Bob Sheak, July 24, 2025

Introduction

As a result of Trump’s razor thin victory in the 2024 presidential election, a victory that was abetted by Elon Musk’s massive donations of $250 million or more to Trump’s campaign and the contributions of other billionaires, along with Republican gerrymandering in many states, we now have a president who is again advancing policies that conflict with and threaten to destroy democratic values, constitutional mandates, and services that are important to most Americans. For example, with the help of Musk and his young inexperienced team, there have been major reductions in agencies throughout the federal government, reducing or eliminating people, experts in their fields, and services to millions of Americans.

There have already been cuts in education, health care, regulatory agencies, clean energy policy (climate-change deniers), veterans’ benefits, and foreign aid.

Wikipedia reports

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_federal_mass_layoffs).

 “More than 275,000 United States federal civil service layoffs have been announced by the second Trump administration.^[1][2] As of June 26, 2025, CNN has tracked at least 128,709 workers laid off or targeted for layoffs.^[3] As of 3 June 2025, The New York Times tracked more than 58,500 confirmed cuts, more than 76,000 employee buyouts, and more than 149,000 other planned reductions; cuts total 12% of the 2.4 million civilian federal workers.^[4] In limited cases, the administration has rescinded layoff notifications.^[5]”

The public justification, lacking evidence, is that there is waste and abuse throughout government that needs to be eliminated. Trump has also naively supported rising tariffs to discourage imports. This has caused shortages in the U.S. economy, rising prices, and the potential loss of trade with even previously allied countries.

Concerned about the negative effects of these actions, including Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” Trump and his Republican allies in the Congress have deceptively postponed some of the cuts until after the 2026 mid-term elections or later in hopes of retaining Republican majorities in both chambers of the Congress.

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The one big not-so beautiful bill

Amy B Wang reports on what to expect from Trump’s “big tax law”

(https://washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/14/trump-tax-bill-takes-effect).

“President Donald Trump signed his massive tax and immigration bill into law on July 4 in a White House ceremony full of patriotic pomp and circumstance. The legislation extends the tax cuts enacted in Trump’s first term and directs hundreds of billions of dollars of new spending to defense and immigration enforcement. To offset those costs, the bill also makes historic cuts to spending on social safety-net programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Nonpartisan estimates have said cuts in the bill will cause at least 17 million Americans to lose their health coverage.”

Wang continues.”

The key provisions in Trump’s law, which he called the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ will take effect at different times over several years. The facets of the law have varying degrees of popularity with the American public, according to a recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll. Many of the more unpopular policies in the legislation will not kick in until after the 2026 midterm elections, possibly minimizing the political damage to Republicans that some in their party previously warned the bill could inflict. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan agency that vets the cost of major legislation, projects the bill will add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.”

Here’s a look at when certain provisions from the legislation are scheduled to take effect.

“Effective right away, the new law permanently extends trillions of dollars of tax cuts enacted in 2017 during Trump’s first term that otherwise were set to expire at the end of this year. Those included cuts for corporate businesses and for all income levels, though the highest-earning households saw the biggest benefits. The new law also raises the limit on how much people can deduct in state and local taxes — known as the SALT cap — from their federal returns, from $10,000 to $40,000 a year.

“Under the new GOP bill, the standard deduction will increase to $15,750 for an individual ($31,500 for a married couple filing jointly) and the child tax credit will increase from $2,000 to $2,200 per child, to be adjusted for inflation each year. However, some noncitizens are now barred from claiming the latter, even if their children are American citizens.

“Also essentially kicking in right away are many of the policies Trump promised during his campaign, such as no taxes on tips, overtime compensation or car-loan interest. A worker earning less than $150,000 a year can exclude up to $25,000 of tip income and up to $12,500 of overtime compensation from being taxed. People age 65 and older earning up to $75,000 a year can deduct an additional $6,000, with lower deductions for those earning more. The deductions are all retroactive to Jan. 1 and can be claimed when filing taxes next year.

