A point-by-point response to a recent letter (The Real Deal) claiming Trump is a “consequential” president:
(1) Tariffs — Tariffs are paid at the dock by American wholesalers. The cost is passed on to retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Costco. Those costs are then passed on to consumers.
(2) Ending wars — The government of India declared that a ceasefire was achieved through negotiations between India and Pakistan and totally rejects the claim that a third party (i.e., Trump) had any role in ending the hostilities.
(3) Border security — This is a serious issue. Yet, Trump is focused on deporting legal immigrants and even U.S. citizens. “The Real Deal” is evidently not playing with a full deck.
(4) DEI — Did Trump end DEI and establish meritocracy in his administration? Are J.D. Vance, Stephen Miller, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kristi Noem, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Tulsi Gabbard, and Harold Lutnick examples of this alleged meritocracy?
(5) Education — Public education is and has always been controlled by the states. It is, in fact, this dimwitted president who is trying to extort public schools and universities into promoting his White Christian Nationalist agenda.
(6) “Drill baby drill” is a death chant for the environment. — Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently claimed that climate change is a “hoax” and said higher food costs were the result of drought and wildfires, oblivious to the negative effect of this fossil fuel obsession on our fragile ecosystems.
(7) Tax cuts — The billionaire’s Big Beautiful Bill made permanent tax cuts which mostly benefit the wealthiest one percent while making massive cuts to Medicaid, food assistance (SNAP), and healthcare.
President for peace? Nobel Prize loser Trump threatened to bomb Iran, a country of 91 million, back into the Stone Age. The threat itself is a war crime and warrants a 21st century Nuremberg trial.
Finally, Senate Rethuglicans are proposing to spend $1 billion of taxpayer money for The Great Gatsby’s gilded ballroom.
All these factors do, indeed, make Trump a consequential president as were Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, and Richard Nixon. When you elect a clown, expect a circus.
