*** “..Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security…Many of Trump’s former top Cabinet officers and aides have said publicly that Trump should not be president again and should not even be on the ballot.” [ Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward: “War” ]

NOTE: We have added ‘INCOMPETENCE’ to the description of the Trump DICTATORSHIP because, as we have said many times, Donald John Trump fails THE test written in the U. s. constitution’s Preamble: “WE the People.” create this government to “..form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty..” The CHALLENGE: specifically – Which, if ANY, Trump DICTATORSHIP policies and laws have done ANY of this? Just one example: when Trump took office in January, 2017 – the U.s. national debt “…was approximately $19.95 trillion..” In August, 2026 YOUR U.S. national debt is now over $40 trillion, “an all time high..” And – American is paying over $1 trillion in interest EVERY year!!!

This post presents excerpts from “Blaming Canada Is No Longer a Joke,” by Chrystia Freeland, a former deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, minister of finance for Canada, in the New York Times, 8/2/26. Most Americans know Canada is America’s most important ally and friend. Read….then re-read this….then THINK. – what is this former high-ranking Canadian official telling YOU??? This is ONE indication on what the reckless STUPIDITY of one Donald John Trump, unfortunately U.S. president, has done to America’s world-wide reputation.

From 1945 to 2016, America built a POSITIVE reputation world-wide. – because of our generosity, openness, support for democracy around the world. This “soft power” was a MAJOR advantage for America, for Americans. In less than two years, the Trump DICTATORSHIP has trashed this. People, world-wide, will NOT forget what Trump has done – in YOUR name. Indeed, substantial changes – not to America’s benefit. – are already occurring because of Trump’s reckless and STUPID words and actions.

2]. “Mr. Trump’s tariff offensive has a clear purpose: to demonstrate who is dominant and who must submit…The laughably flimsy, constantly changing justifications for the president’s tariffs are in fact part of the point. True power is being able to do whatever you like for whatever reason you like, or for no reason at all…Mr. Trump is keen to establish himself as the world’s apex predator.”

3] “Mr. Trump has made his view plain. His Washington doesn’t have allies. It has only satraps, enemies and equals – the latter a singular group that includes just china and on some days, perhaps, Russia.”

7]. “..the irony is That Washington is abusing its allies at precisely the moment when it most needs them. As the war with Iran is demonstrating, even the United States is weaker when it gores it alone.”

*** “I’ve served the man for two years. I think he’s a long-term and immediate danger to the country,” a senior national security official told us.” { Pulitzer Prize winners Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig”. “A Very Stable Genius” ]

8] “..for a lot of its longtime members, that list of like-minded democracies doesn’t feel like much of an alliance anymore. A Pew survey published last month showed that in most of the 36 surveyed countries, China was viewed more favorably than the United States. That included Canada, where 33 percent of respondents saw America favorably, compared with 44 percent for China. People in France, Germany and Britain took a similar view.”

9] “..given Mr. Trump’s choice to play by China’s rules and force smaller countries to suffer or submit, the poll shouldn’t be much of a surprise.”

10]. “Would-be future American leaders who recognize the value of allies and think all will be forgiven when the White House has a new occupant need to appreciate the depth of the damage done by its current resident.”

*** “Tillerson was never told why he was fired…It had earlier leaked out that Tillerson had called Trump a “fucking moron’ at a July 20, 2017, Tank meeting. Probably nothing could have triggered Trump’s insecurities more.”
[ Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward: “Rage” ]

4]. “Inside the United States, the pressing question is whether the country will remain a democracy. That matters to the rest of us, too, of course.. But even if democracy eventuallly prevails inside the United States, America’s old friends will wonder whether Trumpism permanently reshaped Washington’s relationship with the rest of the world.” [NOTE: read this again – the reputation of YOUR country is no longer in our hands. Trump has offended and alarmed SO MANY other nations – it will be difficult tor repair his damage.]

5] “Will a post-Trump try to rebuild genuine partnerships with its like-minded allies, based on the idea that win-win outcomes are possible and that even superpowers need to honor their treaty arrangements? or is Mr. Trump saying out loud what most Americans have really thought of their allies all along?”

6]. “After all, in its 250th year, the Republic really is flirting with authoritarianism.”