“‘Finally,’ Wang writes, ‘the law mandates new, more stringent work requirements for those on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Adults aged 19-64 who don’t have dependents must prove they are working, volunteering or going to school for a certain number of hours each month to qualify for federal food assistance. (SNAP’s previous work requirements apply to adult recipients up to 54 years old, without dependents.) Requirements will be phased through 2029, depending on how states look to supplement the program without federal help. Groups that are likely to see benefit changes this year are veterans, parents with children 14 to 17 years of age, foster youths and people between 55 and 65 years old.”

“What’s getting cut this year? The legislation ends several green- and clean-energy initiatives enacted under President Joe Biden. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022, certain electric vehicle purchases qualified for a tax credit for anywhere from $4,000 to $7,500. That incentive is now set to end on Sept. 30, instead of in 2032.

“Other credits for green home improvement projects — including the Residential Clean Energy Credit and the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit — are also due to sunset on Dec. 31 because of the GOP law. Those credits have been offered for the purchase and installation of things like household solar panels, home batteries and solar water heaters, as well as for homeowners to upgrade to more energy-efficient appliances or improve insulation.

2026 changes

“As the new coverage year starts for health insurance plans purchased on the Affordable Care Act marketplace, people are likely to see new restrictions and higher premiums because of Trump’s law that allows pandemic-era enhanced subsidies to expire at the end of 2025. The CBO estimates that 4.2 million people will lose insurance as a result of losing those subsidies that made coverage affordable.

“Several new restrictions and changes to federal student loan programs are set to kick in on July 1, 2026. Being eliminated are the Graduate PLUS student loan program, as well as the SAVE, PAYE and ICR student loan repayment plans, which are based on income level. New student loan borrowers must choose between one of two repayment plans approved under the new GOP legislation. Parent PLUS loans — which previously allowed parents to borrow up to a student’s full cost of attendance — also will be capped at $20,000 per year, or $65,000 total per student.

Throughout the year, both parties are expected to use the changes enacted in the law as campaign fodder for the midterm elections on Nov. 3, 2026, with Republicans likely to tout the tax cuts that will have already gone into effect.

Wang continues.

2027

“With midterm elections in the rearview mirror, this is the year that the least popular aspects of the law are set to take effect. Jan. 1, 2027, [and] is the deadline for most states to implement new Medicaid work requirements for people who became eligible for Medicaid under the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the program, though some states may get exemptions for up to two years. Similar to the new SNAP work requirements, adults 19-64 will have to prove they are working, volunteering or going to school for a certain number of hours per month to qualify for Medicaid.

“The bill provides exemptions for certain groups, including those who are pregnant, disabled or taking care of dependent children 13 or younger — but those recipients could still lose their health insurance if they don’t submit paperwork proving their exemption. The bill requires that states conduct an extra eligibility check every six months, starting in 2027, which could open the door to people losing coverage midyear.

“On Oct. 1, 2027, most states will begin to be required to cover some SNAP benefit costs previously covered entirely by the federal government.”

2028

“This is the year that most permanent funding changes to Medicaid kick in, namely the gradual reduction of provider taxes and state-directed payments that experts say are likely to cause states to have to make cuts to their programs. The Trump administration has cast the cuts as ‘strengthening Medicaid by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse,’ but the CBO projected the nearly $1 trillion cuts to Medicaid alone will result in 11.8 million more uninsured Americans by 2034.

“July 1, 2028, is the deadline for student loan borrowers to change to one of the two new repayment plans approved under Trump’s law.

“Starting Oct. 1, 2028, those who became eligible for Medicaid under the ACA’s expansion of the program in 2010 — and whose income is from 100 percent to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (roughly $32,000 to $44,000 for a family of four) — will begin to pay new out-of-pocket costs of up to $35 per service, which experts have said is likely to lead low-income recipients to avoid seeking care.

“Possibly the changes that will affect the largest swaths of the population will take place at the end of the year, after the election of a new president. On Dec. 31, 2028, the temporary tax provisions for tips, overtime compensation, seniors, car-loan interest and state and local tax deductions will expire. However, the extension of the 2017 tax cuts — including for corporate businesses and higher-income households — will remain because the law made them permanent.”

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The creation of a Police State

Rob Wallace ,Joe Sexauer , Rita Valenti  argue that “Trump Is Trying to Dismantle Public Health — and Replace It With a Police State”

 Truthout, July 16, 2025 (https://truthout.org/articles/trump-is-trying-to-dismantle-public-health-and-replace-it-with-a-police-state).

