Trump, Power and the Presidency: An Informed Opinion
What has a Trump presidency meant for the United States?
Before officially campaigning for elective office, Trump’s business, public and personal life were predictive of what a Trump presidency would mean for the United States. And since his inauguration, Trump’s policies, behavior, and communication have defined his presidency. Trump claimed the media consistently reported false information about him and his presidency; such claims are dubious. Several media outlets are known to support a particular political agenda across the political spectrum. And many political pundits and commentators often opine from either a conservative or liberal perspective. Yet, most established broadcast news outlets provide reliable accounts of world and national events as well as the activities and communications of public figures and government officials; the accuracy of such accounts are easily verifiable. Trump created his own narrative. And the nature of Trump’s narrative was not based on the machinations or journalistic exploits of the media.
Although born into wealth, Donald Trump has, at various times, attempted to propagate the myth that he is a self-made man.(1) Investigations reveal that Trump was the recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars generated from his father’s real estate business.(2) Studies demonstrate that individuals born into wealth are highly likely to maintain their socioeconomic status throughout their life regardless of academic or business success.(3) As such, it is hardly surprising that Trump is affluent. But how wealthy is Trump? Trump claims he is a billionaire many times over. However, in his book, TrumpNation (2005), author Timothy O’Brien estimated Trump’s worth between 150-250 million. This infuriated Trump so much that he filed a lawsuit against O’Brien claiming he was defamed. During the deposition, O’Brien’s lawyers questioned Trump about his wealth. According to O’Brien, Trump admitted during the deposition that he bases his net worth partly on his “feelings.”(4) Truly bonkers. The judge in the case eventually dismissed the lawsuit.
Trump’s own business and legal record (not the media) documents his business decision-making which includes several business bankruptcies and many failed business ventures on various products and services including vodka, steaks, air transportation, and mortgage services, among others.(5) Yet Trump’s explanations for business failures are highly nuanced as he consistently claims his business dealings are always successful. Trump either has difficulty admitting failures or doesn’t understand the basic definition of success.
Aside from significant business failures, Trump’s business and “charitable” endeavors have also run afoul of the law. In 1973, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Trump citing racial discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act.(6) Additionally, numerous businesses and employees over many decades have initiated lawsuits against Trump because he refused to pay them for their work. As a result, some small business owners lost their businesses.(7) The nature and scope of this unethical practice constitute a pattern with Trump. It has to make an American proud that Trump stands with the small business owner and working people; the word turd comes to mind. In 2005, Trump launched Trump University to teach the Trump method for successful wealth-building in real estate that he hadn’t achieved by himself. Thousands of students soon complained about the pressure tactics and laughable content of the “courses” and successfully filed a 25 million dollar class-action lawsuit against Trump University; the “university” soon ceased operations.(8) Soon after, the State of New York forced the Trump Foundation charity to dissolve and distribute nearly 2 million dollars to actual charities for violating several statutes prohibiting the use of nonprofit monies for personal gain.(9) Of course, these are just a few examples of the unscrupulous business dealings associated with Trump, a full account of which can’t practically be detailed in this article.(10)
Weirdly, Trump has consistently sought publicity and media coverage throughout his adult life, including using aliases to disseminate a particular narrative on Trump’s business or spread rumors about himself.(11) Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, actually written by ghostwriter Tony Schwartz, promotes the idea that Trump is a savvy businessman and negotiator. Schwartz now admits that the book should be considered fiction and also regrets creating the myth of Donald Trump as a skilled dealmaker and successful entrepreneur.(12)
With a fraudulent public persona firmly in place (talk about your fake news), Trump capitalizes by licensing his name to businesses (and buildings) who believe his brand will be financially lucrative. These are businesses and buildings that Trump doesn’t own; only his name is attached to them creating the illusion that Trump’s companies and real estate holdings are more ubiquitous than reality.
Over the decades, Trump has also been accused numerous times of sexual misconduct or sexual assault(13); this behavior appears to be another disturbing pattern. Trump even admitted to committing sexual crimes in the 2005 Access Hollywood recording. Because of the disgusting nature of the recording, I won’t quote any part of it in this article. It was also not surprising to hear a myriad of misogynistic statements from Trump. Again, the issue here was Trump’s actions and words, not reports from the media.
For years, Trump promoted the debunked and racist theory that Barack Obama was ineligible to be U.S. President because he was not a U.S. citizen since he was born in Kenya. This ridiculous theory was circulated and gained traction by a segment of the population during the 2008 presidential campaign between Obama and McCain. Ironically, Senator John McCain was the only one of the two 2008 presidential candidates not born in the United States; Senator McCain was born in Panama.
