.Trudo, Hannah, "Trump escalates attack on 'Mexican' judge", Politico (6/02/16 10:05 PM EDT, updated 06/02/16 11:27 PM EDT). It's amazing these people manage to tie their shoes in the morning. Trump was endorsed by the National Enquirer and has parroted their "journalism" as fact, like the thing about Cruz's father and JFK.Louis Jacobson and Linda Qiu"Donald Trump's Pants on Fire claim linking Ted Cruz's father and JFK assassination", Politifact (5/3/16 at 5:59 p.m.). (Also, the only person directly quoted in the Enquirer hit piece is Roger Stone, who also wrote a book on how he thinks LBJ killed JFK and regularly makes appearances on Infowars.) His responses on China actually betray a sort of thought process: what he's advocating sounds like an intentional invocation of Nixon's Madman Theory, and Nixon went to China, so we guess in Trump's head those things are somehow directly related.Avlon, John, "Donald Trump Is Running for Richard Nixon’s Third Term", Daily Beast (02.14.16 9:04 PM ET). His wife Melania's speech to the Republican National Convention was supposed to cap the RNC with a sincere defense of her husband. Instead, part of it was grabbed from Michelle Obama."Lawrence O'Donnell: Portions of Melania Trump's RNC 'pure plagiarism'", MSNBC 7.19.16. O'Donnell: "There is no university in America that wouldn't consider this plagiarism." Not at Trump University. That's A+ work right there!
There's actually considerable biographical evidence that Trump is serious about Building Stuff: sources close to him claim that he was deadly serious about the wall; the reason he likes it is that it gives him a physical thing to focus his imagination on, and he is not generally interested in abstractions.McAfee, Tierney, "Two Sides to Trump: His Friends and Foes Speak Out", People (03/30/2016 at 04:35 PM EDT).Laughland, Oliver, "Ex-Trump workers describe egocentric micromanager: 'Donald loves Donald'", The Guardian (3/14/16 15.01 EDT). As you'll note below, interviewers can get Trump to agree to pretty much anything, as long as they frame it as something novel.Hugh Hewitt and Donald Trump talk 2016. DT: "I think I might be inclined to do that. I don’t think that’s that unusual, though. That’s been done before, hasn’t it, Hugh? (No.) ... Yeah, no, I like that idea very much." No spine or judgement whatsoever. He genuinely has no clue how the Executive Branch is run.
Situations keep arising for him to show what kind of leader he would make, and he keeps fumbling them; he lives in the moment and doesn't seem capable of long-term planning. The way he handled the Orlando situation is probably the best example of this.Tani, Maxwell, "Donald Trump: 'I don’t want congrats' for 'being right on radical Islamic terrorism,' but I do 'appreciate' it", Business Insider (6/12/16 at 1:06 PM).Huppke, Rex, "Donald Trump makes 'tragic situation worse'", Guardian (6.14.16 at 1:18pm.) Nailed it! He sounds unhinged even with a teleprompter.Kevin Cirilli, Michael C. Bender, and Jennifer Jacobs, "Trump Holding Meeting With Advisers to Reassess Strategy", Bloomberg (6/20/16 at 2:00 AM PDT). Buried in this piece is Trump mistakenly uploading the wrong speech into his teleprompter.Mascaro, Lisa, "Donald Trump, minus teleprompter, is back ", LA Times (6/14/16 at 6:31 p.m.). Screw the nerds, let's go back to what's fun!Caldwell, Leigh Ann, "After Orlando, Republican Party Unity Behind Trump Grows More Elusive", NBC (6/15/16 at 10:50 am ET). Republican senators set a new record for “being late to meetings” or gluing cellphones to their ears as they hurry past. Any credible Republican would spit-roast Clinton over the e-mail server and coast to the White House. Trump, instead, will posit that Bill had a bathroom quickie with Coney while the pair of them giggled about how they faked the moon landing and poisoned the populace with fluoride.Jacobs, Ben, "Trump issues statement on Clinton that goes full conspiracy theory on lack of charges", Twitter (7/5/16 at 12:31 PM). The head of the FBI just railed on my opponent for 15 minutes? Better start talking about how untrustworthy the FBI is...Chason, Rachel, "House Republican sides with Comey over Trump on Clinton emails", CNN (Updated 7/5/16 at 11:12 PM). Any legitimate criticism of Clinton just gets lumped in with his never-ending miasma of conspiracy theory horseshit ("people are talking about" and "I'm just asking").
===Adults in the room===
Trump's "short list" for vice president included Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, Ivanka Trump, Joni Ernst, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Joe Scarborough, and Jan Brewer. On July 15, he announced that Governor Mike Pence of Indiana would be the nominee.Lasher, Megan, "Eric Trump Says His Sister’s ‘Looks’ Qualify Her for Vice Presidency", TIME 7.7.16.Collins, Eliza, "Trump: I consult myself on foreign policy", Politico (03/16/16 08:24 AM EDT).Kevin Cirilli and Jennifer Jacobs, "The Ohio governor's advisers say he remains uninterested in the position", Bloomberg (5/10/16 at 2:00 PM).Graham, David A., "The Donald Trump Veepstakes: A Cheat Sheet", Atlantic 7.15.16."Donald Trump introduces Mike Pence as VP. But first, a few words about Donald Trump". yahoo.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.
Meanwhile he's been assembling a team of the worst politicians you can imagine. Corrupt shit-bags like Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich, ratfuckers like Roger Stone,Osnos, Evan, "Trump’s Convention Strategy: “The Fix Is In”", New Yorker 4.8.16. Trump's intolerance toward journalist critics also extends towards delegates who don't support him for the nomination. His top advisor, Roger Stone, threatened to release the personal information of all disloyal delegates. and now Rick ScottSchultz, Randy, "Rick Scott on Donald Trump's ticket? Folks, he's already there", Miami Sun-Sentinel (2/26/16 8:36 PM).—though really none of these people made it to the White House.
===Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind===
Bircher tactics work. If this election is a litmus test, then the entire Republican party failed it.Janet Allon, "Dick Cheney sees threat to his title of most evil living Republican", AlterNet. (GOP:' "You need to be scared of Islamists, no one is doing anything!" Trump: "LET'S DO SOMETHING ABOUT MUSLIMS!" GOP: "What?? ZOMG no, what are you talking about?") And that really gets to the heart of the problem: The "Silent Majority" has always held these beliefs under the surface. They've not been very politically active; they're too busy hating the world for changing to even bother voting. But now, Trump has re-activated that base. This is right in Trump's own wheelhouse anyway. People forget that Trump joined the Reform Party back in 1999 and attempted to win their presidential nomination in 2000."Trump officially joins Reform Party", CNN 10.25.99.An Oral History of Donald Trump’s Almost-Run for President in 2000 by David Freedlander (Oct. 11, 2018) New York Magazine.
So now, left with no Bush or Cruz, they've swallowed hard and endorsed Trump. But you can tell their endorsements are half-hearted. 
Trump might be a big player in New York real estate, but he's not a team player—the dressage crowd who somehow manage all to be related to one another (yep, even Obama is related to some of our famous political leaders). Adding to that, this is a guy who flaunts his wealth like someone who just won the lottery and has a gold-plated stroller for his kid. It's taking everything the party holds dear—capitalism, family values—and turning it into a reality TV joke.
It was expected to have down-ticket effects that the GOP are not happy with. Not only was Trump capable of fumbling the presidency right into Clinton's hands, he was thought to cost the GOP significantly in the legislature. Polls had Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson getting creamed by Russ Feingold in no small part because Johnson can't step out of the shadow of Trump.Breshnahan, Josh, "Vulnerable GOP senators duck and cover from Trump", Politico (05/04/16 05:25 PM EDT). And Trump's poisoning of the GOP won't stop after the election. Nobody knows how Paul Ryan is going to rebuild his image after an hour or more of accumulated footage where he weakly endorses Trump while simultaneously disavowing everything he says. And Christie... wow. Where to even start? He went from a contender for the White House to the guy who fetches McDonald'sKruger, Katherine, "Report: Trump Uses Chris Christie As ‘Manservant’ To Fetch His McDonald’s", TPM (6/13/16, 12:51 PM EDT). for the blowhard who claims he saw radical Muslims in Christie's own state cheering on 9/11.Mueller, Mark, "Some Jersey City Muslims did celebrate 9/11, cop and residents say", NJ.com (12/21/15 at 6:00 AM, updated 12/22/15 at 9:27 PM). It's a miracle. And the dozens shall become thousands!
The party is already fissured, and if enough people voted Trump in, career politicians would have to adopt platforms more in line with Joe Sixpack if they want to be electorally successful. And with Antonin Scalia's death, the stakes were just too high to let the presidency slip away. But when they thought that they're going to lose the presidency—and suffer serious losses in the fall—the party is finally ready to take their medicine. Like a gangrenous leg you must amputate.Tau, Byron, "George Will to Leave Republican Party Over Donald Trump’s Impending Nomination", WSJ (6/25/16 11:26 pm ET ). The George Will? DT: Bye, cuck!O'Keefe, Ed, "Dozens of GOP delegates launch new push to halt Donald Trump", WaPo 6.17.16. This is an interesting race tonight. 75% for Hillary Clinton, 22% for Mitt Romney, and we're actually polling a solid 3% for "Donald Trump, Fuck the World." This is fascinating."Isenstadt, Alex, "Hardly anybody wants to speak at Trump's convention", Politico (06/27/16 05:10 AM EDT).Patrick Healy and Ashley Parker, "Run on a Ticket With Donald Trump? No, Thanks, Many Republicans Say", NYT 4.30.16. They are in for a very unpleasant time in Cleveland (As long as everyone is armed, we'll be fine!Savransky, Rebecca, "Cleveland looking to buy riot gear for Republican convention", The Hill (March 03, 2016, 07:26 pm).Ferguson, David, "Trump-loving delegate announces he’ll be strapped with a 9mm Glock at RNC in Cleveland", Raw Story (7/1/16 at 10:34 ET).), and Trump will run as a zombie, but the party will emerge more-or-less intact.
Some were openly calling for the Republican Party to refuse funding to Trump and give money to other vulnerable candidates instead. "Republican letter urges party to cut Trump's funding". BBC News.
Trump embodies every stereotype the left has tried to stick Republicans with for years. It will be impossible to deny your party is sexist and racist when he is the standard bearer for it. Actually, not impossible. There are plenty who still deny it. Republican talking heads are half-entertaining rumors that Trump, a longtime friend of the Clintons, is actually one of the most successful political double agents ever planted.Will, George, "Is Donald Trump a Democratic secret agent?", BBC. Donald trump is literally Hillary Clinton in a fat suit. Have you ever seen them in the same room since the election started? It's easy to see the appeal of this theory: it's painful for conservatives to admit the party is getting its just deserts for pandering to cretins; they'd rather just pretend that it's due to Hillary's witchcraft.Lewis, Hunter, "What Populism Is And Isn't", Mises Daily 12.31.15 (Waaaah! Now the media is redefining populism as Trumpism! That's OUR word!)
===Stop and frisk===
Nowhere was Trump's ineptitude on greater display then in the first debate when Trump argued in support of New York City's Stop-and-Frisk ordinance. In his rambling policy proposal, Trump showed he didn't understand the difference between local, state, and regional issues, and the limits of federal and presidential power. New York City's Stop-and-Frisk law was an anti-gun measure based on the idea that people don't kill people, guns do. Trump vehemently argued in support of this entirely local issue while campaigning for federal office, after having secured the backing of the National Rifle Association.
Then, in an effort to show understanding of African Americans' issues and concerns, Trump made the statement that Obama's hometown of Chicago had 4000 shootings since Obama came to Washington. In fact, Chicago had 4000 shootings in just the past year, and Trump was arguing for federal legislation to disarm law abiding citizens.
Trump's fellow RINO Rudy Giuliani, who evidently advised Trump on these alleged "facts", defended the stupidity while displaying his own total ignorance of America outside the New York media bubble and the New York City political milleu.
===The victory parade===
After a win that contradicted most pre-election polls, the celebrants include a motley crew of dictators, theocrats, and extremists. 
*Russian President Vladimir PutinNicole Gaouette, Elise Labott and Angela Dewan, Russia's Putin, others pleased as Trump win shocks world, CNN
*The KKKFeliks Garcia, Ku Klux Klan announces Donald Trump victory parade as white supremacists celebrate nationwide, The Independent
*Prominent Salafist groups (including the Taliban, al-Qaeda and DAESH)Ishaan Tharoor, Islamist extremists celebrate Trump’s election win, The Washington Post
*The European far-right, including Geert Wilders, Golden Dawn Party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris and National Front Party leader Marine Le PenVideo, Europe's far-right celebrates Trump victory, Reuters
*Right-wing Israeli populists‘The era of the Palestinian state is over’ — Israeli right celebrates Trump win Mondoweiss
*Philippines President Rodrigo DutertePhilippines' Duterte says to stop quarrels with U.S. after Trump win (Wed Nov 9, 2016 | 2:52pm EST) Reuters.
*Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of TurkeyTrump, Turkey's Erdogan discuss boosting ties, fighting terrorism: sources (Wed Nov 9, 2016 | 4:07pm EST) Reuters.
==First term==
Trump's ambitions for the Oval Office began years before he actually won the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination. Indeed, he's been involved in politics for quite some time.
Following an escalating series of gaffes and scandals in the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election, at least 160 Republican leaders withheld or renounced their support for his candidacy.More Than 160 Republican Leaders Don't Support Donald Trump. Here's When They Reached Their Breaking Point. by Karen Yourish (29 August 2016) The New York Times. Despite significant backlash from the public and his own party, he won the Republican nomination, and was elected President of the United States, despite having lost the popular vote.It's official: Clinton swamps Trump in popular vote by Gregory Krieg (Updated 1034 GMT (1834 HKT) December 22, 2016) CNN.This was the fifth US presidential election in which the winner lost the popular vote. On Inauguration Day, Trump had the dubious honor of having the single largest number of protesters in American history – the Women's March.This is what we learned by counting the women's marches by Erica Chenoweth & Jeremy Pressman (Feb. 7, 2017, at 2:00 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
Despite Trump's campaign mythologizing about his "coming from outside the system" and being "free of cronyism" (imagining a Democrat-disgruntled working class being the ones to carry him into office), his actual supporters generally have above-average incomes, typical of the same voter demographic that has always supported the GOP.The Mythology Of Trump's 'Working Class' SupportOne must, however, take into consideration these facts:
*Trump won the Rust Belt and Appalachia, both impoverished, majority-white areas formerly reliant on unionized blue-collar jobs and both key battleground areas;
*Trump received the highest proportion of the (shrinking) union vote (43% for the Republicans vs. 51% for the Democrats) of any Republican since 1976 (38% vs. 63%, respectively); the proportion has steadily grown since that year;
*At the same time, the Democratic vote has declined due to their steady inability to mobilize their traditional bases, due to various factors from the end of door-to-door canvassing to voter ID laws. ("Who Put Trump in the White House?", Jacobin.)
*Trump's most loyal supporters are small-business owners, who are the demographic more receptive to the kind of racial and economic resentment he rode his coattails to the White House on.("The Revenge of Joe the Plumber", Jacobin.) In American terms, Trump has pretty much styled himself as the second coming of Richard Nixon, complete with his enemies lists and paranoia. In turn, Trump actually appears to have secured the conspiracy theorist vote,Trump’s Long History With Conspiracy Theories, FactCheck.org, October 20 2020Ben Collins, "Like Donald Trump? You'll Love the Illuminati.", The Daily Beast, Aug. 16, 2016In fact, quote: "Donald Trump supporters are 4.2 times more likely to tweet about the New World Order than Hillary Clinton supporters. Thirty-nine percent of people who tweeted the hashtag #NewWorldOrder followed Trump's Twitter account. Almost 32 percent who tweeted about #FalseFlag – that shootings and terror attacks like the Sandy Hook or Orlando massacres were staged by the government – followed Trump on social media. About 10 percent of the #FalseFlag tweeters followed Clinton." a demographic which, these days, appears to include both himselfMatt Viser and Tracy Jan, "Warnings of conspiracy stoke anger among Trump faithful", The Boston Globe and his trophy wife.Amy Davidson, "Melania Trump, Conspiracy Theorist", The New Yorker
A 2021 informal and unscientific poll of 142 presidential historians rated Trump 4th last among all of the 41 presidents who had completed a term, followed by Franklin Pierce (appeased The South to no avail), Andrew Johnson (first to be impeached), and James Buchanan (whose incompetence and pro-slavery sympathies helped bring about the Civil War).Historians just ranked the presidents. Trump wasn’t last. by Gillian Brockell (June 30, 2021 at 11:34 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. Not to be underperformed, Trump came in dead last for moral authority and administrative skills.
===Trump-Russia connection===
Despite its popular name, the Trump-Russia investigation or the Russia probe examines more than ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Other countries with potentially illegal connection to Trump and his associates include China, Israel, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In particular, Trump, his daughter Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner have business interests in Qatar, the UAE, Israel, and China.It's Not Just a "Russia" Investigation Anymore. Slate. March 8, 2018. Nor is it limited to the office of the Special Counsel; there is a separate criminal investigation by the FBI.Maria Butina, Russian gun rights advocate, charged in the U.S. with acting as Russian Federation agent by Tom Jackman & Rosalind S. Helderman (July 16, 2018, at 3:28 PM) The Washington Post. In fact, by December 2018, investigators have begun scrutinizing virtually all aspects of Trump's public life, his presidential campaign, his inaugural committee, his charity, his business dealings, and his presidency itself.He faces lawsuits for possible violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.Trump has led a lot of organizations. Nearly all of them are now under investigation. The Chicago Tribune. December 15, 2018. Accessed February 5, 2019. Meanwhile, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the House Oversight Committee are conducting their own investigations on alleged Russian meddling and any collusion with Trump aides. These are arguably some of the most high-profile criminal cases in United States history.Trump Russia affair: Key questions answered. BBC News. December 12, 2018.
The investigation of the Trump-Russia connection is not limited to the office of the Special Counsel; it has also included a separate criminal investigation by the FBIMaria Butina, Russian gun rights advocate, charged in the U.S. with acting as Russian Federation agent by Tom Jackman & Rosalind S. Helderman (July 16, 2018, at 3:28 PM) The Washington Post. and may include other as yet unknown investigations. In mid-2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein revealed a broad effort by the Department of Justice to combat Russian "information warfare" waged against the United States to undermine her democracy and critical infrastructure. Indeed, the Russian attempt to influence the 2016 Election was "just one tree in a growing forest", he said.Russia Campaign 'Just One Tree in a Growing Forest', Rosenstein Says. The New York Times. July 19, 2018.
On March 22, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his final report to Attorney General William Barr. Barr informed Congress in writing he would brief them on the "principal conclusions" and restated his commitment to "as much transparency as possible." Polls show that Americans would like to see the report. Earlier in the month, the House voted unanimously in favor of a non-binding resolution urging the Justice Department to make the report public.Mueller Delivers Report on Trump-Russia Investigation to Attorney General. The New York Times. March 22, 2019. Accessed March 22, 2019. According to Barr's summary of the report's findings, Mueller found no evidence of any collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia. Because Mueller did not really answer the question of whether or not Trump obstructed justice, Barr asserted there was no concrete evidence for it. However, Barr acknowledged that Russian officials had offered to assist the Trump campaign. The end of the Special Counsel probe does not mean the end of legal troubles for Donald Trump, who still faces investigations from New York state prosecutors and from Congress.No collusion: Key takeaways from Mueller's Russia findings. Associated Press. March 25, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2019. During the Special Counsel investigation, FBI agents traveled across the United States and to numerous other countries. Some witnesses were interviewed immediately after they had landed at an American airport. Charges were brought against dozens of individuals. However, no Americans were charged with conspiring with Russia.Mueller Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy, but Stops Short of Exonerating President on Obstruction. The New York Times. March 24, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2019. 
Even then, in 2019, just two months earlier it was revealed that after Trump removed FBI Director James Comey over the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the FBI began investigating whether Trump was a knowing or unknowing asset of the Russian government assisted by Russia to act against the interests of the US government.F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia by Adam Goldman et al. (Jan. 11, 2019) The New York Times. And yes, Trump has put forward policies clearly in favor of the Russian government's interests, most importantly on the matter of the NATO alliance of the US as the leading country of the alliance along with European countries, Turkey, and Canada, with Trump indicating in public statements that the US could abandon the NATO alliance. And that's just brilliant for all of us, right?
===Undermining democratic institutions===
Democratic backsliding is how democracies become authoritarian states.Definition of Democratic backsliding
How to destroy a democracy
*Centralise power ☑ Trump made it a mission to hollow out all functions of government that aren't his direct word. Start with a brutal budget that shows a narcissistic level of discontent for the poor and those in need,Why are Republicans so cruel to the poor? Paul Ryan's profound hypocrisy stands for a deeper problem, salon then cripple the non-elected civil service,Trump signs executive orders making it easier to fire federal workers, HuffPost and then weaken the state department monetarilyCuts to State will be reduced in final Trump proposal, Politico and kill its diplomacy.Rex Tillerson Is Running the State Department Into the Ground, Politico Job done, the military-industrial complex has never been stronger.
*Empower the junta ☑ Naturally, Trump's autocratic nature repays the police unions who endorsed him in the first place, and this pays himself to give even more methods to abuse authoritarian tactics. Mass arrests occurred on the literal day he was inagurated.Trials for violent protest framed as Trump vs the resistance, AP If that wasn't enough of a statement, Trump handed back police access to excessive military equipment,Why are some US police forces equipped like military units?, The Guardian used his rhetoric to destabilise the law itself,Trump's 'alarming' death penalty call threatens suspect's chance of fair trial, experts warn, The Guardian made mass crackdowns and arrests a normal part of the day, and using secret police tactics to kidnap and terrorise protesters.Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets, OPB Even in this brief summary, it poses terrifying similarities to how other tyrants used the police to enforce their agenda.
*Attack the media ☑ Once you have empowered the police to be your personal weapon, the next step is to terrorise the press. Trump implemented a massive crackdown against reporters so they couldn't report on his actions,"Fears of crackdown on US journalism as Trump ally removes editorial 'firewall'," The Guardian allowed the police to repeatedly arrest reporters for doing their jobs, outright ordered police to tear-gas reporters,"Teargassed, beaten up, arrested: what freedom of the press looks like in the US right now," Poppy Noor, The Guardian and loathes American journalism so much that he directly ordered violence against journalists."Trump Says Reporters Covering Protests Deserve to Be Attacked," Johnathan Chait, New York Magazine Again, this is exactly what tyrants do.
*Post-truth alt-right rhetoric ☑ As discussed extensively before, Trump's rhetoric has the power to cause violence and instability, by it's sheer power to manipulate the truth, and then repeated ad infinitum. His massive personality cultRep. Liz Cheney, vice-chair of the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, says in an interview with @costareports that there “is absolutely a cult of personality around Donald Trump” in the Republican Party by CBS Sunday Morning (11:00 AM · Jun 3, 2022) Twitter (archived from 6 Jun 2022 16:58:07 UTC). relies on the ability to cling to the insecurities of his followers.
Democracy watchdog Freedom House's report states that Trump's victory was a destabilizing threat to democracy.Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy In 2017, The Democracy Index listed the U.S. as a flawed democracy, but the reduced rank was not caused by Trump.Declining trust in government is denting democracy The lower rank was instead caused by the same factors that won Trump the election and contribute to the rise of far-right parties in Europe. That factor is the decline of trust in government. A lack of confidence in government may well lead to political apathy, lower voter turnout, and consequently a government that more poorly represents its people (along with currently anti-democratic measures such as Voter ID laws and gerrymandering, and arguably the first past the post system and the electoral college). And it's equally worth noting that Russia often has a hand in democratic backsliding, namely in the former Soviet sphere and post-communist countries.Energy, Russian Influence, and Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe
Of course, you would expect Donald Trump to find a way to get himself impeached due to his complete ignorance of democratic principles. And whaddya know? On December 18, 2019, Trump became just the third President in United States history to be impeached, in this case due to a coordinated campaign within his administration to pressure Ukraine for dirt on his potential political rival, Joe Biden, in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. The US Senate almost immediately voted to acquit President Trump on February 5, with Mitt Romney being the only member of Trump's party to vote for removal on either count.Trump acquitted of both charges in Senate impeachment trial. CNBC.
===Cabinet members, or how to create a cesspool===
He ran on a populist platform, pledging to "drain the swamp", meaning prevent Wall Street from controlling government, not a destructive anti-environmentalist platform. Now that he won, that means all of his supporters (and some former detractors) are lining up for sweet positions in his administration, including Wall Street. Besides promising to "hire the best people", he also promised to "drain the swamp", but his nominations and hiring practices prove that instead of draining or filling the swamp, he's creating a noxious cesspool; the people he chooses tend to be either on a pillage-and-burn mission or totally unqualified for the job. The worst thing is that his supporters don't careTesfaye S. (December 2, 2016). Fill the swamp! Donald Trump's voters don't seem upset by all the Wall Street insiders and D.C. lobbyists. Salon. Retrieved November 14, 2018. as long as the cesspool monsters are not "politicians", whatever that means. The result is possibly the most fervently right-wing cabinet in recent memory and one that's still filled with quite a few politicians.