“The Trump administration is fighting to remain a step ahead of the growing popular backlash to its draconian cuts to social programs that millions of Americans depend on — at least until the administration operationalizes enough of the police state it’s practicing on immigrants to put down any such objection.

The deeply unpopular White House is confronted with a second problem of its own making. It’s a trap already apparent during Donald Trump’s first term. In letting go federal employees or replacing them with incompetent sycophants, the administration is having difficulty running its political relay to the fascist finish line.”

“Under the ‘ budget signed into law July 4, all that will be removed from Medicaid, food stamps, and student loans will be reallocated nearly dollar-for-dollar to the Pentagon, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and subsidies and tax cuts for the rich.”

“As Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s failure to deploy federal search and rescue until more than 72 hours after the recent deadly Texas floods underscores, the incompetence on display is likely to blow back upon the administration time and again. Within only the last month:

“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ team used artificial intelligence to write a report plotting out a new vision for health policy that strips out childhood vaccines, ultra-processed foods, and pesticides. The report included false information and fake citations.

“David Richardson, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) new head, shocked FEMA staff when he shared his surprise there was a hurricane season.

“Casey Means, a wellness influencer and Trump’s pick for surgeon general, never completed her medical residency.

“Against their Hippocratic oaths, Veterans Affairs doctors are now allowed to refuse to treat Democrats, the unmarried, or people of any characteristic not presently protected under law.”

“The U.S. has long suffered the consequences of failing to offer access to well-run federal programs to all Americans. But the new administration’s rollbacks reach another order of abandonment, rejecting any notion of our shared fate.”

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Trying to limit clean energy

Zack Colman and Josh Siegel report on a Trump administration memo that could strike a fatal blow to wind and solar power (https://politico.com/news/2025/07/18/definitely-playing-favorites-interior-memo-could-strike-dire-blow-to-wind-and-solar-projects-00460801). Here’s some of what they report.

“As POLITICO first reported on Wednesday, the Interior Department issued a directive requiring Secretary Doug Burgum’s personal approval for even the most routine activities related to wind and solar projects on federal lands. The directive could have a much broader impact, affecting scores of projects on private land that must pass through or connect with projects on Interior-managed federal land, according to industry officials, financiers and lawyers.

“The memo comes as President Donald Trump has sought to squelch new wind and solar projects through executive orders and limit use of federal tax credits that moderate Republicans fought to preserve in their megalaw earlier this month. Trump has decried those energy sources as harmful to the power grid’s reliability and said those industries ultimately benefit China, which controls a sizable chunk of the world’s wind and solar supply chains.

“Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, warned the move would hamstring the U.S. economy by delaying additions of readily available power.”

“‘The president and Secretary Burgum will then be responsible for raising electricity prices on every state in this country because that will be the end result of that kind of abuse of permitting,’ he said. ‘I would warn them if they create this as a precedent and it survives, a future administration could play the same game with oil and gas pipelines and leases.’”

“The department’s new policy requires Burgum’s office to weigh in on virtually every aspect of or permit for solar and wind projects with a nexus to Interior. That includes siting, navigating threats to endangered species, road access and right-of-way permissions.”

“Solar, wind and battery storage accounted for 93 percent of power capacity added to the grid last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.”

“American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet called the new policy ‘obstruction’ and an ‘intentional effort to slow energy production.’”

“‘In stark contradiction to the Administration’s commitment to tackling bureaucracy, this directive adds three new layers of needless process and unprecedented political review to the construction of domestic energy projects,’ Grumet said in a statement.”

“Harry Godfrey, managing director of Advanced Energy United, who leads the clean energy organization’s federal engagement efforts, said in a statement it is ‘deeply disappointing to see the Administration yet again singling out affordable energy sources for added scrutiny, particularly at a time of rising demand. This is the antithesis of expedited permitting that the Administration supposedly favors.’

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), put it bluntly: ‘It sounds blatantly political on the face of it.’”

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Trump exempts more than 100 polluters from environmental standards

Rachel Frazin reports on Trump’s exemption of more than 100 polluters from environmental standards, July 18 2025 (https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5408714-trump-epa-polluters-environmental-standards-clean-air-act).

