March 28th in TrumpWorld

The days are starting to blur.  Just how much chaos can I write about?  No wonder people just get worn out and give up.  I'm telling you, it's Trump's superpower -- his ability to create chaos every, single day.  Year after year.
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March 28, 2016

Yep, before he even got elected.  Okay, I'm really just trying to figure out the New York Times' search function but I found it and...

"On whether he would withdraw United States forces from Japan and South Korea if those countries do not increase their payments to cover the costs of those troops:

“Yes, I would. I would not do so happily, but I would be willing to do it... We cannot afford to be losing vast amounts of billions of dollars on all of this... And I have a feeling that they’d up the ante very much. I think they would, and if they wouldn’t I would really have to say yes.”

Highlights From Our Interview With Donald Trump on Foreign Policy

An absolutely clueless answer about national security.  It's the same one he gave about NATO.  He doesn't recognize how extraordinary this peace between the great powers of the world has been,  since World War II.  

"When someone shows you who they are believe them the first time." -- Maya Angelou

(You can fast-forward to 1900 if you like.)

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March 28, 2017

"Saturday’s stops marked the eighth weekend in a row — out of the 10 weekends he has been in office — that Mr. Trump has visited a Trump-branded property, including his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. White House officials have said Mr. Trump goes to his clubs and restaurants because he is comfortable there, but critics increasingly argue that the visits are priceless advertising and that Mr. Trump and his family are using the presidency as a way to enrich themselves."

Trump Puts a Presidential-Size Spotlight on His Brand

Remember learning about what "emoluments" meant?  I made it through 60 years (and 10 Presidents) without needing to know that word.   
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March 28, 2018

"The last few days have been typical. On Thursday, H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, resigned and was replaced by John Bolton (a man Donald Trump was originally reluctant to hire because he didn’t like his mustache). On Friday morning, the president threatened to veto the $1.3 trillion spending package that Congress sent him in order to avoid a government shutdown, only to sign it later, after describing it as “ridiculous.” Was it really just three days ago that he called President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his victory in a rigged election, in spite of being specifically begged not to do so by his own staff?"

Day after day after day.

"So you can be forgiven if, while all that was going on, you missed when Mr. Trump issued a new ban on transgender troops on Friday night, reversing an Obama-era policy and providing only minor tweaks to the ban he’d already tried to put in place last year, before that policy was shut down by legal challenges."

Trump’s Trans Ban Shows Who He Really Is

Dang those pesky "legal challenges"!  Let's get rid of them!
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March 28, 2019

"Mr. Trump did not seem to care about shifting the political focus toward an issue that Democrats far preferred to the aftermath of the Mueller report. He charged ahead at a Senate Republican luncheon, telling reporters as he went in, “Let me just tell you exactly what my message is: The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care. You watch.”"

Still watching, 5 years later.  By the way, "Obamacare" is now 14 years old (effective for 10).

Trump Sided With Mulvaney in Push to Nullify Health Law
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March 28, 2020

The headline is bad but to understand the depth -- and the rot -- you need to get deep into the story.

"Because Mr. Trump played down the severity of the coronavirus for much of January and February, and into the beginning of March, the White House got a late start in assessing how much equipment would be needed.

His son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, began focusing on the shortages only two weeks ago, and started with the critical absence of test kits, which has made it impossible to map how far the virus has spread or to identify emerging hot spots.

Then Mr. Kushner focused on the medical equipment shortages, working with the National Association of Manufacturers, the Business Roundtable and groups of former and current executives who gathered under the hashtag #StopTheSpread. Some of those executives now say they are operating on their own and no longer coordinating with the White House because they could not get clear signals about what the government wanted, or when."

Under Intense Criticism, Trump Says Government Will Buy More Ventilators

"...no longer coordinating with the White House because they could not get clear signals about what the government wanted..."

I hope that sticks with you.  I hope it will flash through your mind when you're about to mark your ballot this November.  The business-friendly President that didn't accomplish anything -- legislatively -- except giving Big Corporations tax breaks, was ignored by those same corporations when the chips were down because of blatant incompetence.  And Americans died.  By the thousands.
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March 28, 2021 -- Trump is gone but not forgotten.

"When Aaron Luce quit the Foreign Service in 2019, President Donald J. Trump loomed large in his mind.

Mr. Luce, 32, and his wife, both State Department officers posted in China, were deflated, he said. The steady erosion of traditional American diplomatic principles under the Trump administration had taken a toll, he added. That Mr. Trump praised China’s decision to end term limits for its presidency and that his daughter Ivanka Trump received trademarks for her company during a trade war elicited concern, he said."

Under Biden, Diplomacy Is an Attractive Career Again

Not all the damage Trump did was obvious.  We have no idea.  The next Einstein may have decide to immigrate to Canada instead of the United States.  The parents of the next Steve Jobs may have decide to go to Australia -- instead of here.  The only thing certain is that Trump caused untold damage to the United States of America.  And -- if he gets a second chance -- the next time will be  worse.  A lot worse.

Don Brow
March 28, 2024