In 2015, Trump launched his bid for the U.S. Presidency. With a record of business failures, racist, criminal and unethical business practices, and sexual assault accusations, what could go wrong there? And, what was so distinctive about an older, wealthy, white man running for the presidency? Of course, absolutely nothing. What was rather peculiar about Trump’s candidacy was his shameless self-promotion, ignorance on the basics of economic thought and global/national affairs, aggressive willingness to exploit social divisions, blatant disregard for the truth, and an unabashed agenda to erode the ethical and legal boundaries of presidential governance.
Trump had a promising start to his presidential campaign as he proudly rode down the escalator at Trump Towers in New York to announce his candidacy. As such, one wonders why Trump’s employed lobbying firm, Gotham Government Relations & Communications, hired Extra Mile, Inc. to pay actors to attend and cheer his announcement.(14) It didn’t take long for Trump to engage in racially-tinged and divisive rhetoric. From the day he announced his candidacy and throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump intentionally made racist, offensive statements, engaged in sophomoric name-calling, and promoted violence. Trump claimed that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel was hostile towards him while overseeing a lawsuit because of his Mexican heritage. Even Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan was appalled by Trump’s claim and stated publicly, “I disavow these comments. Claiming a person can’t do the job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment. I think that should be absolutely disavowed. It’s absolutely unacceptable.” At political rallies during his campaign, Trump incited violence against protesters. During a rally at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Trump stated that “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, OK? Just knock the hell … I promise you I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise.” At a rally in Las Vegas, Trump in reference to a protester, affirmed “I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell you.”(15) Again, Trump’s words are his own; the media didn’t invent what he said. To quote (almost) a famous line from the movie Cool Hand Luke: “What we’ve got here is (Trump’s) failure to communicate (decently).”
The CIA, FBI, and the NSA thoroughly documented and have repeatedly affirmed that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal to help Trump win the election; all three agencies include professionals across the political spectrum. The U.S. intelligence community also noted that Russia propaganda reached as many as 126 million social media users including extensive campaigns specifically targeting users in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump eked out wins in the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin collectively by less than 100,000 votes out of approximately 13 million votes cast; less than 1% of the votes cast in those three states. Although Clinton won the national popular vote, Trump won the electoral college and thus the presidency by virtue of winning these three states. While it can’t be scientifically proven why people voted for a particular candidate, it is hardly a big stretch of the imagination to posit that Russia’s extensive propaganda campaign influenced a small percentage of the population in these states to vote for Trump giving him a win in the election.
How do we know Russia wanted Trump to win the 2016 election? Putin admitted in a press conference at the 2018 Helsinki Summit that he wanted Trump to win. Ironically, Trump always maintained that Putin wanted Clinton to win the election throughout the campaign. What was especially troubling at the press conference in Helsinki was Trump’s clear obsequiousness to Putin as he spoke against the U.S. Intelligence agencies in front of the entire world. Trump’s performance at the Summit received bi-partisan condemnation in both the House and the Senate. And, frankly, it was truly embarrassing and horrifying to watch. Again, these were Trump’s own words, not the media’s “spin” covering the Summit.
In 2020, the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee investigated and released a bi-partisan report that confirmed Russia’s 2016 election interference with the objective of helping Trump win the election. This resoundingly undercuts Trump’s bogus assertion that Russian election interference was a hoax or that a “deep state” conspiracy was afoot. For those who still believe that Russia didn’t interfere in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, I have one question: Do you also believe in unicorns?
At the 2017 G20 Summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany, Trump met with Putin for two hours. Trump was so concerned about the content of the meeting that he confiscated the meeting notes and instructed the interpreter not to disclose anything that was discussed even to members of his administration.(16) In fact, there is no detailed information available on any of Trump’s face-to-face meetings with Putin. This is a violation of the Presidential Records Act (PRA). The PRA’s clear intent is to maintain, preserve, and ultimately make public all records that fall within the President’s official work. We may never know any important details about what was discussed between Trump and Putin. Tell me with a straight face that’s not troubling.
