United States President Donald Trump is coming to resemble more and more the kooky and dangerous characters who led the US into nuclear war in Stanley Kubrick’s film Dr. Strangelove. It is black humor in real life.
Tag: Adam Dick
President Donald Trump, unlike his predecessor in office Joe Biden, talks with reporters quite frequently. In those press conferences and other interactions, Trump makes some misstatements of fact. To an extent it makes sense to cut him some slack regarding misstatements in extemporaneous and impromptu communication. But, Trump making clear misstatements of fact in his annual State of the Union speech is another matter. That is just what we saw when Trump presented the annual speech Tuesday evening.
Donald Trump’s presidential administration has been a big disappointment in several major areas, including the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) prospect of reducing government spending and the America First prospect of the United States government pursuing a foreign policy much less interventionist than before. On both counts, the Turmp administration has led the government in the opposite direction than what was promoted in Trump’s presidential campaign. Spending and the national debt have grown. At the same time, the Trump administration has continued the Biden administration’s Ukraine, Israel, and other wars, while stirring up new wars in Venezuela, Iran, and beyond.
Donald Trump, who started his second term as United States president a little over a year ago, likes to talk about how he is making America great again. But, for foreigners planning their trips abroad, it appears Trump has played a significant role in reducing their perception that America is great — at least as a travel destination.
The US military has, since early September, been blowing up small boats and killing their occupants in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. This killing spree has been undertaken based on evidence-free “trust me bro” claims that the boats were being used by “narco-terrorists” to transport drugs to America.
Grand juries in America, operating under rules heavily titled toward prosecutors, tend to acquiesce to just about all requests for indictments. Thus, it is quipped on occasion that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. Grand juries have largely failed to live up to their promise as a check on the exercise of government power.
On Monday, the United States House of Representatives approved via a voice vote the BRAVE Burma Act (HR 3190). The legislation would facilitate continuing sanctions against Myanmar, as well as pursuing other adversarial action against the country in Asia. It is yet another step in the US government’s effort to pursue a vast amount of intervention across the world.
Last week, I wrote about the United States House of Representatives approving funding for the Department of Education for fiscal year 2026 at about the same level as each of the previous two years. This action, I suggested, was at odds with President Donald Trump, who is from the same party as the House and Senate majorities, having promoted during his 2024 presidential campaign and since his desire to drastically reduce and even eliminate this Cabinet department.
It is good to be cautious when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) proclaims he is promoting “common sense” ideas. But, looking at a listing of some of what he on Wednesday called “common-sense reforms, ones that Americans know and expect from law enforcement,” that Senate Democrats want imposed for the United States government’s immigration enforcement efforts, it seems that Schumer and his party caucus are putting forward some promising ideas.
President Donald Trump is not a small government guy. But, he has declared during his 2024 presidential campaign and since his intention to drastically reduce or even eliminate a Cabinet department — the Department of Education.