She points out, “The Trump administration is exempting dozens of chemical manufacturers, oil refineries, coal plants, medical device sterilizers and other polluters from Clean Air Act rules.

“On Thursday, the White House announced it would exempt more than 100 plants from pollution limits established by the Biden administration.

“The limits are aimed at reducing the releases of toxic chemicals, including those that cause cancer. One rule that the Trump administration is exempting about 50 polluters from would have been expected to reduce cancer risks of people living within 6 miles of a chemical plant by 96 percent.

“The Trump administration touted its decision as being supportive of fossil fuels and manufacturing.” Trump rejects any policy that might “undermine America’s energy reliability, economic vitality, and national security, according to a White House fact sheet.” Frazin notes the move also stands in contrast with the administration’s pledge to “make America healthy again.”

The consequences are likely to be insufferable. Frazin gives the following examples. “Trump’s action on behalf of big corporate polluters will cause more cancer, more birth defects, and more children to suffer asthma. The country deserves better,” Patrice Simms, vice president of litigation at Earthjustice’s Healthy Communities Program, said in a written statement.”

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Ignoring global warming

Donald Trump’s Greatest Failure

Tom Engelhardt consider this issue, July 15 2025

(https://tomdispatch.com/donald-trumps-greatest-triumph). Tom Engelhardt created and runs the website TomDispatch.com. He is also a co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of a highly praised history of American triumphalism in the Cold War, The End of Victory Culture.  A fellow of the Type Media Center, his sixth book is A Nation Unmade by War.

“‘My guess,’ Engelhardt writes, “is that you haven’t read much about it recently, despite the fact that a significant part of this country, including the city I live in, set new heat records for June. And Europe followed suit soon after with a heat hell all its own in which, at one point, the temperature in part of Spain hit an all-time record 114.8 degrees Fahrenheit. And oh yes, part of Portugal hit 115.9 degrees as both countries recorded their hottest June ever. Facing that reality, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said (again all too appropriately): ‘Extreme heat is no longer a rare event — it has become the new normal.’ The new normal, indeed! He couldn’t have been more on target!”

“And why am I not surprised by all this? Well, because whether you’re in the United States or Europe (or so many other places on this planet) these days, if you’ve been paying any attention at all, you’ve noticed that June is indeed the new July, and that, thanks to the ever increasing amounts of greenhouse gases that continue to flow into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, heat waves have grown more frequent and more intense. After all, we’re now on a planet where, without a doubt, heat is at an all-time-record high. After all, 2024, was the hottest year in history and the last 10 years, the hottest decade ever known.” Worse yet, in the age of Donald Trump, this is clearly just the beginning, not the end (though somewhere down the line, of course, it could indeed prove to be exactly that).”

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An Ongoing Act of Global Terrorism

Engelhardt continues. “In short, despite everything else he’s doing in and to this world of ours, there’s nothing more devastating (not even his bombing of Iran) than his urge to ignore anything associated with climate change, while putting fossil fuels back at the very center of our all-American world. Yes, he can no longer simply stop solar and wind power from growing rapidly on this planet of ours, but he can certainly try. And simply refusing to do anything to help is — or at least should be — considered an ongoing act of global terrorism.

Fewer forecasts

“And don’t think it’s just that either. For example, Trump administration cuts to the National Weather Service have already ensured that, when truly bad weather hits (and hits and hits), as it’s been doing this year, whether you’re talking about stunning flash-flooding or tornadoes, there will be, as the Guardian‘s Eric Holthaus reports, ever fewer staff members committed to informing and warning Americans about what’s coming or helping them once it’s hit. Meanwhile, cuts to the government’s greenhouse gas monitoring network will ensure that we’ll know less about the effects of climate change in this country.”

Engelhardt concludes his article, “Of all the wars we shouldn’t be fighting on this planet of ours from Ukraine to Gaza, Iran to Sudan, there is indeed one that we all should be fighting, including the president of the United States, and that’s the war against our destruction of this planet (as humanity has known it all these endless thousands of years) in a planetary heat hell.” 