*** “Trump lacks the emotional stability, knowledge, critical-thinking skills, and judgment to be commander-in-chief.” [Pulitzer prize winner David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think”]

1] “At a time when Americans rank inflation and affordability as their top economic concerns, adding another tax on consumer goods. – which is what tariffs are. – is self-defeating.”

***. “Stupidity is a talent for misconception.” [ Edgar Allan Poe ]

*** “Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them, and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too….Let men be good, and the government can not be bad; but if it be ill, they will cure it. but if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and soil it to their turn.”
[William Penn]

This post presents excerpts from Ralph Nader’s “Tyrant Trump’s Biggest Legacy – Bringing Out the Worst in America” [ The Progressive Populist; August, 2026. We have said many times this now evident truth: Donald John Trump is a CANCER on the SOUL of America. The damage and evil he has done will live on for many years.. Trump has also poisoned how the rest of the world looks at America. Read the items below. – THINK on them. – think how Trump sabotages democracy, sabotages rational thinking, sabotages America’s future…………………..

1] “Championing the worst forms of energy – coal, oil, and gas. – and depressing solar energy and wind power….even paying ongoing wind project companies nearly a billion dollars in your tax dollars to stop construction!”

2] “Encouraging the worst corruption of the Pentagon – more waste, contractor fraud and abuse..”

3] “Brought out the worst from his toady Attorney Generals at the Justice Department…dismiss over 100 corporate crime cases…and made DOJ his personal law firm.”

***. ‘Good moral character is the first essential in a man.” [ George Washington ]

4]. “Encouraged the worst from the Environmental Protection Agency…greenhouse gases, motor vehicle gases, auto factories, and coal pollution are permissible for America’s children to breathe.”

5]. “Suppressed or canceled programs of scientific truth-seeking while publicizing pseudo-scientists who go far beyond healthy skepticism to peddle quackery..”

6] “Trump is self-servingly wrecking the Internal Revenue Service…grossly inadequate number of experts skilled in detecting complex corporate tax schemes and evasions totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in TAX ESCAPES per year.”

***. “You do not have to think very hard to figure out what happens to a democratic society…when long-standing interpretations of the “rules of law” are mangled to reflect the personal desires of a handful of extremely wealthy people.” [ Aberjhani ]

7] “Trump has grievously brought out the worst from Congress, finishing off what is left of the separation of powers..”

8] “Trump brings out the worst from major corporations…allowing corporations to cheat, steal, harm, pollute, and violate with impunity almost any federal laws..”

9] “Worsening the architecture of the White House and nearby Washington, D.C., are major preoccupations of this egomaniacal dilettante. He illegally tore down the East Wing..”

*** “It is better for a city to be governed by a good man than even by good laws.” [ Aristotle ]

10] “The Trumpeteer has brought out the worst in the mainstream media, giving preferential access to uncritical reporters, and restricting or prohibiting access to reporters who are steadfast and straightforward.”

11]. “From the people, he has celebrated vice over virtue, greed over charity, obscenity over decency, violence over peace, police and ICE brutality over more effective standards of prudence and restraint by law enforcers. As an open, brazen liar, a delusionary braggart, and a peddler of empty promises, Trump has troubled parents who see their youngsters mimic his abuses and foul talk.”

12] “He pardons hundreds of convicted violent criminals and other fraudsters and says he will pardon more crooks, even urging them to continue their lawless ways because he will pardon them..”

***. “Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptional character.” [. Samuel Adams ]

13]. “Trump has violated seven of the Ten Commandments and is almost never seen in Church, yet Trump manages to bring out the most extreme hypocrites from the leadership of organized religion..”

14]. “His most fervent mission is to provoke biases and bigotry against recent immigrants and asylum seekers among millions of his voters who believed his lies about these desperate people, fleeing with their children from oppressive regimes and oligarchies..”

15] “Long after Trump is impeached and removed from office, his hateful, vengeful drive will bring out the worst from our country will linger and fester.”