The Mueller Report, which documents the findings of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, was publicly released in redacted form by the Justice Department in April 2019. The Report confirmed the obvious truth of Russian interference in the election to help Trump win. U.S. Attorney General and Trump lapdog William Barr, perhaps believing most people won’t read lengthy government documents, held a press conference in a blatant attempt to control the public narrative of the Report and mitigate the legal and political fallout for Trump. Barr also sent a four-page summary of Mueller’s Report to Congress, which was released to the public. Robert Mueller, the author of the Report, wrote an official letter to Barr stating that his (Barr’s) summary “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office’s work and conclusions.” All this makes one wonder: Maybe there is a “deep state;” just not the one Trump pretended to exist during his presidency. Barr, apparently born in the wrong era of political thought, believes in expansive presidential powers that would horrify the founding fathers;(17) perhaps someone ought to inform Barr that monarchical governance is rather passé in the modern world. Barr’s actions don’t change the fact that the Report does not exonerate Trump despite his ridiculous claims to the contrary. The Mueller Report concluded that the “investigation uncovered evidence of numerous links between Trump Campaign officials and individuals having or claiming to have ties to the Russian government,” but “did not find evidence likely to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Campaign officials…acted as agents of the Russian government.” This is hardly the exoneration claimed by Trump especially in the context of Trump fighting the investigation at every turn and attempting to discourage witnesses from cooperating. In volume II of the Report, Robert Mueller articulated numerous instances of obstruction of justice by Trump. However, Mueller made clear that the Department of Justice policy (not law) prevented him from issuing a judgment on whether to indict a sitting president. Gosh, that makes me feel better. Trump was not indicted for obstruction of justice because of a policy in the Department of Justice that a sitting president doesn’t have to worry about the ramifications of breaking the law. Doesn’t it make you proud that in America, the law equally applies to everyone?
Soon after his inauguration and throughout his presidency, Trump continued to demonstrate his ignorance, corruption, and racist rhetoric and policies. After calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States…” during the campaign, Trump in early 2017 signed an Executive Order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries. Federal courts blocked the travel ban since the Executive Order was so obviously unconstitutional as it egregiously violated the First Amendment. After several iterations of the Executive Order, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, eventually allowed a carefully worded version of the Executive Order to be implemented. Legal challenges to the Executive Order continued. Regardless, even a third-grader can ascertain Trump’s motive for signing the Executive Order.
Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump properties received millions of dollars from the Republican National Committee, Republican campaigns, conservative groups, and foreign governments in a transparent attempt to ingratiate themselves with Trump. Unsurprisingly, lawsuits were filed against Trump for violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause that prohibits the President and other government officials from personally profiting from holding office to prevent corruption and mitigate foreign influence. Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, stated that the lawsuits are “another example of presidential harassment” even though Trump brazenly suggested publicly that his Doral resort in Miami host the international G7 Summit.(18) What is surprising is the claim that there isn’t anything wrong here.
A key U.S. ally in the fight against ISIS were the Kurds. In an impetuous decision and without consulting the Pentagon, the State Department, or any allies,(19) Trump announced he was withdrawing U.S. troops from northeastern Syria leaving the Kurds to face certain military action by Turkey and greatly strengthening Assad’s and Russia’s position in Syria. Trump, who obviously has a child-like understanding of the basics of military strategy and geopolitics, tried to defend his decision by stating that the Kurds didn’t help us during World War II or with Normandy. Yeah, you read it correctly. I’ll give you a moment to compose yourself from such an absurd and laughable statement…..By making such a statement, there is little doubt that Trump doesn’t have a modicum of historical knowledge or understanding of, well, anything. After widespread public and bi-partisan criticism of his decision, Trump tried to walk back aspects of his decision while trying not to look like an idiot; of course, he failed. Soon after, Trump sent a letter to President Erdogan of Turkey. The letter can only be described as bizarre. The letter, among other things, tells Erdogan to “work out a good deal…It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen…Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool! I will call you later.” The letter would have made more sense if he had written it in crayon.
Trump’s disgustingly immoral policy of separating immigrant children from their parents rightfully received global condemnation. Thousands of children and their families have been permanently traumatized, and their lives forever altered. What kind of person supports such a policy? Someone who should never be the President of the United States.
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is serving three years in prison for lying to Congress about Trump’s efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and violating campaign finance law after being directed by Trump to make hush payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Cohen secretly recorded Trump discussing the campaign finance crime with him.(20) Trump also appears to be implicated in court documents in this regard.(21) As an unindicted co-conspirator for violating campaign finance laws, Trump is subject to possible criminal prosecution since he lost the 2020 election. If Trump had won the 2020 election, the statute of limitations would likely have shielded him from prosecution. For those who believe there shouldn’t be justice for individuals who intentionally commit crimes, then voting for Trump was a viable option.