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Monitoring and suppressing dissent

John W. Whitehead – Nisha Whitehead consider this issue

(https://counterpunch.org/2025/07/17/thewearables-trap-how-the-government-plans-to-monitor-score-and-control-you). Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His latest books The Erik Blair Diaries and Battlefield America: The War on the American People are available at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

The Whiteheads make their key point: “Under the present Republican-dominated government, ‘bodily autonomy—the right to privacy and integrity over our own bodies—is rapidly vanishing.

“‘We are entering a new age of algorithmic, authoritarian control, where our thoughts, moods, and biology are monitored and judged by the state.

“This is the dark promise behind the newest campaign by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, to push for a future in which all Americans wear biometric health-tracking devices.

“Under the guise of public health and personal empowerment, this initiative is nothing less than the normalization of 24/7 bodily surveillance—ushering in a world where every step, heartbeat, and biological fluctuation is monitored not only by private companies but also by the government.”

“‘According to Kennedy’s plan,’ which has been promoted as part of a national campaign to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ wearable devices would track glucose levels, heart rate, activity, sleep, and more for every American.

“Participation may not be officially mandatory at the outset, but the implications are clear: get on board, or risk becoming a second-class citizen in a society driven by data compliance.”

“Devices like Fitbits, Apple Watches, glucose trackers, and smart rings collect astonishing amounts of intimate data—from stress and depression to heart irregularities and early signs of illness. When this data is shared across government databases, insurers, and health platforms, it becomes a potent tool not only for health analysis—but for control.”

“Once health tracking becomes a de facto requirement for employment, insurance, or social participation, it will be impossible to ‘opt out’ without penalty. Those who resist may be painted as irresponsible, unhealthy, or even dangerous.

“This is not merely the expansion of health care. It is the transformation of health into a mechanism of control—a Trojan horse for the surveillance state to claim ownership over the last private frontier: the human body.”

“The goal is no longer simply to monitor behavior but to reshape it—to preempt dissent, deviance, or disease before it arises.”

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 Trump’s angry, erratic behavior explains his lowball poll numbers, except among his MAGA base

Stephen Collinson reports for CNN on Trump’s low poll ratings

(https://cnn.com/2025/07/17/politics/trump-powell-epstein-poll-numbers-analysis).

Collinson focuses on Trump’s views toward Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, and his relations to Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide while serving a prison sentence for enticing young girls into sex acts with him and his wealthy friends, including, as the Wall Street Journal has reported, Trump.

On Powell

Trump’s inclination to fire Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve would represent, Collinson writes, “the riskiest power grab yet of Trump’s expansive second term, since it would traumatize markets by obliterating an assumption that made the US the world’s most powerful economy — that presidents don’t emulate developing world dictators by cooking the books for political gain.”

Trump later insisted it was “highly unlikely” he’d dismiss Powell after markets shuddered. But given his volatile nature and obvious desire to exact revenge on an official who has refused to bow to his autocratic impulses, few will take such assurances to the (central) bank.

Notably, “Powell is praised by many economists for doing the impossible — taming the worst inflation crisis in 40 years without setting off a recession or surging unemployment. But unlike the Fed chief, whom he appointed in his first term, Trump acts on hunches. If he gets this wrong and ignites contagion in the financial markets, the savings and livelihoods of millions could be on the line.”

On Epstein

Meanwhile, in an extraordinary outburst on Truth Social, “Trump blasted some of the most vocal MAGA personalities as ‘weaklings’ over their criticism of his administration’s refusal to throw open files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s defensiveness supercharged a furor simmering for more than a week — and is likely to spur more claims he’s got something to hide and to encourage Democratic calls for more transparency.”

Trump sues the Wall Street Journal

Amid the controversy, Nandita Bose and Jonathan Stempel report for Reuters that Trump has sued the Wall Street Journal seeking $10 billion (https://apnews.com/article/trump-epstein-wall-street-journal-b006f3ef25e6b4ab910cc3b41c865227). Here’s some of what they write.

“U.S. President Donald Trump sued the Wall Street Journal and its owners including Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion on Friday, over the newspaper’s report that his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.

The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court names Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp (NWSA.O), opens new tab and its Chief Executive Robert Thomson, and two Wall Street Journal reporters as defendants, saying they defamed Trump and caused him to suffer “overwhelming” financial and reputational harm.”