*** “The consequences of turning a blind eye to government corruption go far beyond simply letting some corrupt politicians and bureaucrats walk free.” [ Tom Fitten ]

***. ‘..amid the Trump administration’s open marriage of public and private and criminal sectors in an astonishing replication of third-world kleptocracies..” [ Sarah Chayes: “On corruption In America” ]

***. “It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness; and I pronounce it as certain that there was never yet a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.” [ Benjamin Franklin ]

This post presents excerpts from Anthony Fauci’s diary from 2020. YOU get raw data on this eminent scientist’s review of how it was to deal with Donald Trump early in the COVID-19 epidemic.

THE. MAJOR. QUESTION for YOU; did ‘your” president seem to be concerned about the impact of tjis deadly disease on the American people. – or. – was his primary concern to “manage” the crisis so that it didn’t hurt his re-election campaign?

***. “The Trump presidency is about Trump. Period. Full stop. He says so himself all the time.” [ Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” ]

1] Late February, 2020: Fauci “encouraged him not to underplay the seriousness of the situation since if it turns out bad, it would look like he is covering up…..I thought that he heard what I said, but the next day, he again underplayed it.”

2] March 27, 2000: “Very laborious press conference where the POTUS rambled on. He wasted the opportunity to just focus on the relief package and went into his diatribe against the previous administrations.”

3] March 28: “AMAZING interaction with POTUS…. I led the discussions since the POTUS kept referring to me. It was a disturbingly rambling discussion since he kept talking about TV ratings, and HC [hydroxychloroquine], and influenza and virtually everything else as I was trying to keep him on track [with the help of the VP]……I insisted through the rambling and lack of attention span that the POTUS explicitly say that this is NOT a quarantine.”

***. “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.” [ Thomas Jefferson ]

4]. July 10: “..he had an “important meeting” with Mike Pence, during which Fauci told the vice president he would be “coldly honest.” “I then told him that he is completely losing credibility when we have >60,000 new cases with increased hospitalizations and deaths and he starts off at the Pressers saying “We are in a good place.”

5] July 15: “He wanted me to be ‘positive’. I took the opportunity to say, ‘Mr. President, with your permission, can I be absolutely frank with you? We have a problem and we need to own it. We need to admit that the situation is serious, otherwise we completely lose credibility….he was not entirely happy with this..”

6]. August 4: ‘..he had to directly explain to Trump – whom he described as “throwing around the F- word” and “raving that we are seeing more cases only because we are doing more testing”. – that increased testing does not cause cases. “All in all it was a manifestation that he is [desperate] and still does not understand the pandemic.” [NOTE: read this again, and again. this is how “your’ president thought, and governed]

***. “But McMaster and his team almost immediately realized the president wasn’t reading any of the briefing books, or even the concise three-page version….As one of Trump’s confidants said, “I cal the president the two-minute man. The president has patience for a half page.” [ Pulitzer Prize winners Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig: “A Very Stable Genius” ]

7] August 8: “POTUS acting even more erratically. Keeps insisting that increased case numbers are due only to increased testing, ignoring the increases in percent positive, hospitalizations and deaths [ >1000/day}.”

8] November 1: “…Tony, you have to be positive. I do not want to keep you off TV, but when you are out there, you have to be positive.”

9] November 16, 2000: “Continual surge: 138,000 new infections yesterday. POTUS has no interest at all in the pandemic. He is focusing on blocking Biden from being POTUS. He is embarrassing the USA.” [NOTE: read THIS again, and again… Trump “has no interest at all in the pandemic.” “Your” president doesn’t care about you and your family getting very sick. – it’s more important to prevent Biden from taking over. – as in January 6…]

***. “If the misery of others leaves you indifferent and with no feeling of sorrow, then you cannot be called a human being.” [ Jimmy Carter; 39th U.S. President ]

II. Please think on the following, from. “the Atlantic,” July/August, 2024, pages 21-28. Dr. Fauci reviews general handling of COVID-19:
“Although the CDC struggled, there was no mistaking the message delivered on February 25 by its director of immunization and respiratory diseases, Nancy Messonnier. She told reporters that a pandemic in the United States was no longer a matter of if but when, and that we should prepare to close schools and work remotely. “Disruption to everyday life may be severe,; she announced. Nancy did the right thing: She told Americans the truth. But not surprisingly, her statement caused a firestorm. The media erupted, and the stock market plummeted nearly 1,000 points. Trump was furious. The next day, he announced that Vice President mike Pence would take over for Alex Azar as the head of the White House coronavirus task force.”