Numerous witnesses and documents testified of Trump’s obvious attempt to pressure a foreign government (Ukraine) to investigate a political challenger to assist in his reelection prospects while illegally detaining monies appropriated by Congress for Ukraine’s military defense against Russia. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand Trump’s unethical and illegal endeavor here. As a result, the House of Representatives impeached Trump on two charges: 1) Abuse of power and 2) Obstruction of Congress. Frankly, there should have been several more charges added to the articles of impeachment, including bribery and solicitation of a foreign national for a campaign contribution. A report from the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency, unequivocally stated that Trump broke the law. Notwithstanding, it was clear that the Republican-held Senate was not interested in objectively examining the charges and acquitted Trump on the articles of impeachment. Before the impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly admitted that he was “not an impartial juror.” Senator Lindsey Graham also publicly stated that he was “not trying to pretend to be a fair juror.” Ironically, each Senator at the beginning of the impeachment trial was required to affirm an oath that they will “do impartial justice.” What an embarrassment Trump’s actions and the Senate’s inaction has been to the United States. Thousands of defendants throughout the United States have been convicted of crimes with far less evidence than what was presented at the Senate trial. In a Trump presidency, if you are politically powerful, you can do nearly anything without penalty in the United States.
The role of an Inspector General (IG) is to conduct independent audits, evaluations, and investigations to prevent and identify waste, fraud, and abuse within federal agencies. Trump removed five IGs (Michael Atkinson, Glenn Fine, Christi Grimm, Mitch Behm, and General Steve Linick) which threatened the role and independent nature of IGs throughout the federal government; unprecedented for any president. It was clear that Trump removed any IG for any criticism and rejected any independent oversight of his administration. One would think that a president would welcome an independent review to identify abuse and fraud; unless a president had something to hide…
By nearly all accounts, except his own, Trump’s documented response to the coronavirus pandemic was poor at best. For two months, Trump ignored warnings and downplayed the threat that the coronavirus posed by saying such ridiculous statements as the virus will go away on its own “like a miracle.” Trump also thought he was demonstrating his amazing intellect when he suggested that light and disinfectants be studied as coronavirus treatments at a press briefing: “So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous – whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light”…”and I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it”… “And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside of the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting”… “And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?” Medical experts, and really, people everywhere with an IQ over 10, were horrified at Trump’s suggestion. Soon after, Trump decided to communicate the incredible scope of his scientific mind: “I’m taking it, Hydroxychloroquine. Right now. A couple of weeks ago I started taking it. Because I think it’s good; I’ve heard a lot of good stories.” “Here’s my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it.” I guess I didn’t realize that scientific thinking was, well, so unscientific.
At a press conference, Trump claimed “When somebody’s the President of the United States, the authority is total, and that’s the way it’s got to be.” This inaccurate and frightening understanding of the U.S. Presidency happens to correspond with Trump’s proclivity for total control of everything and his abusive verbal attacks directed toward those who disagree with him. He is the epitome of a bully. And an ignorant, self-absorbed bully at that. He has bullied people throughout his life. With his family name. And with his wealth. Some hero. Prior to the 2016 election, Trump asserted “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election, if I win,” and wouldn’t commit to accepting the results otherwise suggesting the election would be rigged. Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen expressed fear when Trump lost the 2020 election, that “there will never be a peaceful transition of power.” Trump also suggested he might want to stay in office beyond constitutional limits.(22) Trump’s pursuit of power and dominance at all costs is an important reason he should never have had it.
As protests were held in cities throughout the United States over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Trump directed his comments on the protests about law and order and the use of the military to quell protests instead of focusing his words on the murder of an American citizen. Trump’s comments also employed revolting and incendiary phrases such as “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” and “dominate the streets.” Yet less than three years earlier, when violence erupted at a protest organized by white nationalists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the removal of a confederate statue, Trump’s tone was completely different. Trump’s bigoted response to these events and his history of racist comments casted an ominous shadow of racial injustice, systemic racism, and white privilege over the United States. George Floyd’s death is just the latest tragic murder of numerous African Americans spanning decades and generations. Systemic racism in the United States continues to inflict pain and suffering in life and death. Trump lacked the leadership and moral bearing to address these or any racial tensions and injustice.
Only a few of Trump’s scandals and activities can practically be addressed here. Without question, Trump’s public, personal, and business life prior to his presidential campaign prefigured his actions and behavior as president; repeated missteps, scandals, and disgraceful behavior.
