The mad king problem
There have been a lot of Trump administration developments over the past seven days; and though they may seem head-spinning,
I think Zack Beauchamp has a way to think about everything that's happened of late that's clarifying:
There's been a lot of head-scratching: "Why the fuck is he doing something so stupid??"
Because he can. And he wants to prove to all of us that he can. Smart? Stupid? No matter.
This is pure narcissism.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The mad king problem
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Being both predictable and shocking has become a bit of a theme of the Trump team of late.
There is, of course, President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. Trump had been crystal clear about wanting across-the-board tariffs during the campaign. Shockingly, they have been implemented in a manner that appears extreme and incompetent even by previous Trump standards. As a result, the world is historically unsettled: One metric of global economic uncertainty shows higher levels of concern than at any point in the 21st century, worse than the 2008 financial crisis and even the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Then there is last week’s news that Trump empowered Laura Loomer, a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and self-described "proud Islamophobe," to purge top government officials. The head of the National Security Agency, his top deputy, and six staffers on the National Security Council were all fired — seemingly at Loomer’s behest.
And then, there is the Department of Health and Human Services. The department started layoffs last Tuesday that are expected to hit about 10,000 workers. By the end of it, about a quarter of the department’s staff will have been cut amidst a worrying measles outbreak and the real risk of a bird flu pandemic.
Trump telegraphed these moves during the campaign — promising to root out the “the deep state” and vowing to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” at HHS. But they are shocking nonetheless.
Putting Laura Loomer, of all people, in charge of sensitive national security decisions is nothing short of astonishing. And the sheer scope of the HHS cuts, given the current public health challenges, that led my colleague Dylan Scott to describe it as “a catastrophe is unfolding.”
Of late, we seem to be seeing the Trump administration’s true and unvarnished face. It’s not that what happened over the past seven days was necessarily worse than what came before it — though the tariffs might well prove to be. Rather, it’s that recent events revealed the true scope and nature of our Trump problem — with even some of his supporters starting to openly worry that things have gone badly wrong.
Despite all of the administration’s early actions — from Trump’s political assault on universities to his decision to send innocent Venezuelans to a Salvadoran gulag — some people thought there still might be constraints on his policies.
Previous rounds of tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada did not lead Wall Street to panic — partly because they were moderated or walked back after implementation. Many conservatives alarmed by Trump’s policies reassured themselves that his national security team, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz, hailed from the GOP’s more traditional internationalist wing.
Now there is panic even in these quarters.
Wall Street is horrified. Republican stalwarts like Ben Shapiro and Erick Erickson are warning of dire economic and political consequences if Trump stays the course on tariffs. And as the Loomer developments demonstrate, the notion that the GOP national security “professionals” might check any of this is no longer credible.
The point is not merely to mock these people or say “I told you so.” Rather, it’s to illustrate that even those who willfully ignored early warning signs about Trump are starting to see what’s happening.
And what’s happening is this: government by mad king.
A mad king, in my sense, is not a literal king or merely a leader who makes bad decisions. Instead, it’s one who makes them based on reasons that are out of touch with reality, making sense only in their own mind. And it’s one who is able to do so with little-to-no constraint — thanks, in our case case, to the dangerous concentration of power in the executive branch.
Recent events show conclusively that Trump fits the definition.
And those events made the mad king problem so undeniable that even some of Trump’s allies on the right began to see it. Only two questions remain: What will happen this week, and how will the country — particularly key members of the Trump coalition — react?
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It has indeed been that way.
But gradually there have been small signs that resisance is growing (even from a small number of elected Republicans-- mainly those whose constituents are obviously going to be greatly harmed by his tariffs).
Oh and I forgot to mention: the issue of Musk's influence. More and more people are becoming aware of how dangerous this is,,,and a few have had enough courage to speak out!
Only because they've come to the conclusion that they're probably not going to be re-elected if they continue to throw in with Trump. I doubt that it is a question of principles and integrity - they saw what happened to LIz Cheney.
We should change Trumps name to ‘’King Ludwig’’
Nothing against the author of this article, but this is hardly news. It is something that has been obvious for a long long time. Trump ran the most bizarre and unhinged presidential campaign (by a major party candidate) in American history.
He has been off his rocker for years.
SCOTT BESSENT IS APPARENTLY THE BIGGEST CLOWN IN THE CLOWN CAR. BAR NONE.
tHE ONLY STUPID THING HE HASN'T SAID YET, IS "LET THEM EAT CAKE".
I'm not that surprised that Trump has given full vent to his incompence and vengence to disturb the whole world and endanger the well-being of most Americans, nor am I surprised that he is surrounded by a circle of fools, but I think that what concerns me the most is that so many supposedly intelligent NT members have not by now seen the light.
It is disturbing.
One must wonder "why"? Denial is beyond belief, now. All that's left is willful.
it is, as many of us did predict, down right disturbing the lengths that which his supporters, and alleged not really supporters, go to and through, in order to defend this blatantly destructive mental midget maniacal miscreant, who marvels at the mayhem his misguided mentally challenged and definitely damaged, immature vengeful and spoiled beyond repair, and be aware, is setting the world on fire, cause he can, and apparently, rather, are Republican women and 'men', too spineless to check and balance, the bounced and unbalanced, as they allow him to cave in a once great country, as the cult still screams, nothing to see here, it's what America voted for...yea, ok sure, you guys keep running with that, just don't run with scissors, someone might get hurt, starve, or die, but hey, Trumpy, what a fckn guy....
Your comment was unusually easy to read, comprehend and be entirely agreed with than usual (or is it me?)
i must be semi sober i guess...
is there a problem ? I don't do eeemoooeeeggeeeez, and do not understand, but i'm used to like a rubber, and being banned, though I sometimes steal Eves Ribbed for my pleasure, and that's my reservoir tip of the day
why are there no condom machines in men's rooms north of the mason-dixon line?
Because there are only tampon machines in the men's room. If you want a condom you will have to go in the women's room.
no glove, no love, butt many a filled Mason jar with Dixons
Yes, there are.
RFK, Jr. is now advocating for the MMR vaccine