III. “Nationally, a study by the American Medical Association determined that “the excess [COVID] death rate among Republican voters was 43% higher than the excess death rate among Democratic voters.” [ Gene Lyons: “Silencing Scientists, Doctors in the Name of ‘Freedom'”; The Progressive Populist; ll/1/23 ]

*** “And you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” [ John 8: 32 ]

***. “Government is a trust, and the officers of the government ae trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.” [ Henry Clay; 1829 ]

This post, and the next, BEGIN to examine the “unprecedented” CORRUPTION of Donald Trump and those around him in monetizing the U.S. presidency. They are doing things commonly seen in “banana republics” and other authoritarian states. This is just one more way that the Trump DICTATORSHIP is debasing America and what it was understood that America stood for. They have NO. SHAME.
Following are excerpts from some of many articles providing the facts:

I. “In many ways, Gorman said, his acts are a “betrayal of the American social contract: that those who lead the country prioritize country over self. – a premise that goes back to George Washington.” [ “Moneymaking run unrivaled in U.S. presidential history”; Eric Tipton; New York Times; 7/2/26 ]

*** “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.” [ Wendell Philips ]

II. 4] “It is impossible to know how often Mr. Trump makes official decisions, in part or entirely, because he wants to be richer. And that is precisely the problem. A culture of corruption is pernicious not just because it is a deviation from government in the public interest; it also destroys the state’s democratic legitimacy. It undermines the necessary faith that the representatives of the people are acting in the interests of the people.” “Trump’s Cash Grab Undermines Our Republic”; New York Times editorial; 1/25/26 ]

5] “The demands of avarice gradually corrupt the work of government as officials facilitate the accumulation of personal wealth. Worse, such a government corrupts the people who live under its rule. They learn by experience that they live in a society where the laws are written by the highest bidder. They become less likely to obey those laws and to participate in the work of democracy. – speaking, voting, paying taxes. The United states risks falling into this cynical spiral as Mr. Trump hollows out the institutions of government for personal gain.” [1/25/26′ Times editorial]

1] “One year ago, Donald Trump took an oath to serve the American people. Instead, he has focused on using the presidency to enrich himself. President Trump has never been a man to ask what he could do for his country.”
[ 1/25/26; Times editorial ]

2]. “ALL TOLD, MR. TRUMP HAS PROFITED FROM HIS RETURN TO THE PRESIDENCY BY AN AMOUNT OF MONEY EQUAL TO 16,822 TIMES THE MEDIAN U.S. HOUSEHOLD INCOME.” [ 1/25/26; Times editorial ]

3]. “Mr. Trump’s hunger for wealth is brazen. Throughout the nation’s history, presidents of both parties have taken care to avoid even the appearance of profiting from public service. When President Harry Truman left office in 1953, he did not even own a car. He and his wife returned to Missouri by train and lived for a time on his Army pension. he refused to take any job that he regarded as commercializing his public service..” [ 1/25/26; Times editorial ]

***. “He is a man of splendid abilities but utterly corrupt. he shines and stinks like rotten mackerel by moonlight.”
[ John Randolph ]

III. 3] “The Trumps. – and the Kushners, and many others associated with the first family. – have gaslighted the American public with such bogus “explanations” of their grift-gorging for many years. Everyone in the Trump circle, including Cabinet officers such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has long known that the president is a crook.”
[ Joe Conason: “The Ultimate Insider’s Massive Stock Trades”; The Progressive Populist; July, 2026 ]

1] “A new filing with the Office of Government Ethics, released on May 14, showed more than 3,500 specific trades in Trump’s name during the first quarter of 2026, with a value between $220 million and $750 million. this represents by far the largest series of securities transactions by a sitting president in American history….it adds up to 60 trades per day, while he issues executive orders, talks with foreign leaders, shifts tariffs, and gives policy directives that directly affect the value of his holdings.” [. Conason ]

2] “What outraged ethics experts was not just the volume of Trump’s market activity but the obvious overlaps between his actions and policies and the equities that he bought and sold.” [ Conason ]