Bose and Stempel continue. “A spokesperson for Dow Jones said in a statement: “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”

Low poll ratings, except among many in his base

Bottom of Form

Collinson (cited previously) refers to a new CNN/SSRS poll that sheds light on Trump’s unruly presidency.

“In the CNN poll, Trump’s approval rating was largely unchanged from the spring, at 42%. But less than a year after an election that turned in part on frustration about the cost of groceries and housing, only 37% of those polled say Trump is concentrating on the right issues — down 6 points from March.”

And his “biggest-ever domestic triumph — the just-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which contains much of his second-term domestic agenda — is opposed by 61% of Americans. And his approval among independents is an anemic 32%.”

Still, “the CNN/SSRS findings show that Trump’s standing with Republicans is rock-solid at 88%.”

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Does Trump have a plan to avoid becoming a lame duck?

The Editorial Board of the Washington Post considers Trump’s plan, July 11, 2025

(https://washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/11/trump-third-term-legacy-era).

Members of the Editorial Board: Deputy Opinion Editors Mary Duenwald and Stephen Stromberg, as well as writers Robert Gebelhoff, James Hohmann, Megan McArdle, Eduardo Porter and Keith B. Richburg.

They write,

“Trump cannot lawfully seek a third term, but he may continue to dominate U.S. politics, according to the Washington Post’s editorial board.

“One especially ostentatious way that Trump has sought to avoid becoming a lame duck is by flirting with seeking a third term in 2028. Usually, Trump is clearly joking. At other times, he has acknowledged that he will be a two-term president.”

But the Board writes that some of Trump’s policies will have a negative effect on his future.

“His tax cuts promise to add trillions to the debt, risking a fiscal crisis the likes of which Americans have never experienced.”

“The president’s erratic tariff policy risks stoking inflation and promotes corrosive uncertainty for businesses trying to plan and invest.

“His war on undocumented immigrants, marked by a provocative, militarized federal presence in Los Angeles, could bring more economic pain.

“…as Trump rolls out a new, massive tariff seemingly every hour, the bigger he goes, the higher the risk to the nation’s fortunes.”

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Is it about his psychological instability and incapacity?

There is concern in some circles that Trump’s erratic behavior is affected by a growing mental instability and incapacity.

Bandy X. Lee, the author and editor of the bestselling book The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President (publ. 2017), has written another book about Trump’s psychological state. The title: The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Danger to American Democracy and All Humankind (publ. 2024). Lee writes that “mental incapacity” occurs when “a person does not possess the rationality and mental stability to be able to make reality-based, sound decision, so that one can perform a task or a job” (p. 62).

Here are two examples from Lee’s book. One, “Donald Trump became the source of almost half the world’s disinformation on Covid-19, at a time when public education was the most critical defense against the disease” (p. 62). Two, he encouraged his supporters to gather in Washington D.C., to stop the certification of Biden’s presidency on January 6, 2021, where at least 2,000 of them engaged in a violent insurrection at the U.S. capitol, and “injuring 174 police officers and killing four (p. 63).

Lee points out that trump waited hours to intercede while the rioters ransacked the capitol and unleased their damage and harm. Lee writes: “Donald Trump himself never telephoned the National Guard, and never contacted any federal law enforcements agency to order security assistance to the Capitol Police. Instead, during the attack’s first three hours, Trump was transfixed on the violence shown on television, ignoring pleas to call off the mob” (p. 68).

Trump continues to this day to claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him. It has become known as the “big lie.” However, the overwhelming evidence conclusively denies his claim. Sixty-three lawsuits brought by Trump or his supporters failed to change the election results against him. To top it off, and as an illustration of Trump’s unhinged views, one of Trump’s first executive orders in his second presidential term was to pardon over 1,500 of the incarcerated rioters, viewing them as “patriots” rather than the law-breakers they are.

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Concluding thoughts

Trump’s actions and policies indicate that he has a poor judgment on the policies he supports and opposes and on the people he selects for important posts in hisadministration. Consequently, the majority of Americans are being negatively affected and their future is of concern, from global warming to loss of government services Polls show that majorities of American reject his policies on tariffs, immigration, and on his overall performance. If his erratic and harmful behavior continues, the Republican Party may lose their control of at least one of the Congressional houses in the midterm 2026 midterms. That would be beneficial for the country.