And this isn't going to go into how swamps are, in reality, biodiversity-rich hubs that provide a ton of benefits, not like Trump cares a single bit about the environment. Trump may be draining literal swamps, which is hardly a good thing, as he's threatened national parks by trying to allow exploitation and decreasing their sizes.Pereira, S. (November 5, 2017). Trump Administration Threatens National Parks and Monuments. Newsweek
The Trump team was actually well-prepared to fill the cabinet just before the election. Chris Christie, who had run against Trump in the primary but then joined the campaign, had prepared a 30-volume set of dossiers on possible cabinet picks that was ready one day before the general election.Chris Christie confronted with his own vetting dossier by Jonathan Swan (June 23, 2019) Axios. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, had a grudge against Christie; Christie as a US Attorney had previously sent Kushner's father () to prison for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. The 30 volumes were summarily thrown out, and Christie was fired two days after the election at the behest of Kushner and Steve Bannon. The vetting process was then led by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who hired overwhelmed 20-year RNC staffers to do the vetting from scratch.Behind the scenes: How Trump's team staffed the U.S. government Jonathan Swan (June 23, 2019) Axios. Said one vetter:
Another vetter said:
Rather than draining the swamp, Trump has been found to have over 3,400 conflicts of interests,President Trump’s 3,400 conflicts of interest CREW, September 24, 2020, Updated April 7, 2021 including with William Barr.Bill Barr’s Trump Hotel holiday party is the least of his conflicts CREW, December 11, 2019, Updated September 24, 2020 In 2019, the DOJ received information about financial documents indicating that the Egyptian Intelligence Service had withdrew around 10 million dollars, which was suspected to have been given to Trump as a bribe.Oversight Democrats Launch Investigation into Allegations Trump DOJ Covered Up $10 Million Cash Bribe to Donald Trump from Egyptian President The Committee on Oversight and Reform, September 3 Press Release, 2024 The person responsible for overseeing the probe was Jessie Liu, who was then approached by William Barr, she soon after did a U-Turn, abandoning her subpoenas. She was replaced by 2020 with someone else, indicating that Barr prevented an investigation into these funds.
===Policies===
Starting right on the first week of his presidency, Trump has begun dismantling Obama's legacy. This is indeed one of the guiding principles of the Trump administration.
His policies prove that elections do have consequences. Policies have virtually always ranged from ignorant to borderline, or outright, cruelty. It's the USA's consequence for letting their political spectrum stunt on the left-wing while creeping ever further to the right. There is a lot of history behind this, but here are some highlights of far-right policy in full blow:
*Kids in cages: Immigration policies of Donald Trump reach a level of callous that defies reality. The most infamous of which was separating Mexican families at the border and placing children in literal cages,Trump migrant separation policy: Children 'in cages' in Texas, BBC as well as pretty much leaving immigrants to commit suicide in ICE detention.ICE DETAINEE DIAGNOSED WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA SPENT 21 DAYS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, THEN TOOK HIS OWN LIFE, The Intercept Even elsewhere, in Virginia reports emerged of children being stripped and forcibly injected with drugs without their consent,Opinion: Migrant kids were stripped, drugged, locked away. So much for compassion. The Washington Post and with pregnant women being left to miscarry courtesy of ICE torture.Pregnant women in ICE custody claim they miscarried due to ‘inhumane’ practices, New York Post Such savage and vicious policies look more like a Soviet gulag than anything, but rest assured that this is all the work of Donald Trump; a man so willing to ignore common decency for his own gain, with followers either completely blind or equally as heartless. His stance on immigration appears to at least in part come from a belief in the Great Replacement: that Latin Americans were seeking to displace White Americans in the employment, housing, and education sectors.Donald Trump and Fox News Promote the Great Replacement Theory by Nancy LeTourneau (August 6, 2019), Washington Monthly6 in 10 Trump voters agree with core tenet of great replacement theory: survey by Olafimihan Oshin (May 24, 2022), The Hill
*Reversing civil rights: As well as scapegoating and torturing immigrants, don't think you're off the hook unless you are white, straight, Protestant Christian, male and a "true American conservative".In modern terms, synonym for reactionary He cut or outright removed federal government agencies and budget relating to civil rights,Trump asked what black Americans have to lose by voting for him. His budget gives a clear answer. VoxTrump administration plans to minimize civil rights efforts in agencies banned Muslim-majority countries entry to the USWho Trump is banning from the US, illustrated, Vox among other religious discrimination under the "religious freedom guise",Sessions outlines broad exemptions for religious freedom, POLITICO dozens among dozens of anti-LGBT actions which empowered homophobia,White House won’t let a pride flag fly on federal land for National Coming Out Day, LGBTQNATIONTrump fires his HIV/AIDS council without warning & won’t explain why he did it, LGBTQNATIONDonald Trump to become first president to speak at anti-LGBT hate group's annual summit, The IndependentThis Is Why The Erasing of LGBT Americans On The 2020 Census Matters, The Daily BeastTrump promised to be LGBTQ-friendly. His first year in office proved it was a giant con. VoxTrump administration amasses striking anti-LGBT record in first year, The Hill and hosility to women including cutting funding for many organisations,Trump funding cuts would imperil tens of thousands of women, activists warn, The Guardian ramping up the abortion gag rule to absurdity,Trump Escalates War on Women, Common Dreams pushing abstinence-only education,Trump Administration Pushes Abstinence in Teen Pregnancy Programs, The New York Times and inadvertently worsening the college campus sexual assault epidemic.Amid 'Epidemic' of Campus Sexual Assault, Women's Groups Decry Rollback of Protections by 'See No Evil Betsy Devos', Common Dreams Remember, "the cruelty is the point". Even after succeeding President Joe Biden's mountains of work to undo the damage, the ripples are still felt.
*Drain the swamp, literally: Earlier we mentioned "draining the swamp". Again, it works both ways because Trump couldn't give one shit about the environment. Eager to boost the coal industry,EPA rolls back Obama-era coal pollution rules as Trump heads to West Virginia, CNN Trump crippled the EPA to a shell,Trump administration seeks to muzzle U.S. agency employees, Reuters6 Ways President Trump Wants to Hamstring the EPA, Mother Jones which has caused unnecessary suffering and death elsewhere.Trump’s Order May Foul U.S. Drinking Water Supply, Scientific AmericanEPA analysis of its own new climate proposal: thousands of people will die, Vox This is not all; Trump squeezed down national parks and monuments,Is Congress about to wreck America's natural treasures?, The Guardian made massive price increases to renewable energy with cuts to federal funding of such,Trump’s Job-Killing Plan to Kneecap the Solar Industry, Mother JonesWhite House to ask for 72 percent cut in renewable energy programs: report, The Hill left Puerto Rico to rot after a hurricane,Trump tried to illegally withhold disaster relief money from Puerto Rico, Vox and most crucially, left the Paris agreement until Biden brought it back.Will Paris pull-out hurt Trump? BBC This obviously had disastrous effects over the four years, and a pattern with many of these is Trump's pattern to intentionally cut policies and relief that will help people, putting his far-right narcissism in full display.
**... and fuck the animals too: And to rub some more salt in, Trump removed regulations on animal food and let puppy mills and experiment labs go on with extreme animal cruelty, since reporting of such incidents was demolished.The Trump Administration Is Making It Easier for Puppy Mills to Hide Animal Abuse, GLAMOURHow Trump’s USDA Could Hurt Puppies, Mother Jones
*"Edyucayshaun": Because making America great again is such an important thing, Trump appointed the Secretary of Education as someone married to Amway fortune and anti-public education activist: Betsy DeVos. Having no qualifications to her name and being a fucking fundamentalist is a lethal combo, as she campaigned for a voucher system that doesn't work,Goodbye, American education, Freethought Blogs reinstated ACICS despite them propping up diploma mills,Agency saved by DeVos appears to have accredited a college with no students, faculty or classrooms, salon lied to the Senate,TRUMP EDUCATION NOMINEE BETSY DEVOS LIED TO THE SENATE, The InterceptThat, or she is illiterate. Which isn't even out of the question, she may be that stupid ... and definitely had not visited struggling public schools on purpose.DeVos Has Not ‘Intentionally’ Visited a Struggling Michigan Public School, The New York Times In an already deeply flawed education system, it's nice to see Trump not concerned about US education sliding into Eastern Europe tiers.
*Foreign policy chaos: Trump is, as you may expect, a warmonger and a seasoned chickenhawk. While predecessor Barack Obama was criticised for foreign policy especially regarding human rights, Trump took this beyond defensible bounds, with his administration ordering record numbers of bombings and airstrikes on Afghanistan,Bombs, missiles falling at record pace in long-running Afghanistan war. USA Today.US airstrikes in Afghanistan near record high after Trump vows to hit enemy hard. Stars and Stripes. Yemen,Trump, the War President, Leaves a Trail of Civilians Dead in Yemen. The Intercept. and Somalia,The Trump Administration's Air Strikes in Somalia Are On the Rise Again – and Civilians Are Paying the Price. TIME. at a horrific civilian cost. He did this with almost no accountability, as he revoked an Obama-era rule on reporting civilian deaths in drone strikes.Trump revokes Obama rule on reporting drone strike deaths. BBC News. While he wasn't "bombing the shit out of" people, Trump pretty much caused instability anywhere you found him, moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem,Moving The US Embassy To Jerusalem: The Good, The Bad And The Unpredictable which obviously reignited civil unrest,Israel strikes Gaza Hamas sites after rocket attacks, BBC viciously sanctioned Iran beyond the bounds of safety,Trump administration to impose crushing sanctions on Iran in defiance of European humanitarian concerns, The Washington Post successfully alienated the United fucking Kingdom of all countries by lying about them imposing surveillance of Trump Tower,White House-GCHQ row reveals a leader willing to alienate allies to save face, The Guardian and— oh, screw it. Just read our page about it and watch the madness unravel further. In 2019, Trump and John Bolton attempted to organize a coup against Venezuela, and Trump claimed Venezuela was "really part of the United States".John Bolton (2020) The Room Where It Happened: Chapter 9
*Blatant authoritarianism: Just see above ...
===The first post falls===
Stung by the results of the 2018 midterm electionsTrump, stung by midterms and nervous about Mueller, retreats from traditional presidential duties. Los Angeles Times. November 13, 2018. — when Democrats gained control of the HouseDemocrats seize House control, but Trump's GOP holds Senate. Associated Press. November 7, 2018. — Donald Trump got a bit angry about the lack of funding for his border wall, and shut down the federal government for the longest period in US history.This is the longest shutdown in US history, CNN It really stuns even the most staunchy idealist looking at Trump's sheer inability to learn and childish abuses of power on full belt. This loss, and the ongoing Russia probe, made himself distance from the ordinary presidential duties, or so it seems, sending aides, including Vice President Mike Pence, to various events in his stead.
Such behaviour, and the shift seen in the voting population, would prove an omen for Trump's catastrophic loss in 2020.
===American carnage===
Following the murder of George FloydCelebration is laced with warnings after Derek Chauvin conviction at the hands of an on-duty police officer named Derek Chauvin, protests broke out nationwide, with hundreds of cities hosting thousands of people speaking out against police brutality, white supremacy, and authoritarianism. Trump, having given the police and himself far too much extra power by this point, responded by calling on the military to "dominate" the protesters."As Protests Swell, Trump Vows To Unleash Military Against Anti-Racist Demonstrations," Jessica Schulberg, Ryan J. Reilly, Richard Kim, and George Zornick, Huffington Post"Trump threatens to end protests with military," Caitlin Oprysko, Politico He lived up to his word by calling in hundreds of out-of-state National Guards to patrol the streets of D.C. against the mayor's wishes. This led to numerous instances of police-driven and police-instigated violence against even reporters and journalists, with a grand total of 140 attacks on journalists from May 28th, 2020 to June 1st, 2020.More than 140 journalists have been arrested or attacked by law enforcement during US protests, The Observers"Journalists Become Targets While Covering America’s Unraveling," Charlotte Klein, Vanity Fair"Trump revels in "beautiful sight" of law enforcement grabbing journalist," Kathryn Watson, CBS News Anchored by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, President Trump and Attorney General William Barr ordered the police to teargas peaceful protesters so Trump could walk across the street and take a picture with an upside down Bible in front of a church, in a perfect encapsulation of his presidency."Peaceful Protesters Tear-Gassed To Clear Way For Trump Church Photo-Op," Tom Gjelten, NPR"The White House Tear-Gassed Protesters So Trump Could Have a Photo Op," Alison Durkee, Vanity Fair"Trump campaign demands story retractions on tear gas use," Al Jazeera He would later use Homeland Security to continue cracking down on protesters, including kidnapping and detaining people for questioning in unmarked vehicles,"‘It was like being preyed upon’: Portland protesters say federal officers in unmarked vans are detaining them," Katie Shepherd and Mark Berman, Washington Post"Federal Officers Deployed By Trump Admin Are “Kidnapping” Protesters In Portland," Johanna Silver and Matty Greene, Now This News"Trump Sent Cops to Portland and They're ‘Kidnapping People off the Streets," Paul Blest, Vice News and teargassing the fucking mayor of Portland,"Portland mayor tear-gassed by federal agents as protests continue," Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBCNews unmistakable hallmarks of authoritarianism.