***. “Wherever there is power, greed, and money, there is corruption.” [ Ken Poirot ]

IV. 1]. “Mr. Trump’s profits are a haul once unimaginable for any leader of a liberal democracy, particularly a sitting American president….The Trump family’s earnings, experts said, have moved him into an echelon of enrichment more associated with strongmen in Russia and Turkey.” [ Jason Horowitz: “Trump’s Profit In Presidency Shatters Norm”; New York Times; 7/5/26 ]

2]. “That reluctance to acknowledge any conflict now makes it harder, experts said, for anti-corruption investigators in countries big and small to combat behavior that the United states, until Mr. Trump’s presidency, once condemned. “How the U.S. behaved was quite influential in shaping international norms”…Now Mr. Trump’s windfall has undermined the idea “that there is a standard to which we should all be aspiring”…” [ Horowitz ]

3] “Since Watergate..the United States had helped set the international anti-corruption norms. Now..Mr. Trump was setting a different standard that could have the effect of demolishing democratic guardrails and clearing the way for others’ conflicts of interest. “This,’ mr. Sanchez said, “is what is being lost.” [ Horowitz ]

***. “The first of qualities for a great statesman is to be honest. And if it were possible that this opinion were an error, i should rather carry it with me to my grave that to believe that a man cannot be a statesman without being dishonest.”
[ John Adams; 2nd U.s. President ]

V. The Good News!!! American are catching on to †his Trump CORRUPTION. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll July 8-13, 2026, revealed this: “Trump’s overall approval rating stands at 37 percent, identical to what it was in April. His disapproval is 61 percent.” Of 28 categories of Americans, only 4: “Republican,” “Lean Republican,” “White evangelical Protestant,” “White Catholic”. favored Trump. “Rural’ was split: 50-48%.
[ Washington Post Weekly: “Broadly negative reviews for Trump”; 7/19/26 ]

VI. The Bad News: “Fed Shows Working Families Fall Behind As Trump Chooses To Keep Prices High”. “The Beige Book, a monthly report on consumer spending…showed a continuation of the trend that accelerated after President Donald Trump joined Israel in attacking Iran…The report notes that regional contacts at the Federal Reserve’s districts described middle-income households as “squeezing more life out of every dollar before deciding to spend it,’ while low-income families and individuals “showed greater financial strain..” { Dispatches; Progressive Populist; July, 2026 }

[NOTE: “Your’ president has monetized the U.s. presidency to the tune of over $2 billion in his second term, and counting…… YOU are struggling to feed and house YOUR family. – as are over 60% of Americans. Not only Trump’s war, but A.I. will increase YOUR electric bills and prices of consumer goods – and – pollute YOUR water, and YOUR peace of mind. These are SOME of the costs of enduring the Trump DICTATORSHIP…………….. ]

*** “In a president, character is everything.” [ Peggy Noonan; Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan ]

From January 20, 2025 to June 17, 2026 – this site posted 200 times on the Trump DICTATORSHIP. We are slowing down – summer vacation, etc.
BUT –
THE primary reason is this: in doing our research, compiling our 200 posts – the Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness of the Trump DICTATORSHIP. – is beginning to corrode us mentally. Being exposed to Trump’s personality, rhetoric, actions, policies, above all his LIES. – is corrosive. It is depressing to see an American president say and do these things as intensively as we have. To make our posts – we did research for perspective on who and what Donald Trump is. – compared to other presidents; compared to what American politics and society considered “normal”; compared to what normal Americans consider to be decent, considerate, fair.

*** “A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.” { Mark Twain ]

We have repeatedly said this: judging Any president or American government actions. – apply this test: The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution: “We the People…a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty..”

ANY U.s. government action, policy, law – that DOES NOT achieve these objectives is – Unconstitutional, UnAmerican, destructive, and corrosive to American liberty, society, government.
The Eisenhower freeway system passes the test. The Trump tax cuts for the rich of 2017 and 2025 DO NOT. Because, among other things: they FAIL to ‘..promote the general Welfare..” Few, if any, Trump actions have done so.