Bob Sheak, July 8, 2025

Trump has a great capacity for expressing hatred for his opponents. He is anything but a “unifier,” which he often falsely claims to be.

Here are 5 examples.

#1 – Hatred of Democrats

He has called his political opponents “vermin.” (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-compares-political-opponents-vermin-root-alarming-historians). This was published on Nov. 13, 2023.

Leigh Kimmins reports on Trump declaration of hatred for Democrats (https://thedailybeast.com/trump-kicks-off-celebration-of-america-by-declaring-his-hatred-for-democracy). The article was published on July 5, 2025. Here’s some of what Kimmins writes.

“President Donald Trump declared his hatred for his political opponents during a supposedly bipartisan celebration of the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.

“Taking to the lectern behind thick bulletproof glass in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, Trump immediately started firing off political potshots. ‘They wouldn’t vote only because they hate Trump, but I hate them, too, you know?’ Trump said, referring to Democrats who voted against his “Big Beautiful Bill, which the House sent to the president’s desk after a tight vote.”

“I really do. I hate them. I cannot stand them, because I really believe they hate our country.”

“With all of the things we did with the tax cuts and rebuilding our military, not one Democrat voted for us, and I think we use it in the campaign that’s coming up the midterms, because we got to beat them,” he said.

“We’ve saved our country,” he boasted as his favorite MAGA singer, Lee Greenwood, pumped out his campaign anthem “God Bless the U.S.A.”

“‘We got great marks in the first term, and this is going to blow it away,’ Trump said at one point, ignoring a recent AP-NORC poll showed that six in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance as president and other surveys showing him with negative approval ratings.”

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#2 – Targeting opponents

Trump is not just talking. Tom Dreisbach and Inskeep report for NPR that “Trump has targeted more than 100 opponents and institutions for retribution in his second term (https://npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5379979/trump-has-targeted- more-than-100-opponents-and-institutions-npr-analysis-finds). The reporters write

“During that campaign, critics and supporters alike warned that it’s wrong for a president to go after people he doesn’t like. So Trump downplayed his promise, saying his retribution would merely be success. Now Trump is president. In his first 100 days, the president has ordered the U.S. government to target his personal political opponents, as well as law firms, universities and others. An NPR analysis finds Trump has taken action against more than 100 people and institutions.”

For example, DREISBACH points out the following. “Well, we found the administration using more than 10 different agencies in various ways, not just the Justice Department, which we should say is also announcing criminal investigations into the Democratic governor and attorney general of New Jersey over immigration policy. Trump has also pulled secret service protection for two of President Biden’s children, Hunter and Ashley. Media companies that Trump dislikes are facing investigations from the FCC. That includes NPR, we should say. Universities are facing investigations from the Department of Education, international students who protested the war in Gaza have also faced ICE detention and deportation.”

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#3 – He is relentless in going after “enemies”

David Smith considers this issue (https://theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/02/trump-social-media-threats).

Smith refers to “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” which has documented even before he was re-elected. The organization analyzed “more than 13,000 messages published by Trump on his Truth Social platform and found him vowing revenge, retaliation and retribution against his foes.

“The presumptive Republican nominee has threatened to use the federal government to go after Biden during a second Trump administration 25 times since the start of 2023, the study found. These threats include FBI raids, investigations, indictments and even jail time.

“He has also threatened or suggested that the FBI and justice department should take action against senators, judges, members of Biden’s family and even non-governmental organizations.

“‘He is promising to go after what he perceives to be his political enemies,’ said Robert Maguire, vice-president for research and data at Crew. ‘He is promising to essentially weaponize the government against anyone he sees as not sufficiently loyal or who is openly opposed to him.’”

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 #4 – Politicizing the F.B.I. and making Americans Less Safe (https://nytimes.com/2025/07/05/opinion/trump-fbi-politics-safety.html).

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

“Only 11 days after President Trump was inaugurated for a second term, his administration began a purge of the F.B.I. that now threatens some of the bureau’s most important missions. His appointees ousted eight of its most experienced managers, including the division heads overseeing national security, cybersecurity and criminal investigations. Several had worked on prosecutions of Jan. 6 rioters or had assisted in the various investigations of Mr. Trump, and Emil Bove, then the acting deputy attorney general, said they could not be trusted to carry out the president’s agenda.

