(Imaginary (?) conversation:)
Musk: “So, President Trump, out of thousands, what’s your favorite lie?
Trump: “I don’t tell lies.”
Musk: “That’s my favorite too!”
Now’s a good time for a quick review of just three results of Trump’s first weeks in office. So many promises, so many lies, so much cruelty, so much incompetence, so much callousness.
Here are just three promises Trump made to the American people on day one of his administration. According to Axios, he made 61 (https://www.axios.com/2024/12/26).
Settle the Russian—Ukraine war
Instead, Trump “paused” critical military aid to Ukraine and stopped all intelligence sharing. His temper tantrum, together with Vance’s, stopped the deal. Why? Because Zelenskyy failed to proffer adequate gratitude. The fact is, he had done so numerous times – just not sufficiently for this televised event where the world could see him prostrate himself before Trump. In minutes, America went from the world’s leader to the world’s crybaby. We went from a Trumpian/Fascist version of “America First” to the isolationism of “America Alone.” A small caveat: We now side with the world’s tyrannical bullies and dictators by refusing to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and not endorsing Ukrainian territorial integrity. So there’s that.
End inflation
Instead, Trump did the opposite. He instituted tariffs on our biggest trading partners. Warren Buffet called Trump’s tariffs an “economic war act of war.” Trump promised “a vote for Trump means your grocery prices will be cheaper.” Not. Grocery prices have risen since he took office, as have most other indices. For the first time since June of ’24, inflation has increased, with the expectation the rate will be 4.3% in February compared to 3.3% in January (https://www.thehill.com,americaneggonomics). The proposed extension of the tax cuts (for millionaires and Trump’s cronies) will exacerbate the problem.
Eliminate much of the federal workforce
As of Feb. 14, more than 200,000 federal workers have had their jobs terminated (https://abcnews.go.com/US/agencies-federal-workers). Another 75K accepted buyouts.
People are being fired indiscriminately—the only criteria is reducing numbers. According to Musk, who is clearly in charge, this is just the beginning. His appearance with a chain saw was the perfect visual image of how he went about it. BTW, wasn’t it cute the way X picked his nose then wiped his finger on the Resolute Desk? Now that’s r-e-s-p-e-c-t! Take note, Zelenskyy.
Here are a few of the agencies, so far, that are impacted: Dept. of Education, Dept. Of Homeland Security, Small Business Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Dept. Of Defense, Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration, Dept. Of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Dept. of Health and Human Services, Veteran Administration, Food and Drug Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, not to mention a slew of international agreements. There are more, just not enough space.
These are just faceless names of agencies. But they represent people who work for us. So, who are the people impacted?
- Kids with special needs. Dept. of Ed. distributes and monitors funding.
- Teachers and school administrators will have fewer resources.
- Starving kids and families throughout the world because Trump eliminated USAID.
- Monitoring potential disease outbreaks throughout the world by withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
- Monitoring and reporting the weather and climate with the disbanding of NOAA.
- Americans who treasure the National Park System. Park Rangers provide park maintenance, fire prevention, education and safety for visitors. Gone.
- Medicaid recipients whose funding will be cut, putting millions of lives at risk.
- Farmers whose livelihoods depend on growing crops for USAID and immigrants who farm their crops.
- Immigrants stopped, rounded up and deported, often without checking status. Add 240,000 Ukrainians whose legal status will soon be revoked (reuters.com).
- Services provided by those who are LGBTQ, fired because of who they are.
- Veterans whose care is threatened due to major reductions in force. One third of those fired from federal agencies are veterans.
- Those suffering from childhood and other cancers, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and other conditions, will no longer be beneficiaries of new research by NIH.
- At risk are the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security.
- Businesses throughout the country who rely on customers formerly employed by the federal government and the banks who own their mortgages.
- Citizens with fraud complaints but no one to turn to because all the Inspectors General, who provide agency oversight, have been fired; further the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been eliminated.
Who else will be impacted? At some point, everyone. When your refund check or government pension doesn’t arrive, or when your identity is stolen because of unauthorized access to personal information, or a loved one loses their job for no reason, or the nursing home or assisted living facility closes because of Medicare cuts, or you become ill because inspectors at the Food and Drug Administration have been being cut, understand the chain saw massacre, wielded by Musk, was due solely to the power given to him by Trump.
And as Trump proudly said in his address to Congress, “this is just the beginning.” That may be the only truth he’s spoken since taking office.
Marsha Shearer is a resident of The Villages and the author of “America in Crisis: Essays on the Failed Presidency of Donald J. Trump.”