***. “There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men.”
[ Ludwig von Mises ]

Donald John Trump is THE anti-George Washington; THE anti-Abraham Lincoln; THE anti-Dwight D. Eisenhower. Not because we say so – but because the EVIDENCE, the plain public record says this. No objective American can say Trump’s character and actions are even close to these three men. using public records. – few observers, with a straight face, can say Donald John Trump is close to many of the previous 40 other U.S. presidents.

***. “Openly monetizing the presidency is a true Trump innovation….Mr. Trump’s scheming will define him and his family…All that will be left is his reputation. Mr. Trump has made that synonymous with corruption forever.”
[ Noah Schachtman; New York times; 5/24/26 ]

No other American president has ever been accused of openly fomenting an insurrection to stop an election. No other American president made a reported fortune of $1-4 billion in just a few months in office. No other American president created, allowed ‘a pardon industry” that freed many convicted of serious white collar crimes. No other American president routinely insulted and demeaned American citizens so publicly. No other American president has LIED. so often. – over 30,000 in one term; is anybody counting 2021-2026 Trump fabrications?

*** “Trump has taken mafia government to heights unrivaled in this country’s history.”
[ Sarah Chayes: “On corruption In America” ]

Some recent illustrations of Trump’s corrosive effect on America, headlines alone:
1] “How Trump Weighed suspending a Legal Right” [ Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan; New York Times; 6/18/26]
2] “Trump Escalates Push On voter ID”. [ Michael Gold, Dustin Wolf; New York Times; 6/18/26 ]
3] “True to Form, President Unsettles G7 Summit”. [ Mark Landler; New York Times; 6/18/26 ]
4]. “U.S. Pays $765 Million to Not Build 4 Wind Farms” [ Brad Plumer; New York Times; 6/18/26 ]
5]. “Protester says he was beaten, shackled for days”. [ Alan Feuer; New York Times; 6/20/26 ]
6] “Meloni says Trump ‘fabricated’ claim”. [ Nicole Winfield; Associated Press; 6/20/26 ]
7] “Flu sickens 160 at Air force base after end of vaccine mandate” [ Greg Jaffe, Maggie Haberman; New York Times; 6/20/26 ]
[ NOTE: this happens almost EVERY day during the Trump DICTATORSHIP !!! ]

*** “Most of Trump’s failings can be explained by a simple truth: He cared more about himself than the country.”
[ Pulitzer Prize winners Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker: “I Alone Can Fix It” ]

YOU can help SAVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. – on November 3, 2026. – vote against EVERY. Republican running for Congress. – just this one time, please. YOU do not want to experience an unrestrained, unaccountable. TRUMP. DICTATORSHIP. for two more years. YOUR democracy just might end if YOU don’t act…………

*** “In private speeches delivered in 2023 and 2024, Russell Vought..described his work crafting legal justifications so military leaders or government lawyers would not stop Trump’s executive actions. He said the plans are a response to a “Marxist takeover” of the country… Another priority, according to Vought, was to “defund” certain independent federal agencies and demonize career civil servants..” [Molly Redden, Andy Kroll, ProPublica; Nick Surgey, Documented: “‘Put Them in Trauma’: Inside a key MAGA Leader’s Plans for a New Trump Agenda”; The Progressive Populist; December 1, 2024 ]

This post presents excerpts from. “Billions in grants could depend on political test….White House would block funding if plans don’t align with Trump”; Tony Romm; New York Times; 6/3/26 ]:

7] “The proposal was only the latest attempt by the Office of Management and Budget, led by Russell T. Vought, to exert power over federal funding. The preamble to its sprawling new blueprint reaffirmed Vought’s view that much of the government’s ledger is riddled with spending that is wasteful, “divisive” or “woke.”

4] “The government could not issue grants to projects or groups that…”promote anti-American values”..”

9] “.. the administration has stalled or blocked aid for child care, disaster preparedness, green energy, education, food stamps, foreign assistance, mental health, public broadcasting, research and transportation infrastructure….In cases that date back to the early, disruptive days of the Department of Government Efficiency, judges have found that many of Trump’s actions have violated the law.”