===White House outbreak of COVID-19===
Throughout 2020, Trump refused to take adequate action against COVID-19,"A new investigation reveals Trump ignored experts on Covid-19 for months", Aja Romano, Vox"Trump officials ignored coronavirus warnings, ousted scientist says in complaint", Noam N. Levey and David S. Cloud downplayed and lied about its severity,"Trump attacked Fauci's advice and boasted of ignoring government experts in his coronavirus response", Mia Jankowicz, Business Insider outright hindered efforts to get masks delivered to people,"White House abandoned plan to send 650 million face masks across the U.S. in April, report says", Hannah Miao, CNBC"Federal Program to Supply Coronavirus Tests to Nursing Homes Led to Unexpected Costs and Testing Hell", Andrew Jacobs, New York Times"Of Course Trump Nixed a Masks Plan That Could've Eradicated COVID-19 in April", Bess Levin, Vanity Fair."The White House Stopped the Post Office From Sending Out Free Masks", Claire Lampen, The Cut ignored expert advice to wear masks and socially distance,"An Oral History of the Pandemic Warnings Trump Ignored", Garrett M. Graff, Wired"Why Trump Was Deaf to All the Warnings He Received", David A. Graham, The Atlantic. while politicizing mask-wearing nationwide despite their effectiveness against the virus,Trump’s refusal to wear a mask is helping politicize a crucial tool for fighting virus. Boston Globe. purged anyone who dared to speak out against his orders,"White House spokesperson confirms Trump is purging people: If we find them, we'll take appropriate action", John Haltiwanger, Business Insider."White House Confirms It's Purging Disloyal Employees From the Bowels of the Federal Government", Eric Katz, GovExec"The dangerous consequences of Trump's oversight purge", Maeve Reston, CNN"Trump Proceeds With Post-Impeachment Purge Amid Pandemic", New York Times repeatedly held "super-spreader" rallies without masks,"Trump held six indoor rallies after acknowledging the coronavirus was airborne", by Grace Segers and Nicole Sganga, CBSNews. suggested the idea of injecting disinfectant to stop the virus,"Please don't inject bleach": Trump's wild coronavirus claims prompt disbelief", Poppy Noor, The Guardian"It's irresponsible and it's dangerous': Experts rip Trump's idea of injecting disinfectant to treat COVID-19", Jane C. Timm, NBCNews."Coronavirus: Outcry after Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment", BBC and pushed to reopen businesses, schools, and the rest of the economy while suppressing warnings against doing so by scientists and doctors."How Trump's Push to Reopen Schools Backfired", Eliza Shapiro, New York Times"Trump threatens to cut funding for schools, slams CDC reopening guidelines as too tough and expensive", Christina Wilkie, CNBC A study conducted by a group of economists at Stanford University calculated that rallies Trump held were responsible for at least 700 COVID-19 deaths (not necessarily among attendees).The Effects of Large Group Meetings on the Spread of COVID-19: The Case of Trump Rallies by B. Douglas Bernheim et al. (October 30, 2020) SSRN doi:10.2139/ssrn.3722299. The day before it was reported that over 200,000 people had died, Trump was claiming the disease "affects virtually nobody,"“It affects virtually nobody”: Trump erases coronavirus victims as US death toll hits 200,000", Aaron Rupar, Vox"As nation surpasses 200,000 deaths, Trump keeps downplaying coronavirus", Ben Gittleson, ABCNews.[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-it-affects-virutally-nobody-trump-coronavirus-rally/ "Trump said coronavirus "affects virtually nobody", as U.S. surpasses 200,000 deaths", Caitlin O'Kane, CBSNews. while the US fell into an economic and humanitarian crisis.5 Ways the Trump Administration’s Policy Failures Compounded the Coronavirus-Induced Economic Crisis. Center for American Progress.
By January 20th, 2021, his last day as president, he presided over a grand total of 400,000 deaths from COVID-19, and one estimate in October 2020 of worst-case total US deaths from COVID was 620,029130,000-210,000 Avoidable COVID-19 Deaths – And Counting – in the U.S. by Irwin Redlener et al. (October 21, 2020) National Center for Disease Preparedness, Columbia University. essentially came to pass by June 2021. Given that initial disease response (lockdowns and mask-wearing) is critical in reducing total deaths, a large proportion of the total US deaths would be attributable to him regardless of whether the deaths occur after he is out of office. A post-Trump analysis by a Lancet commission report in February 2021 estimated that 40% of the 470,000 US COVID deaths (188,000 deaths) could have been averted if Trump had taken the pandemic seriously; the study compared death rates among G7 countries.US could have averted 40% of Covid deaths, says panel examining Trump's policies: The country began the pandemic with a degraded public health infrastructure, leading to more deaths than other high-income countries by Amanda Holpuch (11 Feb 2021 00.01 EST) The Guardian.Public policy and health in the Trump era by Steffie Woolhandler et al. (2021) The Lancet 397(10275):705-753. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32545-9.
Oh, and it was found later he intentionallyTrump deliberately played down virus, Woodward book says, BBC botched the public response, claiming he "didn't want to cause panic", yet stuck on spitting invectives against Asian-Americans,Why masks are (still) politicized in America. Vox. leading to catastrophic spikes in anti-Asian racism across America, which continued into 2021.There Have Been Nearly 4,000 Incidents Of Anti-Asian Racism In The Last Year, HuffPost Even after his departure from the White House, many of his federal judges were blocking federal and state government agencies from enforcing policies intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Not only did this lead to more cases and deaths, but it has prevented the government from responding to future pandemics. This goes all the way up to the Supreme Court, where three of six conservative justices were appointed by Trump, because they ruled in favor of allowing churches and other places of worship to be exempted from pandemic restrictions on account of "religious liberty.""The courts are destroying America’s ability to fight pandemics," Ian Millhiser, Vox"The Christian right is racking up huge victories in the Supreme Court, thanks to Amy Coney Barrett," Ian Millhiser, Vox"Religious conservatives have won a revolutionary victory in the Supreme Court," Ian Millhiser, Vox
In late September 2020, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of cancer, and her last wish was for her not to be replaced until a new president was inaugurated the following year. Despite the Republican party arguing for such a delay when Antonin Scalia died in early 2016, Trump ignored her wishes and immediately nominated Amy Coney Barret, Ginsburg's ideological opposite, and held a Rose Garden event announcing Barret's nomination."Trump announces Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his pick for the Supreme Court", Seung Min Kim and Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post Within days, it was revealed that Hope Hicks, a White House aide, had contracted COVID-19. First Lady Melania Trump tested positive, but Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. tested negative. Campaign manager Bill Stepien tested positive, as did Ronna Romney McDaniel, the RNC Chairwoman. Senators Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, and Thom Tillis all tested positive. Former Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were also tested positive."Trump's Symptoms Are Said to Be 'Very Concerning' as Virus Infects More G.O.P. Allies", Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, New York Times
Trump revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, as he was said to have trouble breathing. Doctors revealed that he had exhibited symptoms on October 1, including a "mild cough, and some nasal congestion and fatigue."Hanson, Hilary (October 3, 2020). "Trump's Doctors Reveal President Is Further Into COVID-19 Diagnosis Than Previously Announced". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2020. Evidence suggests Trump actually had the infection on September 30, but proceeded with his plans for a public rally that evening and a fund-raiser on October 1.Pasquini, Maria (October 3, 2020). "Trump's Doctor Says 'We Are 72 Hours Into This Diagnosis,' Evades Questions on President's Fever". People. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
===Leaving the White House===
Sure enough, tens of millions of Americans were utterly sick and tired of his incompetence at leading America and decided to get rid of him. November 3rd a somewhat delayed reaction, and even with the vote count incomplete due to mail-in ballots, Trump demanded to have the votes stop and declared himself the victor.Trump’s premature victory claim prompts quick rebukes Nobody cared, and the count went on. On the morning of November 7th, 2020, everyone was relieved to know that President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr, the gaffe-shooting Amtrak machine had won,Election 2020 Live Updates: Biden Wins Presidency. Democrats Rejoice. Republicans Disbelieve. (Nov. 7, 2020, 7:01 p.m. ET) The New York Times. and was set to be sworn in come January. In fact, Trump lost his reelection bid by a simply staggering margin against the Democratic nominee, losing no less than five states that he won in 2016US election results 2020: Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump to win presidency. The Guardian. and losing the popular vote by at least seven million.Biden's popular-vote lead grows to more than 7 million as Trump continues to tweet electoral disinformation. Business Insider. Worse? Trump got taken out in Georgia and Arizona. Two Republican strongholds fractured a little, faulted to Trump's incompetence and unpopular Republican policy as well as officials in these two states, knowing full well how unpopular Trump is with most people, working extremely hard to try to get the general public voting.
In the following months, the most watchful observers braced themselves for the biggest, yuugest, most beautiful meltdown in Trump's entire lifetime; already he had tweeted:
His most loyal supporters broke into utter hysteria. It was shaping up to be a hilarious and shocking period. Trump continued to deny the results and eventually filed dozens of frivolous lawsuits while spreading baseless claims of election fraud.Trump loves to win but keeps losing election lawsuits. Associated Press. In 2021, only weeks before Biden's inauguration, the recording of a secret tape was leaked, showing Trump attempting to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-GA), whose home state went for Biden, to "find" enough votes to flip the state.'Trump heard on phone call urging Georgia officials to "find" enough votes to overturn presidential results. Melissa Quinn & Tim Perry, Jan. 4, 2021, CBS News Despite the established insanity of his presidency, not one person expected his final attempt to hold onto power to go as far as it did ...
===Coup attempt and second impeachment===
While the aforementioned phone call certainly qualifies as an impeachable offence, on January 6th, 2021, in perhaps the single most infamous and dangerous thing he has ever done, besides his horrible handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump instigated an attempted self-coup by egging his armed supporters into storming the fucking Capitol, so they could stop Congress from certifying Biden's win in 2020.US Capitol secured, 4 dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden's win, CNN Said supporters were actively trying to assassinate multiple members of Congress, including Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to reject Biden's certification (which isn't even in his powers as VP, for obvious reasons), and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and it's quite easy to infer that they likely would not have stopped there. The ensuing mob violence killed five peopleDid Man at Capitol Riot Die After Accidentally Tasing Himself? Five persons died in conjunction with the Capitol riot, but some reports surrounding their deaths weren't entirely accurate. by Madison Dapcevich (10 January 2021) Snopes. and nearly led to the slaughter of an entire branch of government, as the entire Congress fled underground and evacuated the building, leaving the Capitol at the whims of Trump's mob until the National Guard came in to retake the building. In the midst of this chaos, Trump refused to deploy the National Guard (Pence did it instead), ignored panicked calls from his fellow Republicans, and reportedly relished in the violence being done in his name and by his words (read: cruelty).President Trump was ‘pleased’ by chaos and violence at Capitol, The Times
After Congress reconvened and certified Biden’s victory, Donald Trump became the first President ever to be impeached twice. He is also the only incumbent president who refused to accept defeat during the election, the only one to have instigated insurrection, and the only one to have incited an attack on the Capitol. Although he was acquitted after leaving office,Insane from the Republican party, who were on the edge of being slaughtered by a fascist mob. the damage was already done; his legacy is marked forever by this event, and it can be brought up at any time to paint him as the extremist that he truly is. This mark will be hard to scrub off, as he was permabanned from most of his social media accounts right after this event, due to the very real fear of more violence incited by his dangerous rhetoric.Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump by Twitter Inc. (8 January 2021) Twitter (archived from 13 Jan 2021 15:58:55 UTC).Facebook bans Trump account indefinitely, along with Instagram, USA Today Gone is his ability to incessantly babble his way out of a bad situation, and people are left with this final memory of his first term.
With nothing else to do, he gave a Farewell Address in the tradition of most Presidents the day before he hit the road.Farewell Address January 20th, 2021 was a day that many anticipated. He decided not to witness Biden's inauguration (The first President to skip inauguration since Richard Nixon, and left for Marine One in the morning. He made a speech at Joint Base Andrews, implying he could be back in some way, before getting on Air Force One for one last time to his Mar-a-Lago estate. To the cue of YMCA, Trump finally left D.C., and as one last act, pardoned tax evader Al Pirro.Trump bids farewell to Washington, hints of comeback Trump’s first term came to an end, but the post-Trump interim has begun.
==Biden interregnum==
Trump remained adamant about returning to the White House in 2024. While super early polls suggested Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, as a strong contender, Trump has claimed that he could beat him, and DeSantis has fallen behind in Republican primary polling, and eventually dropped out.Who’s ahead in the national polls? FiveThirtyEight. Accessed 24 July, 2023.Trump on prospect on facing DeSantis in 2024, 'I'd beat him' Politico In March 2022, Trump announced that Mike Pence would not be his running mate, which if he follows through will be the first time since Ford, in his failed second term election bid in 1976, for a candidate to pick a different person than his first vice president as his running mate. Trump rules out Pence as VP in potential 2024 presidential bid by Samuel Benson (03/16/2022 01:27 PM EDT) Politico.
===On the Russian invasion of Ukraine===
Unsurprisingly, Trump spoke favorably about Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, calling him a "genius" and "savvy".Trump calls Putin ‘genius’ and ‘savvy’ for Ukraine invasion by Joseph Gedeon (February 23, 2022 10:15 AM), Politico.