So, what has a Trump presidency meant for the United States?
Since the inception of the United States nearly two and half centuries ago, government, social institutions, and mores have evolved to gradually enlarge the universal ideals of liberty, freedom, justice, and opportunity for all. The Trump presidency has imperiled our purported values and any progress in realizing our ideals in this regard. Trump’s challenge to and erosion of constitutional boundaries and democratic standards have had a corrosive effect on our government and social institutions, threatened our freedoms, and compromised justice. Trump leveraged his power to aggrandize himself, disregard laws, undermine independent and democratic safeguards, bully and degrade women, racial and ethnic communities, challenge independent thought, and is devoid of compassion and intellect. Consequently, Trump was a clear threat to the freedoms and democratic institutions that we say we value. As Americans, we have always been concerned about kitchen table issues; and a sound, functioning democratic society is a kitchen table issue.
Intentionally dividing society along racial, ethic, and partisan fault lines doesn’t take intelligence. Creating divisions in American society takes a repulsive cunning with the intent of cultivating fear, hatred and social chaos for personal gain; this was Trump’s political strategy. It’s hardly surprising that Trump’s hateful rhetoric resulted in an increase of hate crimes during his presidency.(23) Trump’s rhetoric also compromised our trust in others, dampened our collaborative spirit, and deepened our partisanship. Trump shifted our focus away from our humanity and our shared values of mutual respect and compassion for all. As a result, our social welfare and strength as a nation was significantly diminished.
Our historic and unparalleled global status and leadership sharply declined when Trump was president. Trump initiated unnecessary conflicts with our democratic allies, withdrew from important international treaties, and ingratiated himself with autocratic leaders which undercut our moral standing in the world and unsettled our military and geopolitical interests under the guise of dubious “deals.” As a result, our economic well-being, established military alliances and long-term national security were compromised.
Trump’s ignorance and incompetence on domestic and foreign issues harmed our economy, social well-being and our international relationships.
Trump consistently stated and posted false information on social media. Often, Trump contradicted himself from one day to the next; and at times, even during the same discussion. Trump labeled any fact or information that he doesn’t like as “fake news.” It’s clear that Trump intentionally tried to make discovering the truth difficult. Trump’s efforts to undermine basic facts and truth posed a great danger to our democracy.
This is what a Trump presidency has meant for the United States. History will not be kind to Trump nor his vocal allies.
Article updated December 28, 2020
References
1. Huffington Post https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-self-made-man- myth_n_5bb46528e4b028e1fe38ebaf
3. CNBC.com https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/29/study-to-succeed-in-america-its-better-to-be-born-rich-than-smart.html ; MarketWatch https://www.marketwatch.com/story/incompetent-people-from-wealthy-backgrounds-are-more-likely-to-act-like-theyre-smart-and-people-believe-them-2019-05-21
4. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/how-much-trump-worth-depends-how-he-feels-384720
5. Rollingstone https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trumps-13-biggest-business-failures-59556/
6. Politico https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/02/trump-fbi-files-discrimination-case-235067
8. Center for American Progress https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/reports/2017/03/30/429573/trump-university-look-enduring-education-scandal/
10. Corporate Research Project https://www.corp-research.org/trump-organization ; ProPublica https://www.propublica.org/article/trumps-company-paid-bribes-to-reduce-property-taxes-assessors-say ; New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/swamp-chronicles/is-fraud-part-of-the-trump-organizations-business-model
11. Fortune https://fortune.com/2016/05/18/donald-trump-fake-names/
12. New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
13. Huffington Post https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-running-list-of-the-women-whove-accused-donald-trump-of-sexual-misconduct_n_57ffae1fe4b0162c043a7212
14. The Week https://theweek.com/speedreads/800082/remember-when-trump-paid-actors-cheer-during-presidential-campaign-announcement
15.Ballotpedia https://ballotpedia.org/Violence_and_Donald_Trump%27s_presidential_campaign
16. USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/13/trump-putin-meetings-interpreter-notes/2565471002/
17. The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/471490-the-truth-about-presidential-power
18. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/trump-doral-g-7-profiteering/600244/
19. Vox https://www.vox.com/2019/10/7/20902699/trump-syria-turkey-erdogan-invasion-kurds
20. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/michael-cohen-donald-trump-tape/index.html
21. The Hill https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/421175-dem-rep-calls-trump-unindicted-co-conspirator-in-cohen-case
23. University of Alabama/Loyola Study https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3102652