“That was just the beginning. Over the past five months, many F.B.I. agents, including other top managers and national security experts, have been fired, pressured to leave or transferred to lesser roles. Hundreds have resigned on their own, unwilling to follow the demands of the Trump administration. Their absence has left a vacuum in divisions that are supposed to protect the public. These losses have “obliterated decades of experience in national security and criminal matters at the F.B.I.,” Adam Goldman of The Times wrote.

“Mr. Trump’s playbook for the F.B.I. is plain to see. He is turning it into an enforcement agency for MAGA’s priorities. He is chasing out agents who might refuse to play along and installing loyalists in their place. He is seeking to remove the threat of investigation for his friends and allies. And he is trying to instill fear in his critics and political opponents. Among his many efforts to weaken American democracy and amass more power for himself, his politicization of the F.B.I. is one of the most blatant.”

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#5 – The “big beautiful bill” represents “a massive transfer of wealth upward”

This is the title of an interview of John Nichols on Democracy Now (https://democracynow.org/2025/7/7/trump_spending_bill). Nichols is the national affairs correspondent for The Nation.

Amy Goodman, the host of the program, offers these highlights of the Trump/Republican bill.

“President Donald Trump and his allies are celebrating the passage of his sweeping tax and spending bill, which he signed into law on July 4 after a monthslong effort to shepherd it through Congress. Ultimately, just three Republicans in the Senate and two in the House voted against the legislation. The so-called Big, Beautiful Bill includes about $1 trillion in federal cuts to Medicaid and could kick 17 million people off their healthcare. It makes the largest-ever cuts to food assistance benefits, could cause the closure of nursing homes and rural hospitals across the country, raises housing and energy costs, and supercharges the Trump crackdown on immigrants — all while delivering massive tax benefits for the wealthiest people in the country. ‘This is the most massive transfer of wealth upward in American history,’ says John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation.

“President Donald Trump signed his sweeping tax and spend bill into law on July 4th, after a monthslong push that saw just three Republicans in the Senate and two in the House break away to oppose how it slashes the social safety net while extending tax cuts to the rich and ballooning the deficit. That left room for the measure to pass with the final vote mostly along party lines.”

And yet, this is the bottom line: In states across the country, not according to liberal Democrats, not according to progressive think tanks, but according to Republicans who are on the ground in these states, and one Republican in the U.S. Senate, Thom Tillis, this is going to have a devastating impact on Medicaid, on access to healthcare, so that we will get to a point where roughly 5% of Americans are at threat of losing their healthcare. That’s a massive, massive shift. In addition, you’ve got roughly 11.8, 12 million people at risk of losing SNAP anti-hunger benefits. And when we look at all the numbers here, because of the way the tax cuts are massively weighted toward the wealthy, you have members of Congress, who are pretty serious analysts of all this, telling us that roughly 40% — going to underline that, 40% — of Americans will end up worse off under this. They won’t get a significant tax cut. They will lose health benefits. They will lose anti-hunger benefits and a lot of other benefits, as well. This is the most massive transfer of wealth upward in American history, and yet it’s designed to create a circumstance where Republicans can run in 2026 and claim that they didn’t do the damage.

“I’ll give you one more set of facts that are just useful. This comes from Governor Andy Beshear in Kentucky. Kentucky is a state that votes quite Republican in federal elections. Beshear is a Democrat, but he’s had to work with a Republican Legislature. He’s a very kind of facts and numbers guy. He says this is the worst piece of federal legislation in his lifetime. He says that 200,000 Kentuckians — this is just one state — 200,000 Kentuckians will lose healthcare, 20,000 healthcare workers will lose their jobs, and as many as 35 rural hospitals are now in danger of closing in that one state. And that doesn’t even take in the devastating impact to nursing homes, especially in small towns.”

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Concluding thoughts

This is a time in US history that democracy is under assault

From what we know, Trump and Republicans in Congress areusing their power to advance their own anti-democratic interests and doing harm to  the country (See Marjorie Cohn’s article (https://truthout.org/articles/by-ruling-against-nationwide-injunctions-scotus-affirms-the-imperial-presidency).