===Overturning of Roe v. Wade===
On June 26, 2022, Trump held a rally for U.S. Representative Mary Miller (IL-15), in which she made a remark claiming the overturning of Roe v. Wade was "a historic victory for white life", with Miller clapping while Trump nodded and smiled in agreement.Rep. Miller thanks Trump for 'historic victory for white life' In a January 2024 town hall with Fox News, Trump took credit for the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe: "For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it. And I'm proud to have done it."Nur Ibrahim (February 23, 2024). "Trump Took Credit for Overturning Roe v. Wade?". Snopes.
===FBI visit===
On August 8, 2022, the FBI executed a search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, looking for documents meant to be turned over to the National Archives.Whitehurst, Lindsay.Timeline of events leading up to FBI search of Trump’s home. AP News. August 12, 2022. On August 12, the search warrant was released to the public alongside court records showing that top secret documents, including nuclear secrets, were recovered during the search. The warrant specifies three federal laws suspected to have been violated, including the Espionage Act (18 U.S. Code § 793).Read the warrant that allowed the FBI to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. AP News. August 12, 2022. Many of Trump's supporters were furious over the raid and has led to multiple violent threats and acts towards the FBI, with some politicians even calling for abolishing the Bureau altogether.
In a filing by Trump's legal team, outlining their defense strategy, they argued that he still had "Q clearance" at the time that the FBI raided his residence. Q clearance, which is issued by the Department of Energy, allows people to view nuclear secrets. What the filing apparently did not mention, however, was that even with Q clearance, a person is not to allowed to view nuclear secrets except on a need-to-know basis, which Trump would not have had as an ex-president.Trump lawyers say document shows he kept ‘Q’ clearance for nuclear secrets: In Florida trial involving classified documents, Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking more information about a Department of Energy clearance list by Perry Stein (January 17, 2024 at 1:43 p.m. EST) The Washington Post. The lawyers were most likely feeding a bone to anyone still in the QAnon sphere of influence.
===2024 bid===
On November 15, 2022, Trump formally announced he would run in 2024.Donald Trump says he'll run for president again in 2024 by Sarah Smith and Jude Sheerin, BBC News The DOJ said that Trump's 2024 candidacy won't stop criminal proceedings against him."Trump's 2024 bid for president won't stop DOJ criminal probes" - MSN
===NFT, WTF?===
On December 14, 2022, Donald Trump posted a video on his Truth Social account with the caption, "AMERICA NEEDS A SUPERHERO! I will be making a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT tomorrow." The post featured a video featuring a comic book cartoon of Trump ripping off a suit to reveal a superhero costume with a letter "T" as laser beams shot out of his eyes. Speculation was rife on social media what this announcement could be, with possibilities for the announcement including Trump announcing a running mate for his 2024 campaign or Trump announcing a return to his recently un-banned Twitter account."Trump's 'Major Announcement' Sparks Speculation About VP Pick, Lawsuit" by Katherine Fung, Newsweek, 2022 December 14
The next day's big reveal: NFT digital trading cards. At $99 each, the cards feature (hilariously) machismo-style, cartoonish images of Trump cosplaying as an astronaut, a fighter pilot, and more. Reportedly, many of the cards' images were lifted, crudely-altered stock footage and clothing photos found online.Art for Trump's NFTs Relies on Stock Photos for Online Clothing by Michael Kan (2022 December 16) PCMag. Even by the low standards of NFTs, the cards were widely seen as ugly, cringe, beyond parody, and an obvious grift of his supporters."Trump’s ‘Major Announcement’ Was To Hawk His $99 NFTs" by Sara Dorn, Forbes, 2022 December 15"Trump’s ‘Major Announcement’ Was a Scammy, Superhero-Themed NFT Collection" by Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 2022 December 15 The announcement was met with mockery on social media."Donald Trump's Major Announcement: Urging Followers to Spend $99 On Badly Photoshopped NFTs of His Face" by Bess Levin, Vanity Fair, 2022 December 15 Even many conservatives (including Steve Bannon, Fox News editor Chris Pandolfo, BlazeTV host and others) were flabbergasted and embarrassed by Trump's "Pokémon cards" (as Prather put it in a tweet)."Donald Trump's Trading Cards Have Sparked a Republican Meltdown" by Ewan Palmer, Newsweek, 2022 December 16"We have a nation going down the toilet, and Donald Trump is selling Pokémon cards. No thanks. And those of you with your secret decoder ring trying to figure out why need to STFU." by Chad Prather, @WatchChad, Twitter, 2022 December 15, archived on 15 Dec 2022
Despite the WTF nature of the NFTs, the grift was successful: all 45,000 pieces sold out in 12 hours, raising millions for the company that produced the NFTs and for Trump (who licensed his name and likeness to the company)."Donald Trump's NFT Collection Sells Out, Raising $4.45M" by Daniel Van Boom, CNet, 2022 December 15"What is NFT INT LLC? (And Who Owns It?)" by Alex Borden, NFT Lately, 2022 December 16
===Indictment, arrest, and convictions===
On March 31st, 2023, Trump was indicted for falsification of business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.Donald Trump indictment: Ex-US president to be charged over hush money, by Anthony Zurcher & Jude Sheerin BBC News Shockingly, he did not take it very well, claiming it was a political "Witch-Hunt" and that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was "doing Joe Biden's dirty work".Donald Trump (March 30, 2023). "Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America…". Posted to Truth Social. (Archived). Certain other groups claimed it was a sign that the deep state would soon be exposed; the credibility is non-existent. To add another bucket of salt to poor ol' Donnie's wounds, he is now to face 34 felony charges.Trump to face 34 felony charges but won’t have mugshot or be handcuffed, report says by Graeme Massie (04 April 2023 14:56 BST) Independent. He was arrested on April 4, 2023.Dareh Gregorian and Adam Reiss (April 4, 2023). "Trump pleads not guilty after arrest, arraignment in hush money case". NBC News.
On May 30 2024, Trump was found guilty of every single one of these 34 felony charges. This is the first time that a former or sitting U.S. president has ever been convicted of criminal charges.
====Kicking him while he's down====
Before the hush money case had even gone to trial, Trump was indicted again on federal charges in June 2023, alongside his valet Walt Nauta.Who is Walt Nauta, the Trump aide charged in classified documents case?. BBC News. 9 June 2023. The initial charges against Trump (37 in all) related to the above-mentioned documents Trump had been hoarding at Mar-a-Lago and included 31 charges under the Espionage Act of unlawfully retaining national defence information.Nikki Peach (June 10, 2023) Will Donald Trump go to prison? The 37 criminal charges he faces including files in his shower explained inews. An updated copy of the indictment brought further charges against Trump and Nauta, and charged Trump employee Carlos de Oliveira with helping to conceal the documents from subpoena.Donald Trump's co-defendant, Carlos De Oliveira, appears in court over classified documents by Bart Jansen and Hannah Phillips A copy of the original indictment can be found here for those interested, and the updated version is here. Unfortunately, the federal judge assigned to the case was a Trump appointee named Aileen Cannon who proceeded to repeatedly undermine the prosecution through either incompetence or bias.“Dopey and Constitutionally Dubious”: Legal Experts Blast Judge Aileen Cannon’s Latest Pro-Trump Rulings. Vanity Fair. 8 August 2023. Judge Cannon eventually dismissed the case completely, claiming that the appointment of the special prosecutor on the case was illegal and unconstitutional; the Justice Department will appeal the ruling.Trump documents case dismissed by federal judge, with special counsel vowing to appeal. CBS News. 15 July 2024.
====But wait, THERE'S MORE! ====
On August 1st, 2023, after 2 years of debates and legal proceedings, Donald Trump was finally indicted for interfering in the 2020 election following his defeat and the subsequent January 6th Capitol insurrectionTrump indicted in special counsel’s 2020 election interference probe by Elise Hammond et al. (7:25 PM EDT, Tue August 1, 2023) CNN. He was indicted on four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights."Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel’s 2020 election interference probe" By Tierney Sneed, Holmes Lybrand, Marshall Cohen, Zachary Cohen, Devan Cole, Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand and Katelyn Polantz, CNN, 2023 August 1 Fittingly, he was charged under Section 241 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which was originally adopted in 1870 as part of the Ku Klux Klan Acts to protect rights guaranteed by the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution that were enacted during Reconstruction.Trump is charged under civil rights law used to prosecute KKK violence: The provision was originally adopted in 1870 and was intended to protect the newly codified rights of Black citizens after the Civil War by Isaac Stanley-Becker & Spencer S. Hsu (August 1, 2023) The Washington Post. An annotated copy of the indictment is available here courtesy of CNN. Unsurprisingly, he pleaded not guilty and call his arrest "a sad day for America." Top that all off, he went as far as to threaten the people investigating him. Totally something an innocent person would do.
====Where will it end?====
In the latest chapter in the Trump indictment saga, on 15 August 2023 Trump, several of his lawyers (including Rudy Giuliani), his former Chief of Staff, the state GOP chair and assorted co-conspirators were all indicted on racketeering and conspiracy charges in Georgia.The latest on Trump's indictment in the Georgia 2020 election probe by Leinz Vales, Aditi Sangal and Adrienne Vogt (August 15, 2023) CNN. Like his third indictment, these charges related to his illegal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state via fake electors and pressuring state officials to "find" votes.A look at the 19 people charged in Georgia indictment connected to Trump election scheme by Kate Brumback and Jonathan J. Cooper (August 15, 2021) ABC News.
He was booked in the Fulton county PD on August 24 and released on a $200,000 bond. Fulton county made sure to get an unartistic photo of him that captured his character.Smirk, don't smile: The art of a good mugshot by Holly Honderich (August 4, 2023) BBC.
His arrest was not only justice, but also karma: the son of a klansmanAll the Evidence We Could Find About Fred Trump's Alleged Involvement with the KKK by Mike Pearl (March 10, 2016) Vice. was indicted by District Attorney Fani Willis, the daughter of a Black Panther Party member.You Can Call Her Madam DA; Fani Willis on Making History As Fulton County’s First Woman District Attorney by Ashtin Rose (January 20, 2021) South Atlanta Magazine (archived from November 25, 2021). Surprise, surprise, he pleaded not guilty.
For most people, indictments and jailing would bring a political career to a disgraceful end; for Trump it's an opportunity to double down. He has gone so far as to use his mugshot in campaigning,Donald Trump's campaign using mug shot in fundraising push: The campaign says Trump's legal battles are "election interference." by Soo Rin Kim et al. (August 25, 2023, 8:29 AM) ABC News. and to sell alleged pieces of the suit that he wore for the mugshot.Donald Trump sells pieces of suit worn during Georgia booking by Brian Niemietz (December 13, 2023 at 12:55 PM PST) Daily News via Yahoo News.
===Descent into fascism===
Trump, with his rhetoric and tactics (such as directly quoting Mussolini in a tweet), was classified by political analysts and historians (including Umberto Eco and Jason Stanley) as an authoritarian, even a fascist, since his presidential run in 2016. The capitol insurrection on January 6th strengthened his classification as a fascist, and it’s only gotten worse from there.