***. “In papers and legal memos, Vought and his associates have articulated a vast array of dubious maneuvers to remake American democracy…Their plans to remove checks and balances and challenge long-established constraints on executive overreach, if realized, would unleash a Trump presidency battle-tested to turn gripe into policy.” [Isabella Dias: “The Architect…Trump wants to be King, Russ Vought has a Plan to Make It Happen”; Mother Jones; November-December, 2024 ]

1] “The White House is seeking to exert more control over billions of dollars in annual government grants, aiming to restrict a vast swath of funding – in health, housing, science and transportation. – so that it primarily serves the purposes and organizations politically aligned with President Donald Trump.”

2]. “..its proposal amounts to a major escalation in its attempt to reimagine the nation’s spending, even as Congress and the courts continue to rebuke the president for abusing such powers.”

3]. “If finalized, it would require all federal grants to be approved by the president’s political appointees, who must ensure that the money would “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities.”

***. “.. Vought nurtures a far more expansive. – and alarming. – ambition: to institute a new governing paradigm predicated on unrestrained presidential authority. With Vought as the architect, Trump could take his “dictator” on “day one” aspirations beyond words..” [Isabella Dias: “The Architect”; Mother Jones; November-December, 2024]

5]. “Restrictions echo the string of executive orders that Trump signed shortly after returning to office, many of which have been challenged or blocked in court. This time, however, the White House has pursued its restrictions by proposing a regulation…The result could be applied far more broadly, and perhaps in ways that are harder to fight legally or undo later..”

6]. “In exchange for federal assistance, researchers would face limits on the subjects that they can explore, the foreign labs with which they collaborate and even the conferences at which they can appear.”

8]. “Trump has frequently disregarded the instructions of Congress anyway..”

*** “During the first five months of the 2016 GOP primaries, the New York Times was so struck by Trump’s demagogic rhetoric they gathered and analyzed “every public utterance” by him, some 95,000 words. They retained historians, psychologists, and political scientists to review the material, and the experts concluded it echoed “some of the [worst] demagogues of the past century.” [ John W. Dean, bob Altemeyer: “Authoritarian Nightmare… Trump and His Followers” ]

***. “..the last forty-four presidents all pursued policies that they believed would make for a better America tomorrow. The Trump presidency is about Trump. Period. Full stop. He says so himself all the time..”
[ Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” ]

This post presents excerpts from. “Trump Keeps Pushing Plans People Dislike”. [ Luke Broadwater; New York Times; 5/24/26 ]:

7] “Mr. Trump has seemed unconcerned about whether these ideas are popular with voters, and has lamented openly that Democrats are likely to gain ground in the midterm elections. He has been most animated when discussing how he exacts vengeance on Republicans who criticize him.”

8] “Ms. Binder said she took Mr. Trump at his word when he argued last year that he had little further use for Congress, a suggestion that he could enact most of his agenda by circumventing lawmakers…..”He’s focused on the arch. I think he’s focused on his own personal legacy. He’s focused on vengeance,” she said.”

*** “According to Malkin, political leaders such as Hitler, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un exhibit malignant narcissism. As Robert Jay Lifton notes in “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” such narcissism in a leader can lead to “malignant normality”…people can come to accept aberrant and even pathological behavior as a new norm, especially when it is exhibited by an authority figure. He applies this to Trump.” [ Steven Hassan: “The Cult of Trump”]

1] “…his grip over Republican lawmakers began slipping after he proposed a pair of deeply unpopular spending items, prompting an unusual revolt from the Senate. When faced with such a backlash ahead of midterm elections, many politicians would pivot, redirecting their focus ti issues they are on stronger footing with. But Mr. Trump has decided to double down, presenting himself as all-powerful even in the face of indications that he is not.”

2] “Over the years, Mr. Trump has often appeared to have an air of invincibility…He has successfully exacted retribution on many a perceived enemy. Now, with less than three years left in office, he seems comfortable burning whatever political capital he has in order to leave his legacy, even if it drags his party down in the process.”

3] “Rather than abandon his plan for a $1.8 billion fund to reward allies who claim they were persecuted by Democrats, mr. Trump has defended the proposal, suggesting he could have used the taxpayer money to enrich himself…..”Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden administration..”

***. “Tell a lie loud enough and long enough and people will believe it.” [ Adolf Hitler ]

4] “The meeting went so poorly for Mr. Blanche that party leaders scrapped planned votes on another of Mr. Trump’s top priorities: a $72 billion immigration crackdown measure lawmakers had planned to muscle through before memorial Day.”

