Trump Supporters Are in for a Rude Surprise
While the rest of us need to get ready for a Trump presidency that will be far more destructive than his first.
No one knows how much Donald Trump’s second presidency will harm America’s national security, global leadership, social fabric, and material well-being. But we should expect much worse than the first time around.
Two months before returning to the Oval Office, the president-elect has already inflicted fresh damage upon our country. His public pronouncements and Cabinet choices make a mockery of the government he will lead.
He would place Matt Gaetz, a wildly irresponsible lawmaker who, like Trump, has faced investigations over sex offense allegations, atop the Department of Justice; Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host bearing tattoos associated with Christian extremism who has also faced a sex assault allegation, in charge of the vast, diverse Department of Defense; Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman who shares Trump’s suspicious affinity for the interests of Russia, as director of National Intelligence; and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a conspiracist crank at war with medical expertise, as overseer of the public health system.
Sean Duffy, another Fox host who, like Trump, once hosted a reality TV show (it was called “Road Rules”), would run the Department of Transportation. The former host of the Dr. Oz show, Mehmet Oz, would superintend the giant Medicare and Medicaid programs.
All lack qualifications. And, like Trump, some display active hostility to the legitimate purposes of government and the interests and values of the United States itself.
Superficially, their wrecking-ball plans appeal to angry elements of Trump’s constituency who have been deluded into believing government causes the problems in their lives. They don’t realize he has played them for suckers, soon to be his victims.
Our prosperity and civic order depend on the rule of law. Our citizens’ health, not to mention that of people around the globe, depends on the promotion and advancement of medical science. Our security and that of the free world depend on the professionalism of our military and intelligence community, built on the principle of abjuring domestic politics.
The mere announcement of Trump’s nominees – whether or not Republican senators can find the guts to reject them – erodes confidence in the competence and intentions of the United States. It undercuts free nations, like Ukraine and our European allies, and emboldens autocratic adversaries like Vladimir Putin.
Trump Supporters in for Rude Awakening
These reckless picks also signal seriousness about pursuing the most ominous parts of his campaign rhetoric.
They include mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, firings, and even military trials for generals Trump disdains; prosecution of political or journalistic irritants; the deployment of the military against US citizens; and the destruction of the civil service.
Trump's policies that would merely make Americans poorer look mundane by comparison. Voters who backed Trump in dismay over Biden-era inflation will get a rude surprise when his tariffs raise consumer prices. Trashing the independence of the Federal Reserve for short-term stimulus will jack up inflation and interest rates.
Trump has always benefitted from strategic ambiguity about his bombast. It sometimes proves empty.
Did he really mean it when he suggested seeking a third term despite the constitutional prohibition, or pursuing the execution of a military leader who defied him? Maybe not. But the afterglow of election victory provides a moment to sand off the jagged edges, and instead Trump has sharpened them.
The president-elect’s congressional allies also stand poised to hurt the white working-class supporters, even while indulging their cultural resentments. The 2017 Trump tax cuts disproportionately benefited the wealthy; next year’s debate over the extension of expiring provisions will produce more of the same.
Planning has begun for reductions in healthcare spending for the poor, sick, and elderly. Under the rules for budget legislation that prohibit filibusters, the Republican-controlled House and Senate need not compromise with Democrats.
Limiting the Damage
Can the US dodge the worst? Perhaps.
Beginning Jan. 20, 2025, Trump can claim our best-in-the-world economy as his own creation, as much as he maligned it during Biden’s tenure. That would free him to heed warnings from economists not to break what works.
Trump does not actually care about anything that doesn’t affect him personally. Flattery or favors from business magnates and foreign leaders, distract or mollify him. That might also prove true of oligarchical allies like Elon Musk, his fellow emotional cripple.
He does care about popularity, which has led him to renounce his party leadership’s desire to cut Social Security and Medicare since 2015. He may again rebuff those who now have a fresh opportunity to try.
Some GOP lawmakers may rebuff him, too, if they conclude his most outlandish demands imperil their own futures. Without a coup or Supreme Court blessing for a Constitutional violation, Trump cannot seek re-election. Lame-duck presidents invariably see their power erode as would-be successors make independent political calculations.
The midterm elections in two years will present a new obstacle. History suggests Democrats will regain control of the House and, with it, the power to block Trump initiatives.
His Nov. 5 victory grows less impressive as vote-counting drags on. He appears to have won a plurality but not a majority of the popular vote; once again, most of the electorate opposed him.
None of this represents optimism. There is no basis for optimism. Limiting the damage is the best anyone can hope for.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Zeteo.
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Mehdi, this is one of the most insightful and, I believe, prescient analyses I've seen so far during these dark days after this presidential election with a historically slim margin of victory. I'm glad I support your Zeteo Substack feed.
*TRUMP's victory* is the direct result of *DemocRATS devastating defeat in the century for not listening to the public.* By the next cycle, People will be fed-up with Trump and may vote for DemocRATS and the same cycle continues. DemocRATS and RepubliCONS are two evil sides of the same coin, Americans will end up with the same coin, unless they start looking for alternatives from grass roots now.