Those who apologize for the Trump presidency say that the
Trump group should be given some slack because they are new to government and
because the American people voted for Trump because they wanted someone new. I
want to reply to that argument.
1. All new presidents are new to the presidency. There have been variations in each one’s learning curve, but until now there has been a learning curve in each case. Trump unfortunately has no learning curve because he claims to be smarter than everyone else, knows everything, and therefore does not have to learn. He also appears to surround himself in his inner circle with a number of unsavory people who think they are also geniuses and give him poor advice (for example Bannon, Manafort, and Flynn).
2. It is not clear that the American people voted for
Trump. Actually he lost the popular vote. He won the electoral college narrowly
by a successful campaign that targeted key gerrymandered states. His campaign
was also aided greatly by illegally working with the intelligence service of a
foreign adversarial government to hack his opponent’s emails and plant fake
news on social media.
3. Trump did not separate himself from his personal
financial interests. Therefore decisions concerning the United States
(including relations with foreign governments) are influence by how they affect
Trump’s money. In fact, it appears that he uses his position as president to
promote his personal business. For example, foreign businesses and governments
give his businesses (including many business interests in foreign lands)
preferences to gain favor with the US president.
4. Trump demeans the free press and favors fake news
organizations like Breitbart and Fox News. A free press is a cornerstone of
democracy.
5. Trump’s fake “America first” policy actually puts
America last by pulling us out of international agreements, free trade, and
favors old fossil fuel industries over new renewable energy. China is now
overtaking us as the leader in renewable energy and climate control, not
because they are better than us but because under Trump we are abandoning our
future. The Chinese leader recently boasted that their authoritarian government
is better for the ordinary citizen than western democracy while Trump is trying
to turn us into a fossil fuel kleptocracy like Russia. The tragedy of Trump is
that he is throwing 250 years of American progress into the toilet.