5] “Mr. Trump was also undeterred when another unpopular policy position – using taxpayer money to help fund security for his $400 million luxury ballroom on White House grounds – was met with backlash on Capitol Hill.”

6]. “Another dynamic at play in the Trump White House is a lack of dissenting voices to some of the president’s most extreme ideas. In mr. Trump’s first term, some of the president’s radical ideas were checked by aides like John F. Kelly..Jim Mattis..Gary Cohn… But these men are long gone, and their positions have been filled mostly by people who are true believers.”

***. “Lincoln never forgot that in a democracy the leader’s strength ultimately depends on the strength of his bond with the people. In the mornings he set aside several hours to hear the needs of the ordinary people lined up outside his office, his time of “public opinion baths.” Kindness, empathy, humor, passion, and ambition all marked him from the start.” [ Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin: “Leadership” ]

***. “corruption as commonly understood is back to Gilded Age levels..Never since the scandal-ridden administration of Ulysses S. Grant has there been an executive branch as nakedly given over to self-dealing as that of Donald Trump. To describe even a few of the dynamics not yet mentioned would take pages.” [Sarah Chayes: “On Corruption In America”]

This post presents excerpts from George Will’s. “Dumb and dumber, Republican-style” [St. Paul Pioneer Press; 5/24/26]:

1]. “In this past week, the Republican Party has accomplished something difficult: It made itself stupider. It subtracted from its already shallow reservoir of intelligence by moving to purge two fine senators. And its embodiment authored a novel grift.”

6] “There is a sort of artistry, akin to the shenanigans used to cook Enron’d books, in Trump’s attempt to fleece taxpayers for a $1.776 billion [get it? this is patriotic] slush fund to be doled out by his friends to his accomplices. The doling will be done by a board appointed by the attorney general, who serves at the president’s pleasure. Trump can fire the board members for any reason. And the fund will disappear immediately after the 2028 election.” [!!!!!!!!!!!!]

*** “There’s an honest graft, and I’m an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin”: “I seen my opportunities and I took ’em.” [ Tammany Hall ward boss, George Washington Plunkitt, in: “Plunkitt of Tammany Hall”, by William L. Riordon ]

2]. “..the two senators will be replaced on this autumn’s ballots by persons who, if elected…can be counted on to be exactly what no senator should be: another of the president’s congressional sock puppets, promising, as a high principle, not to think independently.”

3] “His scarlet sin was to have believed that Donald Trump’s urging a mob to stop Congress from certifying the results of a presidential election constituted an impeachable offense. Cassidy’s departure will subtract most of the Senate membership interested in responding to the approaching crisis of Social Security funding.”

4]. “Cassidy’s genuine sin – casting the decisive vote that put an amateur quack [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] at the pinnacle of the public health system. – probably pleased the yahoos who wanted Cassidy gone. He will be replaced by a Republican whose identity does not matter: He or she will be a cipher, vigorously subservient to Trump.”

***. “as president – Trump’s ignorance of science…many of them had no qualifications whatsoever…The Trump administration deposited political termites throughout the structure of our government.” [ Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” ]

5] “..Trump surely, correctly, sees in Paxton a kindred spirit…He is a pinup of religious “conservatives” who disregard his lurid personal life.”

7} “In January, Trump sued the IRS [the head of which serves at the pleasure of the president] for $10 billion. this was a prelude to this week’s ‘compromise.” Trump – essentially negotiating with himself, sitting on both sides of the table – agreed to drop this suit. In exchange, the Justice Department [its head serves at Trump’s pleasure] agreed to create a $1.776 billion fund to compensate government “lawfare” victims”. [NOTE – but the fund will NOT compensate any person, any city, any state victimized the the Trump DICTATORSHIP’s persecution or prosecution !!!!!!!!!!!!]

8]. “Purging senators while complaining about “lawfare” but punishing law firms he dislikes…Sophists devoted to obfuscating the obvious will insist that Trump, not the Republican Party, is doing all this. But sentient people know it is a distinction without a difference.”

***. “Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.” [ Henry Clay; U.S. Senator; 1829 ]

***. “The point is you can’t be too greedy.” [ Donald John Trump: “The Art of the Deal” ]