In late 2023, Trump made two remarks that critics found disturbingly close to the rhetoric of fascist regimes. In a Veterans Day speech, Trump stated:
The usage of the word "vermin" attracted particular rebuke, drawing comparisons to the rhetoric of Hitler, Mussolini, and other authoritarian dictators. In particular, the Nazis were very fond of slurring Jews as "the vermin of mankind"."It’s Official: With “Vermin,” Trump Is Now Using Straight-up Nazi Talk" by Michael Tomasky, New Republic, 2023 November 12
In a speech in Durham, New Hampshire in mid-December 2023, Trump described immigrants as "poisoning the blood of our country":"Trump repeats 'poisoning the blood' anti-immigrant remark" by Nathan Layne, Reuters, 2023 December 16
The phrasing was criticized for the similarity in his rhetoric that Adolf Hitler used in Mein Kampf. The rhetoric drew criticism not only from Democrats like Joe Biden (who noted the similarity to Hitler), but even from a few Republicans, including Mitch McConnell and "Trump sparks Republican backlash after saying immigrants are 'poisoning the blood' of U.S." by Megan Lebowitz, NBC News, 2023 December 19
Trump again drew condemnation for his fascist rhetoric in a campaign ad his team posted, where a heading titled “a unified reich” appeared halfway in the video. Although it was discreet, many people caught a glimpse in pauses, and showed that Trump’s team are sympathetic to fascists (many of them being Nick Fuentes fans, much like DeSantis’ former speechwriter who created the Nazi laced ad that ultimately killed DeSantis’ campaign).Trump’s social media account shares a campaign video with a headline about a ‘unified Reich’ AP News
===Assassination attempts===
On July 13th 2024 at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, a man named climbed to a rooftop nearby where Trump was speaking and opened fire with a legally purchased AR-15 style assault rifle owned by his father.What we know about gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks who shot at Trump at his Pennsylvania rally by Shahana Yasmin et al. (July 16, 2024) Independent.FBI identifies Trump rally shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks by Jessie Yeung (July 14, 2024) CNN. Trump was struck near the top of his right ear by a single shot, thus completing his apotheosis amongst conservatives. Early reports indicatedEyewitnesses describe scene at Trump rally shooting: ‘It’s pure insanity’ by Kate Sullivan (July 13, 2024) CNN. that one rally attendee was killed, and at least one other badly injured. Crooks was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene. Trump's campaign almost immediately confirmed that he was 'fine'.Trump campaign says former president is ‘fine’ after shooting at rally by Caroline Vakil (Jul 13, 2024) KTSM. The attack was swiftly denounced by Joe Biden.President Biden, political leaders condemn violence after shooting at Trump rally by Victor Brand (July 13, 2024, 6:00 PM PDT) MSNBC. Despite this, outrage towards Biden came from the right in full force. This ranged from criticizing his rhetoric, to arguing that he and the Deep State were in cahoots with each other in order to take him down. There were also some on the left who pushed the theory that Trump himself staged the incident.‘BlueAnon’ conspiracy theories flood social media after Trump rally shooting by Taylor Lorenz (July 14, 2024 at 3:45 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
As the investigation progressed, it was revealed that not only had members of the crowd been trying to alert the police to a man crawling across the roof of a nearby building, Witness says he saw gunman on roof near Trump rally by Gary O'Donoghue (13 July 2024) BBC. the building itself had been identified as a potential problem before the rally, yet no team was placed where Crooks eventually fired from.Rooftop where gunman shot at Trump was identified as a security vulnerability before rally: sources by Sarah Fitzpatrick (July 14, 2024, 4:46 PM PDT) NBC News. A major security / planning fuckup was impossible to deny. The Republican party and their mouthpieces took the opportunity to blame the whole situation on DEI hiring in the Secret Service. What to Know About Women in Secret Service as Critics Blame ‘DEI’ for Trump’s Shooting by Koh Ewe (Updated: July 17, 2024 12:30 AM EDT) TIME. Director resigned after acknowledging in a congressional hearing that, as director, responsibility for the incident fell on her. To her credit, she owned it from the outset.Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigns by Evan Perez et al. (July 23, 2024) CNN. Conservative pundit Meghan McCain demonstrated support for her gender by retweeting self described theocratic fascist Matt Walsh who said "There should not be any women in the secret service. They are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women." This is why the notion that men and women are the same is just absurd. You need to be taller than the candidate to protect them with your body. Why do they have these short women (one who can’t holster a gun apparently) guarding Trump? This is embarrassing and dangerous. by Meghan McCain (7:29 AM · Jul 14, 2024) Twitter (archived from 6 Oct 2024 20:49:55 UTC).
====… and again====
This was not the end of violence however. On September 15, Ryan Wesley Routh fired shots near Mar-A-Lago, but was quickly detained.Trump safe after apparent 'attempted assassination'; Sources identify detained man By Katherine Faulders, Rachel Scott, Jack Date and Leah Sarnoff September 15, 2024, ABC News
==Second term==
Despite all the madness, and chaos inflicted by the MAGA world, when Election Day came, none of those things mattered. The frustrations of inflated prices were what drove people most to reelect him, complete with a new legion of yes men by his side. He even won the popular vote, the first time a Republican did so since 2004. Voter concerns for right leaning voters were about the economy, immigration secondly, and foreign policy in third. "Issues and the 2024 election", Pew Research Center Despite the fears of inflation, "The Trump policy that scares economists the most", Matt Egan, CNN during the Biden presidency, 16 Nobel economists were in agreement prior to that election that Trump would make inflation worse. "Nobel Letter Final", Zach Basu (Axios)
Upon his second inauguration, Trump immediately pardoned 1500 January 6 defendants and convicts, including Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who violently attacked police. "Trump grants sweeping pardon of Jan. 6 defendants, including rioters who violently attacked police," Associated Press "Proud Boys and Oath Keepers among over 1,500 Capitol riot defendants pardoned by Trump," Max Matza, BBC "They assaulted cops and tried to overturn an election. What to know about Trump’s mass pardons for January 6 rioters," Marshall Cohen, CNN
His first day was marked by a series of executive orders reversing many of Biden's own policies. Trump declared a national emergency at the Mexican border, began the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization and Paris Climate Agreement, proclaimed an end to birthright citizenship, ending remote work for federal workers, removing protections for trans people in federal prisons, removing all climate policies under Biden, allowing offshore oil drilling in Alaska, reversing Biden's ban on offshore drilling for 625 million acres of federal waters, issuing a federal hiring freeze, making it easier to fire federal workers, and consider designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organization, among many other such directives and orders. "Trump’s Executive Orders: Reversing Biden’s Policies and Attacking the Deep State," New York Times
==Rare moments of sanity==
Despite his deplorable reputation, Trump is no exception to the stopped clock principle. Here is an incomplete list of the [somewhat] right things he has done.
*He regularly calls out the neoconservatives and their hired help.Weiss, Phillip, "Adelson will mold Rubio into 'perfect little puppet'", Mondoweiss 10.13.15. Remember, Shelly is even richer and crazier than Trump. He wants to nuke Iran and wishes he had served in the Israeli military instead of the U.S. Army. His annihilation of the Club for Growth was also on point.Strauss, Daniel, "Donald Trump sends Club for Growth cease and desist letter", Politico (09/22/15 03:00 PM EDT, Updated 09/22/15 03:51 PM EDT).
*Trump's comments on George Bush having of the September 11 attacks and the lack of strategy post-9/11 from the Bush administration have led some in the right-wing news media"Fox News Calls Trump A Truther", via The Young Turks' official YouTube channel. Published on October 20, 2015. (even confessed truther Alex Jones"Donald Trump: The Latest 9/11 Truther", from Alex Jones's official YouTube channel. Published October 20, 2015.) to label him a "truther", although this isn't very accurate, as Trump backtracked from some of the advance knowledge comments, and he is not known for trutherism.David Weigel. "Trump's foes say he's a 9/11 truther. Truthers would disagree.". Washington Post. February 15, 2016. He also believes the famous “28 pages” redacted from the official 9/11 report were done to please the Saudis,Hains, Tim, "Donald Trump on 9/11: 'You Will Find Out Who Really Knocked Down The World Trade Center'", RCP 2.17.16. which would appear to be partially accurate."Congress Releases Secret 9/11 Document Detailing Possible Saudi Ties to Al Qaeda" (16 July 2016). New York Times. 
*On the bureaucracy front, he dropped a requirement that federal government agencies report on their Y2K preparedness 17 years after it came and proved to be a big pile of nothing."Trump Orders Government to Stop Work on Y2K Bug, 17 Years Later", Bloomberg.
*His administration sided with South Dakota in a Supreme Court case that allows states to collect sales tax for all online stores, even if they don't have physical establishments in the charging state."Supreme court rules states can collect sales tax from online retailers", The Guardian. "The Trump administration had urged the justices to side with South Dakota."
*His claims on the troubles with (unfettered) free trade are largely correct.G7: Fact-checking Trump's tweets about trade. BBC News. June 11th, 2018.For a more in-depth and nuanced look on the deceptive promise of free trade, there is this excellent DW documentary.The worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, ever! The Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and worked on modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
*He signed into law a bill that upgrades the birthplace of the famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, into a national historical park. He also signed bills linking historical sites related to the civil rights movement and commemorating the first Africans' arrival in the English colonies in Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1619.Trump signs bill to upgrade Martin Luther King's birthplace to national historic park. USA Today. January 8, 2018. 
*Despite his "tough on crime" policies, he commuted the sentence of Alice Johnson, a first-time offender who was sentenced to life imprisonment on nonviolent drug-related charges.Trump commutes sentence of Alice Marie Johnson (June 6, 2018) CNN. Trump later granted Johnson a full pardon.Trump pardons Alice Johnson (August 28, 2020) CNN.
*He issued an executive order forcing the Department of Defense to provide army veterans with mental health facilities after they leave the service.President Donald J. Trump signs Executive Order to Improve Mental Health Resources for Veterans Transitioning from Active Duty to Civilian Life (January 9, 2018) U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
*His administration banned bump stocks by defining them as "machineguns", which are illegal under the National Firearms Act.Bump Stocks (February 21, 2019) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
*Even though it was a jab at the Obama administration, he issued a pardon posthumously to former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson (1878-1946). In his lifetime, Johnson was prosecuted for transporting a white woman across state lines in his car.
*During the 2016 Presidential Campaign, he advocated for allowing people to purchase health insurance across state lines. However, he did not implement this plan.It should be noted that this isn't necessarily a good idea. First off, the "state lines" thing isn't due to federal law – it's a state issue. Each state has its own rules and regulations for what it considers acceptable insurance policy levels; this is the cause of the so-called "state lines". Second, forcing a state to follow another state's lower policy levels could cause problems — this document summarizes these issues.Health plans, regulators pan Trump's plan to allow purchase of insurance across state lines, Politico, September 27, 2017
*He supports paper backup ballots.Trump floats idea to secure elections: 'It's always good to have a paper backup' by Ayanna Alexander (03/06/2018 05:15 PM EST) Politico.
*On March 16th 2021, in a blow to Trump-worshipping anti-vaccination conspiracy theory movements such as QAnon, Donald Trump urged America to get vaccinated for COVID-19, calling it "safe" and "something that works"."Trump urges Americans to get Covid-19 vaccine: 'I would recommend it'" by Paul LeBlanc, CNN, 2021 March 17 His followers booed him at a rally in Alabama, but he tried to quell them by saying they have freedom.Trump booed at Alabama rally after telling supporters to get vaccinated NBC News Trump repeatedly continued to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine.. This is despite his previous attempts to stop isolation and mask-wearing, so it may be less of a startling moment of sanity and more of a consistent practice to side with whatever keeps his businesses afloat. On the insanity side, though, it was later revealed that the Trump White House overruled a proposed 2020 CDC policy that would have put some limitations on church gatherings during the pre-vaccine phase of the pandemic, likely resulting in increased deaths of Trump's supporters.Trump officials muzzled CDC on church covid guidance, emails confirm: The documents offer new details about how the White House delivered on the priorities of religious communities that were key to the president’s base. by Dan Diamond (April 29, 2022) The Washington Post.
===Iraq War?===
In 2002, Trump appeared on Howard Stern's show and voiced his support (such as it was) for the Iraq War based on the "business opportunity" in the region (as Clinton put it) in 2011. However, Trump personally had a financial interest in opposing the war in Iraq and expressed concerns about the war soon after it had started: by 2004, it was well-known that Trump was an opponent of the Iraq War.Eugene Kiely. (February 19, 2016). "Donald Trump and the Iraq War". In 2015, visiting Las Vegas, Trump swerved the entire Republican Party, blasting the war louder than any Democrat would have:
Then, during the election, Trump used the Iraq War as one of the most common sticks to beat Clinton with, even going to far as to suggest Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton were the "founders" of Daesh for leaving a power vacuum in the region: a power vacuum Trump also would have left, as he was calling for the immediate withdrawal of the US from Iraq as early as 2007.Juan González, Scott Anderson (August 12, 2016). "Donald Trump Claims Obama & Clinton Founded ISIS, But Bush Negotiated U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq". Democracy Now! When asked about running mate Mike Pence's decision to vote in favor of the Iraq War, Trump rather patronizingly said that Pence was "entitled to a mistake", and as for Hillary, "she's not".Savransky, Rebbecca, "Trump: Pence entitled to make mistakes, Hillary's not", The Hill (7/17/16 at 7:01 pm).
It is clear then that Trump's views on Iraq are not as well-informed as they initially appear.
==List of nicknames==
Donald Trump is a man of many nicknames: "The Donald",Why does everyone call Donald Trump 'The Donald'? It's an interesting story. by Amy Argetsinger (September 1, 2015) The Washington Post. "John Miller","Donald Trump's 'John Miller' interview is even crazier than you think" (May 16, 2016), The Washington Post "John Barron",Marc Fisher and Will Hobson, "Donald Trump masqueraded as publicist to brag about himself", WaPo 5.13.16. "David Dennison",The 7 most interesting aspects of Stormy Daniels's lawsuit against Trump by Aaron Blake (March 7, 2018 at 8:52 AM) The Washington Post. "Don the Con",Michael Avenatti Follows Up 2020 Talk by Workshopping Trump Nicknames on Twitter: 'Don the Con' by Josh Feldman (Jul 6th, 2018, 11:38 am) Mediaite. "God-Emperor Trump",God Emperor Trump Facebook. "Mr. Brexit",McCarthy, Tom (August 18, 2016). "Trump says he'll be known as 'Mr Brexit' despite poor poll showing – politics live". The Guardian., Honest Don and Cadet Bone Spur.Duckworth to Trump: I won't be lectured by a draft dodger. CNN. January 21, 2018. One might also add "The Waanald", in light of his constant whining on Twitter and elsewhere whenever someone says something about him he doesn't like.
During the George Floyd protests, Trump hid in the White House basement and turned off the lights, a feat that earned him the nickname "Bunker Boy".Trump branded 'bunker boy' for 'hiding in the basement' and turning off White House lights: 'Total lack of leadership', Raw Story, June 1, 2020, Accessed June 1, 2020
==Trump supporters==
La Familia Trump consists of the usual suspects: a pack of celebrities as unfit to hold office as the man himself. We have dossiers on most of them:
*Jake Angeli: Became a terrorist to defend Trump.
