Principio et finem similaria.
The beginning and the end are the same.
So it was for the presidency of one Donald J. Trump, racist, misogynist, narcissist, egotist, paranoiac, and pathological liar. From the beginning of his tenure, I have referred to him in my personal journal as “T. Rump.” That’s “T.” for “Tyrannosaurus” and “Rump” for, well, you can figure that one out for yourself, dear reader.
The Trump presidency began on a sour note when The Donald claimed that he lost the popular vote in the election of 2016 because “millions of illegal immigrants” cast votes for his opponent at the behest of the Democratic National Committee. Moreover, he claimed that his inaugural crowd was the largest in American history, but photographs showed otherwise.
The Trump presidency ended on an equally sour note when The Donald claimed that the election of 2020 was stolen from him because there had been widespread voter fraud. And all of his appeals to state and Federal courts in an effort to reverse the count failed as court after court (even his 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court) either rejected his false claims or refused outright to hear them. His attempt at extorting the state government of Georgia was icing on the cake. In between these book-end lies a long list of misdeeds, i.e. the “Trump Legacy.”
He started the ball rolling by withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, describing it as the “worst” treaty America ever made, thus establishing his unilateral “America First” policy. From then on, he rolled back as many environmental regulations as he could for no other reason than his predecessor had created them.
He withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear agreement, and described it as the “worst” treaty America ever made. He made that same claim about other treaties and boasted that only he could make a “real deal.”
He vowed to construct a 20-foot wall across the entire southern border in order to keep the “gang-bangers,” the “rapists,” and the “job-stealers” from entering the country. He broke up whole families, deported the parents and put the children in cages as hostages.
He signed an executive order banning all travel from certain Muslim countries. And he called certain countries in Africa and Asia “s***hole countries.”
He initiated a trade war with China, which had been employing unethical and/or illegal economic tactics for years in order to gain economic superiority over the entire world. It was the right thing to do, but he went about it the wrong way. As a result, thousands of American farmers suffered.
He railed against America’s NATO allies by claiming that they were not paying their “fair share” of the organization’s expenses. He insulted as many of their leaders as he could and threatened to withdraw the U.S. all together.
He had a love affair with Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin. When the U.S. intelligence community presented evidence that Moscow had meddled in the 2016 election on his behalf, he denied everything. At one point, he had a secret meeting with Putin; and, to this day, no one knows what transpired between the two.
He also had a love affair with North Korea’s leader, Kim Un-Jong in an attempt to persuade the young man to scale back his missile and nuclear programs. Though he was the first president to visit that country, he failed to budge Kim one inch.
He attempted to ride roughshod over the foreign representatives at the World Economic Forums in order to promote his “America First” policy. He even managed to insult a few of them. At one forum, he walked out in a huff when they signed a statement “unfavorable” to the U.S.
He rammed through Congress a one-trillion-dollar tax cut, most of which benefited wealthy individuals and corporations. The national debt was doubled as a result.
He filled his Cabinet and other Federal agencies with persons loyal to him regardless of whether they had any expertise in their posts. And, if they became insufficiently loyal to him, he fired them and replaced them with other lackeys. The Executive Branch resembled a revolving door.
He called the COVID-19 pandemic a “hoax” initially. When it dawned on him that it was real, he waffled endlessly on how to combat it but boasted that it soon would end. Finally, he turned his back on the problem in order to grouse over his re-election defeat.
For his grand finale, he held a rally near the White House, stirred up his followers into a fiery rage, and exhorted them to march on the Capitol and “persuade” the Congress to declare him the true winner of the 2020 election. The name of the game was insurrection, but democracy won in the end.
This essay may or may not be my last jab at Donald J. Trump. I hope so, because I’m beginning to repeat myself. On the other hand, he has provided me with much grist for my mill, and there won’t be his like again (I hope!). I’ll just have to find someone else to kick around. Any suggestions, dear reader?
Just a thought.