Arthur E. Sowers is a resident of Harbeson.
In 8 of 10 polls, Donald Trump’s disapprovals ran consistently and continuously higher than approvals. That trend became clear within a month of his return to office. Thus, Trump 2.0 is giving us a long-duration and slow-motion major trainwreck.
However, Trump also set up the “Department of Government Efficiency” shortly after returning to office. DOGE was not even an official department, and some critics considered the action unconstitutional. Elon Musk ran the agency. Trump and Musk thought they could find $2 trillion worth of waste to cut but, in the end, found less than one-tenth of that. Multiple polls showed more public disapproval than approval of either the department or Elon Musk. So, let’s call that the “DOGE-Musk trainwreck.”
Then, around June 5, the Trump-Musk “bromance” finally blew up, big time. This “dream team” — over a few days — shouted at each other, melted down and behaved like two kids having temper tantrums. I count this as still another trainwreck. My own first reaction to this “short war” was to ask, considering the “brilliance and genius” of the two guys, why their problems/disagreements were not discovered earlier and quietly settled earlier and privately, without the very public spectacle that it turned out to be? As it is, now, I would conclude that both guys are hotheads and not as smart as they think or say they are. But my second reaction was that it really might not matter, since the result is that this will keep their names in the news and other more relevant and more important issues out of the news. Otherwise, I would call this an “anger management failure.” It is another trainwreck.
This letter is meant to get us back to reality. Below are article titles that recognize and describe the Trump 2.0 trainwreck. Read them yourself for the details.
Trump’s tariff actions have been a mixture of threats and chaos, and have been just completely going off the rails. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase said many business entities are sick of Trump’s antics and are now aiming to move their business from the USA to other countries. That will be our loss instead of our gain.
This article says Trump’s economy is not doing too well: “America’s Factory Sector Slowed Again, For Its Third Straight Month Of Shrinkage.”
Trump’s ideas about grabbing Canada, Greenland, Panama and Gaza shocked a lot of people. Now, the European viewpoint of Trump 2.0 is revealed in a U.K. poll, in an article titled “European favourability of the USA falls following the return of Donald Trump.” It’s not just Europe. It is shown in another article with the title, “US Tourism Sector Plunges into Unprecedented Revenue Crisis in 2025 as America First Policy Ravages Global Visitor Arrivals.”
From the BBC comes the article, “‘A hostile state’: Why some travellers are avoiding the US.” It explains how Trump’s “tough-guy” attitude is causing anguish and woe for arriving tourists. This is scaring off a lot of people.
Trump is not making America “great again,” according to the article with this title: “Exclusive: China’s global favorability rising, views of the U.S. turn negative.”
Our Department of Justice is now less about “law and order” and more about “obedience to the king.” On May 20, Kristi Noem, head of the Department of Homeland Security didn’t know what habeas corpus was about. Habeas corpus gives you the right to challenge unlawful imprisonment. And the White House was even considering the suspension of habeas corpus. So, ultimately, Trump’s gestapo could come and make you disappear. You could end up in a bad place somewhere, with no recourse, no hearing, no nothing.
This article, “Republican said Sikh should not be allowed to deliver House prayer,” is about an official not knowing that our First Amendment gives freedom of religion and that Article 6 of the Constitution says “no religious Test shall ever be required” to hold office. Besides this example, and Kristi Noem’s example of ignorance about habeas corpus, I have noticed many other examples in which a lot of people in the “Trump Club” seem to have some kind of amnesia about our Constitution and our collective obligation to be in compliance with it.
Trump is curtailing our freedom of speech with threats of lawsuits or investigations against you if you say something he doesn’t like. An anti-anti-Trump “intimidation machine” is now being set up. It is explained in the article titled “Trump’s DC US Attorney Launches ‘Project Whirlwind’ To Investigate Critics For Their Speech.”
Another article is also alarming: “The Trump administration just kicked its war on free speech into overdrive.”
An article came out with the title, “Trump redefines fraud in quest to crush ‘Deep State.’” The first sentence of that article ends with these words: “President Trump is using his second term to delegitimize the very concept of white-collar crime.” Many examples were given in the article. Details are beyond the scope of this letter, but someone could cause something bad to happen to you in the future, and the cops will not help you because — guess what? — that bad thing is no longer a crime.
An article from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is titled “By the Numbers: House Republican Tax Agenda Favors the Wealthy and Leaves Millions of Working Families Behind.” It will be the rich that will experience Trump’s “golden age,” not the rest of us.
Trump is attacking universities, their foreign students, and — in many ways — their academic freedoms. Within days of Trump blocking over $2 billion in grant money to Harvard, officials in Europe dug up some $800 million to hire American scientists willing to work in Europe. See the article: “EU to double funding to attract US scientists fleeing Trump.”
The article titled “American doctors look to relocate to Canada to avoid the Trump administration” says that sign-ups are 750% higher this year than last year.
Trump’s specific targeting of several big law firms has led to a significant pushback. This article title has good news: “Major Companies Abandon Law Firms That Signed Deals with Trump: Report.”
And hats off to the message in this article: “Former Trump supporter Pamela Hemphill refuses and returns her Jan. 6 pardon.” The article is really worth reading.
Trump’s “beyond extreme” bully overreach tactics are expanding more divisiveness bonfires, such as totally and brutally cutting revenue flows. Trump threatened to massively cut federal money to states and cities. States and cities have countered by threatening to withhold federal tax revenue. This is fully explained in this article: “Newsom floats withholding federal taxes as Trump threatens California.”
This article, “Trump preparing large-scale cancellation of federal funding for California, sources say,” says Trump is going to put major hurt on that state.
Trump 2.0 is disassembling this country. Might some states start thinking about secession?
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