*Joe Arpaio: Cartoonishly-corrupt sheriff of Maricopa County. Arpaio, whose department has been sued multiple times for racist policing practices by the federal government, declared "I'm with him to the bitter end.""Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio endorses Trump". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. Subsequently repaid in full with a presidential pardon for his sundry crimes and human rights violations.
*Herman Cain: 2012 Presidential candidate for the Republican nominee. Died after catching COVID at a rally.Herman Cain dies from Coronavirus
*Kenneth Copeland: Creepy televangelist who plays as a spiritual advisor for Trump. Supported him in 2016, and maniacally laughed at Biden's victory.Watch Televangelist Kenneth Copeland Laugh Maniacally at Media for Saying Biden Won
*Anti-PC crusader Ann Coulter: Hopped on the Trump Train earlyJoshua De Leon, "Coulter Endorses Trump – Says Bush, Rubio and Perry Are Midgets Who Would Doom GOP", Ring of Fire. but appeared to sour on his 'half-baked tweets at midnight'. What's that old saying about a speck in your neighbor's eye?
*Dinesh D'Souza: Such a big Trump supporter he made a movie about it.D'Souza's New Film 'Trump Card' Slashes the 'Deep State' to Ribbons
*David Duke: Practically inevitably, the former head of the KKK tweeted that Trump was "the only way to stop the commie Bolsheviks". Bizarrely, Duke also endorsed Tucker Carlson for VP.Former KKK leader endorses Trump for president again – and Tucker Carlson for VP
*George Galloway: Here's a tricky one: Who would be a more terrible president, Donald Trump or George Galloway?Nelson, Louis, "George Galloway: trump Better Than Clinton", Politico (06/07/16 01:25 PM EDT)."The serial litigant finally says 'sorry'", Private Eye #1421. Fellow Brexiteer Nigel Farage appears to agree with Galloway on this one.europarl, (8 June 2016). "Nigel Farage: I think Hillary Clinton is a crook". Retrieved on 26 June 2016 – via YouTube.
*Sean Hannity: His inner construction worker cannot resist.Ludlum, Judd, "The Truth About How Sean Hannity Covers Donald Trump", ThinkProgress (4/22/16 12:26 pm). Compared Trump to King David, who "had five hundred concubines", ffs.Michael, Brett, "Sean Hannity's Defense Of Trump Is Now Beyond Parody", Uproxx 10.8.16.
*Alex Jones: Vaunted anti-government loon, is spreading the Trump Gospel – in essence, becoming a cheerleader for torture, the surveillance state, deportations, and zero-percent corporate taxes – all in exchange for a plug from Donald on his show.Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Says President-Elect Trump Called To Thank His Audience. Jones: Trump Says He Will "Be On In The Next Few Weeks" by Ben Dimiero ( November 14, 2016, 9:52 AM EST) Media Matters for America. Has since defected to Ron DeSantis, calling him "way better than Trump".Alex Jones abandons Trump for Ron DeSantis: ‘We have someone way better’, The Independent.
*Arthur Laffer: Trickle-down needs to be brutally murdered because it won't fucking die on its own.Tankersly, Jimm, "One part of the Republican establishment actually loves Donald Trump", WaPo 4.19.16. Won't someone think of the billionaires? (Shouldn't you be wrecking Australia's economy right now?)
* Greg Locke: Pastor who denies Joe Biden won, and that Trump is the legitimate winner. Also thinks there is a pedophile ring in D.C. tunnels.Pastor Greg Locke Says Biden Is 'Demon-Possessed,' Insists Trump is 'Legitimate President' Locke has recently renounced his support for Trump, due to his promotion of COVID-19 vaccinations.Right-Wing Pastor Blasts Trump for Vaccine Support: 'He Is Going to Lose His Voter Base'
*Michelle Malkin: Sees which way the wind is blowing and announced she would be "pulling the lever for Donald Trump." This from the woman who called him a "conservafraud" two years before. Others might have taken offense at Trump calling them "born stupid", but not Malkin: she couldn't Stump The Trump, and hopefully gained "wisdom" from the experience.Josiah Ryan, "We Asked Michelle Malkin If Donald Trump Would Make Good President. She Had This to Say", The Blaze.
*Ted Nugent: Of course, no collection of wingnuts would be complete without Nugent.Neetzan Zimmerman, "Ted Nugent: President Trump 'would kick ass and take names'", The Hill. Political life lessons from him are like filling the seats at the BET awards with KKK members.
*Mehmet Oz: He looks healthy to me! What do you think, studio audience?
*Dennis Prager: Admits he only supports Trump out of hate for the left. One of the most adamantly anti-Trump talk show hosts of the past year was, in fact ... Dennis Prager.Goldstein, Aaron, "Dennis Prager had me, but then he lost me.", The American Spectator (5/10/16, 11:54 pm).
*Dan Quayle: The people who know what the job actually entails want nothing to do with Trump.Samuelshon, Darren, "George H.W. Bush to vote for Hillary Clinton", Politico (09/19/16 11:20 PM EDT). That should tell you everything you need to know. Dan Quayle does, so there's that.Collins, Eliza, "Dan Quayle: Trump is 'more qualified' than Clinton in this election", USA Today (5/12/16 at 12:55 p.m. EDT).
*Donald Rumsfeld: Trump's not doing so well in endorsements; he'll take what he can get.Levitz, Eric, "Donald Rumsfeld Will Vote for Trump Because He's a 'Known Unknown'", New York Magazine (6/23/16 at 5:19 p.m.) Officially a self-parody. Let's speculate on other stupid endorsements he may get. Lynndie England? Ollie North? Is G. Gordon Liddy dead yet?
*Michael Savage: Called Trump "the Winston Churchill of our time."Cathy Burke, "Michael Savage: Trump Is the 'Winston Churchill of Our Time'", Newsmax. We live in savage times indeed.
*Phyllis Schlafly: Marital rape supporter stay-at-home mom and Equal Rights Amendment opponent.Phyllis Schlafly Faces Ouster Attempt Following Trump Endorsement by Brian Tashman (Monday, 4/11/2016 12:15 pm) Right Wing Watch. Now deceased.
* "Most hated CEO in America" and convicted fraudster.'Most hated man in the world' announces his support for Republican nominee
*Ben Stein: Once a flack, always a flack. "He wants a peaceful, calm America."Kelley, Marty, "Pretend Smart Person Ben Stein Thinks Donald Trump's A Moron, Endorses Donald Trump", Wonkette 6.7.16.
*Brenton Tarrant: Made the questionable decision to express his support for the Donald in his manifesto published before a terrorist attack.Christchurch shootings suspect said Trump is 'symbol of white supremacy'Although the truthfulness of Tarrant's manifesto is disputed and some have claimed he was simply trying to cause division.
*Peter Thiel: Though he initially supported Carly Fiorina during the 2016 election, after she dropped out, Thiel supported Trump, donating $1.25 million to his campaign.Donor Lookup - Peter Thiel. OpenSecrets. After Trump's victory, Thiel was named to the executive committee of his transition team.Silicon Valley Investor Peter Thiel Will Join Trump’s Transition Team by Kia Kokalitcheva (November 11, 2016), Fortune.
*Andrew Wakefield: In case you thought Trump was the stupidest person in the room.How disgraced anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield was embraced by Trump's America
*Allen West: Wanted Trump to constantly visit Texas in 2020 in order to fanboy over him.State GOP Chair Allen West calls on Donald Trump to visit Texas before Election Day Not surprising, given their shared love of unorthodox interrogation techniques.
*Kanye West: Along with Herman Cain and Ben Carson, one of Trump's token black supporters.
*Milo Yiannopoulos: Refers to Trump as "Daddy". As the official spokesman for the Internet's sewer, Yiannopoulos half-jokingly yearns for a God-Emperor Trump to transform America into some sort of a fascist monarchy.The Rubin Report. "Milo Yiannopoulos Loves Donald Trump". March 24, 2016.
===Similar people===
*Benito Mussolini: Trump has adopted from him, consciously or not, many of the same gestures, rhetoric, body language, scapegoating tendencies, and authoritarian impulses all the way back when he was first a candidate for president.An American Authoritarian The Republican presidential candidate is not a Fascist, but his campaign bears notable similarities to the reign of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. by Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Aug 10, 2016) The Atlantic. After serving President and campaigning for president once more, these parallels are now no longer just parallels, but profoundly problematic executive policy and ideology with millions of followers.It Is Happening Here, (President) Trump is Already Early Stage Mussolini by Clive Irving, The Daily Beast.
*Silvio Berlusconi: Il Trump Italiano. Just subtract a foot of height and add underage Moroccan prostitutes.
*Boris Johnson: British Trump, from the anti-Obama racism and anti-immigrant stances to the terrible hair and larger-than-life comedic image as a clownish man with a huge media personality. As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris also caught flak for his less than stellar response to the coronavirus pandemic and tested positive for COVID-19."PM Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus". BBC News. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020. He also purges members of his own party for disagreeing with his policies, causing some of his ministers to also resign in protest."Twenty-one Tory rebels lose party whip after backing bid to block no-deal Brexit". PoliticsHome.com. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019."PM's brother quits as Tory MP and minister". BBC News. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019. He also ran afoul of the Supreme Court, which unanimously found he illegally dismissed parliament to prevent them from scrutinizing his no-deal Brexit plan.Bowcott, Owen (24 September 2019). "Boris Johnson's suspension of parliament unlawful, supreme court rules". The Guardian.
*Rodrigo Duterte: Former president of the Philippines who's also the oldest to be elected to their respective countries' highest office. He's been called the "Trump of the East" due to both being "self-professed political outsiders with a penchant for tough talk and shocking turns of phrase." They're known for misogynistic comments, outlandish bombast, impulsive and violent rhetoric, and being in favor of the death penalty for drug users."The 'Trump of the East' could be the next president of the Philippines", Washington Post He was praised by Trump himself for mass murdering thousands of suspected drug users and is one of the few Filipinos he respects.Trump praises Duterte for ‘unbelievable job’ cracking down on drugs in the Philippines by Louis Nelson (05/24/2017 07:27 AM EDT0 Politico.
* Former Prime Minister of Slovenia, Ivan Janša is known for making false claims, dressing up bald-faced lies as truths, accusing critics of being puppets to George Soros, promoting conspiracy theories on Twitter, including 2020 election denial-ism, which has earned him the nickname of Marshal Twito. He is a fan of Trump, an ally of Viktor Orban, and a notorious bigot who rails against migrants and journalists, even calling reporters "presstitutes." His career reads like a mix of Orban and Trump: beginning as a pro-democracy advocate, he turned hard right while in power, presiding over cronyism and corruption, dabbing into Antisemitism and Islamophobia, embracing climate change denial and anti-migrant rhetoric, and parading misogynistic language, up to publicly calling female journalists "washed-up prostitutes." With a coalition government in power, he has taken steps to degrade democracy and defeat any limitations to his power, including passing a law that removes the rights of most NGOs to take part in environmental assessments of infrastructure projects.Whole article in German.Slovenia's PM Janša channels Orbán with attacks on media and migrants by Shaun Walker (4 May 2020 05.31 EDT) The Guardian.Slovenian premier endorses Trump’s reelection, joins others (9:11 AM PDT, October 23, 2020) AP.End of Trump era deals heavy blow to rightwing populist leaders worldwide by Shaun Walker et al. (11 Nov 2020 07.05 EST) The Guardian.
*Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's most dangerous man who served as president from 2018 to 2022, Jair reads like he was bred from a Trump cloning factory. He once said to a woman who accused him of rape, "I would never rape you because you aren't worth it." He's incited violence from his supporters, and he is a notorious homophobe, racist, misogynist, and an incendiary reactionary on every social issue imaginable; he praised a dictator (Alberto Fujimori) for strong leadership, paid homage to a fascist who tortured dissidents (including former President Dilma Rousseff), and repeatedly scapegoats society's ills on the weak and vulnerable. He even says "the only difference [between me and Trump] is that I'm richer!"Meet Brazil's Donald Trump: He's Deliberately Outrageous and He Wants to Be President: Legislator Jair Bolsonaro has always been brash and, often, deeply offensive. Now his refusal to be "politically correct" is turning him into one of the big winners of Brazil's current political crisis. by James Armour Young (Apr 27, 2016, 11:20 am) Vice.Is this the world's most repulsive politician? THOUGHT Donald Trump was bad? Meet the could-be Brazilian president whose repulsive beliefs have shocked the world. by Gavin Fernando (May 2, 20168:46am) news.com.au.Brazil has a Donald Trump, and his chances at the presidency are looking better every day by Chayenne Polimédio (June 20, 2017) Quartz.The Most Misogynistic, Hateful Elected Official in the Democratic World: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro by Glenn Greenwald & Andrew Fishman (December 11, 2014, 7:48 a.m.) The Intercept. Like Trump, he was also a sore loser.Former Brazil military chiefs implicate Bolsonaro in coup conspiracy, Lisandra Paraguassu and Ricardo Brito, Reuters 15 March 2024
*Doug Ford: Canadian premier of Ontario, a "businessman turned anti-establishment politician", a "son of a wealthy entrepreneur" who "rails against elites" and "often shuns expertise". But similar to Boris, he has a stranglehold on power despite his own party not really liking him very much.Kassam, Ashifa (April 30, 2018). "Canada's Trump moment? Doug Ford rises in conservative party". The Guardian.Porter, Catherine (June 2, 2018). "Will a Canadian Donald Trump Become Ontario's Leader?". The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2018. He also awards family friends and political allies with patronage,Benzie, Robert (July 6, 2018). "Ford rewards key Tory adviser with $348K patronage job to curb hospital overcrowding". The Toronto Star. and also attacks basic democracy by willfully ignoring court rulings in defiance of what the people say, as he changed the size of the Toronto city council to prevent them from voting against his policies in defiance of the courts saying such a thing was unconstitutional."Doug Ford’s decision to cut the size of Toronto city council heads to Canada’s top court on Tuesday." - The Toronto Star.
*Sebastián Piñera: Former President of Chile, another businessman-turned-chief of state, who resembles 2020-stage Trump, as an outright authoritarian who ordered the deployment of the military against peaceful protesters.
*Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: President of Turkey, another bloviating, loud-mouth racist authoritarian who ushered in a rise in xenophobia, racism against minorities (Kurds), violence against leftists (mostly Kurds and Turks), and attempts to overturn election results that didn't go his way (i.e. redoing the mayoral election of Istanbul only to then have his party lose by an even bigger margin).
*Benjamin Netanyahu: Prime Minister of Israel, who used fearmongering tactics against Arabs and Muslims to get elected, conducted a sterilization programme against minorities (Ethiopian Jews for Bibi, ICE detainees for Trump), antagonized Iran to help his reelection efforts, caused a political crisis that reached downright authoritarian levels (Bibi trying not to get indicted for corruption while navigating Israel's parliamentary politics; just about every major policy for Trump), refused to vaccinate a huge segment of the population (Palestine for Bibi, all of America for Trump), and dealt with a corruption investigation while in office.
*Narendra Modi: Prime Minister of India, infamous for presiding over thousands of religion-related murders and inciting violence (against Muslims and Christians) as Chief Minister of Gujarat, with many criticizing his inaction at best and his outright hateful language as escalating the crisis at worst. Just like Trump, his party is known for courting fascists (the BJP even came into being from a group that was actively inspired by the Nazis).
*Mohammad Hosseini: An Iranian dissident and leader of a far-right group inspired by QAnon that engages heavily in political violence, he and his group took inspiration from Trump and have even praised the former president for his stance against the Ayatollah, even copying his motto “Make America Great Again” but adopting it for Iran, “Make Iran Great Again”.
==Fiction foreshadows fact==
Given that so much of Trump's life is already fictionalized, it's entirely redundant to make new fiction about his life. There are nonetheless some fictional works that foreshadowed the rise of Trump.
*In Sinclair Lewis' 1935 dystopian novel It Can't Happen Here,It Can't Happen Here: A Novel by Sinclair Lewis (1935) Doubleday, Doran & Company. the protagonist Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip rises to power in the United States to become dictator, parallelling the contemporaneous rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany. Elmer Gantry was made into an Academy Award winning film in 1960.
*Stephen King wrote the science fiction thriller The Dead Zone in 1979.The Dead Zone by Stephen King (1979) Viking Press. ISBN 0670260770. In 2024, King wrote: "45 years ago I wrote a book about Donald Trump. It was called THE DEAD ZONE. I named him Greg Stillson."45 years ago I wrote a book about Donald Trump. It was called THE DEAD ZONE. I named him Greg Stillson. by Stephen King (8:35 PM · Sep 30, 2024) Twitter (archived from 6 Oct 2024 15:24:15 UTC). Stillson is a malevolent "successful businessman" who rises to political power. The novel also contains a time-traveling killing Hitler plot element. The novel was made into a film in 1983 by David Cronenberg, and was also made into a 2002 TV series.
*The hero of the 2016 children's animated The Angry Birds Movie (based on the gaming franchise that started in 2009) is unapologetically angry and the film has been interpreted as being metaphorically anti-immigration,White supremacists have a new hero: Red, the Angry Bird. by Jeet Heer (May 31, 2016) New Republic (archived from June 1, 2016). and 90% Trumpy.The Angry Birds Movie would be better if it went full Trump. Instead, it’s flat. by Emily St. James (May 22, 2016, 11:50 AM PDT) Vox. The neo-Nazi website Counter-Currents reviewed the film approvingly, stating, "It’s hard to avoid the idea the movie is simply a giant metaphor for the European refugee crisis. A spoiled island of happy birds doesn’t recognize the threat of interlopers." and compared the hero to neo-Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell.The Angry Birds Movie by Gregory Hood (May 2016) Counter-Currents (archived from May 23, 2016).
==See also==
===Spawn of Trump===
*Trumpism
*Authoritarianism of Donald Trump
*COVID-19 pandemic#Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine… Doctor Trump
*Foreign policy of Donald Trump
*Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump
*Rhetoric of Donald Trump
*Conservapedia:Donald Trump achievements – the go-to source to prove that little has been achieved since January 20, 2017.
===Trump shell companies===
*Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House – Michael Wolff's book about the Trump campaign and Trump's first year in office.
*Know Nothing Party: Rick Perry publicly called Trump a "Know Nothing" shortly after Trump announced his candidacy."Perry: Defending Conservatism Against Cancer of Trump-ism". Perry for President. (And when Rick Perry thinks you've gone out to lunch, well ...)
*Ultracrepidarian. Also, hire ghost writers to write bestseller books in your name about how smart and rich you are."Donald Trump had an uncredited ghostwriter for his new book, 'Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again'", NY Daily News (11/5/15, 3:20 PM).
*Nepotism – his daughter ( and son-in-law ( were advisors to the at-the-time President and were unable to get more than temporary security clearances due to being possible blackmail candidates.White House officials are asked if they are vulnerable to blackmail by Ken Dilanian (Feb 15, 2018, 3:15 pm ET) NBC News.
*Paradise Papers – offshore money, which may or may not have been used for tax fraud, and happened to have named 12 filthy rich men in Trump's orbit.
*Pissgate
*Secure the border
===Trump, the game===
*Fun:A day in the life of Donald J. Trump
*Fun:Quantum Trump
*Fun:Trump insult generator
*Fun:Trump synonym generator
*Fun:Trump tweet generator
===Trump subsidiaries===
*Pat Buchanan: A failed paleoconservative presidential candidate who shares many of the same nationalistic ideas about free trade, foreign policy, and immigration.Clift, Eleanor (1 June 2016). "Pat Buchanan: Donald Trump Stole My Playbook". thedailybeast.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. Naturally, he was an early and enthusiastic Trump supporter."Pat Buchanan says Donald Trump is the future of the Republican Party". The Washington Post. Retrieved on 4 August 2016. (Buchanan and Trump were opponents in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries.) And what do you know?... Border is eventually going to be militarized and defended or the United States, as we have known it, is going to cease to exist ... And Americans will not go gentle into that good night. Patrick Buchanan. The great people of our Country demand proper Border Security NOW! by Donald Trump (19:18 – 13 Jan. 2019) Twitter (archived from June 5, 2020).
*Charles Coughlin: An American Catholic priest who became the granddaddy of right-wing populism, nationalistic demagoguery, and globalist conspiracies.
*Paul LePage: I miss the old LePage, straight from the 'Go LePage, talkin' 'bout the soul LePage, set all his goals LePage,Lowell, Jessica, "LePage says Trump was his third choice for president", Maine Today 8.18.16.MacNeal, Caitlin, "You Know It's Bad When Maine Gov. Paul LePage Is Telling Trump To Cool It", TPM (8/5/16 at 12:20 PM EDT). I hate the new LePage, the bad mood LePage, the always-rude LePage, spaz in the news LePageAlexander Burns, Maggie Haberman, and Jonathan Martin, LePage calls for Republican party to disavow Trump; then endorses him, NYT 2.28.16.Levenson, Eric, "Maine Gov. LePage says he's open to Trump administration job", Boston,com. 5.5.16."LePage's Daughter Hired By Trump Campaign", TPM via Associated Press (8/25?16 at 4:42 PM EDT)."Gov. LePage to Donald Trump: Just ignore the media", Portal Press-Herald 8.2.16.
*Ron DeSantis: Governor of Florida, who goes beyond just being a blowhard. He actively prevents masks from being enforced,DeSantis’ Executive Order Is Misleading About Lack of Scientific Support for Masking in Schools, KHN, August 11, 2011 he refuses to promote life-saving vaccines,Why won’t DeSantis do more to promote COVID-19 vaccination? | Randy Schultz, South Florida Sun Sentinal, December 8, 2020 he punishes government employees for accurately reporting on COVID deaths,University of Florida researchers pressured to destroy COVID-19 data, told not to criticize DeSantis: report, The Hill, December 8, 2021 and he dabbles in outright authoritarianism every time he feels threatened by regular people. He is the closest thing to a "Smarter Trump" that we can see.
*Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House throughout the 1990s. Architect of the Contract with America, Gingrich is the man most responsible for the brain drain in Congress, turning it into a stenographer for lobbyists and consultants, transforming his already-conservative party into the party of no, and using his power to crush all dissent, whether from the opposition or from his own party.
*Rush Limbaugh, or should we say "Rash Libel" for the content of his venomous prose? bloated and self-indulgent shock-jock, who like Donald Trump related provocative statements with little regard for their truth so long as they fit right-wing memes. For that he was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump. He is Trump's "intellectual" prophet even if without much honor. 
*Joseph McCarthy: There are at least 40 million illegal immigrants. Some people say there are 30 million illegal immigrants. It's probably somewhere in the middle. 32, 33, 34 million.Sherman, Amy, "Donald Trump wrongly says the number of illegal immigrants is 30 million or higher", PolitiFact (7/28/15 at 2:18 p.m.).
*Richard Nixon: Who indirectly led to the bastard even having a chance at the presidency due to Roger Ailes and the Southern Strategy.
*Sarah Palin: Basically a Nostra-dumbass. She foretold Trump without even knowing it.
*Vladimir Putin. Russian dictator and war criminal seeking an American puppet, he found a predictable puppet in Donald Fredovich Trump. (Russian naming style gives a middle name from the father's given name. Donald Trump's father was Fred Trump). 
*Ronald Reagan: A B-radio and film personality who completely changed his politics to appease his masters at GE TV theater. He was picked out of a hat because the name had a high recognition value. He didn't actually decide anything; he just read the lines he was given.
*Shinzō Abe: He was a far-right nationalist and former prime minister in Japan. He is in retrospect often referred to as "Trump before Trump".The Leader Who Was ‘Trump Before Trump', New York Times, May 29, 2019
*George Wallace: The segregationist presidential candidate.
==External links==
*"Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement", The Hollywood Reporter.
*"Donald Trump: 'I Could ... Shoot Somebody, And I Wouldn't Lose Any Voters'" – We're not sure the world is ready for a mad emperor Gordon Gekko.
*"The End of the World" — a 1958 episode from a TV show featuring a conman named Walter Trump, eerily similarTrackdown Shakedown: An episode of the 1950s western TV series 'Trackdown' featured a character named Walter Trump who claimed he would build a wall to protect a town from the end of the world by Dan Evon (Updated: Jan 12, 2017) Snopes.com.
*Sesame Street mocking Trump: Ronald Grump Builds The Grump Tower, Grouch Apprentice with Donald Grump. Trump is so petty, this is why he wants to destroy the National Endowment for the Arts, which funds Sesame Street.Trump wants to defund PBS. 'Sesame Street' brutally parodied him for decades by Avi Selk (March 21 at 12:25 PM) The Washington Post.
*Match of the Millennium. Trump Alert!
*
*How intelligent is Donald Trump?
*The many nicknames of President Donald J. Trump.
*In four years, President Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims: The Fact Checker’s database of the false or misleading claims made by President Trump while in office. (Updated Jan. 20, 2021) The Washington Post.
* His YouTube channel
* His Twitter Account - Elon Musk unbanned him
* — Trump's life story foretold in the 18th century
===Trump language===
*His insults toward other candidates, The New York Times.
*The language he uses – is it "bigly" or "big league"? Neither – it's big lie.
*Donald Trump limerick generator
*Donald Trump Insult Generator, TIME.
===Videos===
*Never forget.
*RNC Prays For Democratic Defeat, Trump Victory - The fact that they're literally praying in an empty room is a powerful statement. So alone in their righteous anger.
*Donald Trump is the President!
*Building Trump's Wall. The B1M.
*The Tsar Spangled Banner. Sheet Music Boss.
*Donald, where's your trousers? Performed by Garret Dillahunt (as John Henry) and Mackenzie Smith (as Savannah Weaver) in Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
==Notes==
==References==
*
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