Trump 2.0 Is Here - Nazi Salutes, Higher Prices, Proud Boys And The Ongoing Betrayal of America
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Morning all. It’s here, the second Trump Administration, and it’s as ugly, ambitious and America Firsty as promised - Nazi salutes, Proud Boys, tariffs, territorial expansion, drill baby drill, aggressive assaults on immigrants and federal workers, historic corruption, wild lies and tall tales, and betrayal after betrayal. Trump won the election, controls Washington, has the support of the broligarchs and man are they just going for it.
The Washington Post did a very good and comprehensive roundup of his Day 1 Executive Orders. Heather Cox Richardson’s write up of the day is worth a read, particularly her recapping of Trump’s unprecedented monetization of the Presidency. Everyone should read his Inaugural Address (while working to forget Melania’s ridiculous hat). I wrote to you last night about Elon letting his Nazi flag fly high yesterday. CNN reports this morning that Trump made 20 false claims in his various appearances on Monday:
President Donald Trump made only a smattering of false claims in his inaugural address on Monday, mostly sticking to vague rhetoric, subjective assertions and uncheckable promises of action.
But then he embarked on a lying spree.
In an unscripted second speech on Monday, to supporters who had gathered in the US Capitol Visitor Center’s Emancipation Hall, Trump made false claims about elections, immigration and the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, among other subjects. He then made additional false claims in a freewheeling third speech at Washington’s Capital One Arena and again while speaking to reporters as he signed executive orders in the Oval Office
While we will have time to dive into and pull out what was real in his executive orders rather than Trumpian bluster, bullshit and red meat to his base, there are three things I’m focused on this morning
The End Of Pax Americana? - Trump seems very intent on unraveling the American-led global order, rapidly. Tariffs, territorial expansion, direct threats to allies and trading partners, the new draconian immigration regime, pulling out of the Paris Climate accord and the WHO all suggest that America is seceding from the global order we imagined and built, and that has served us and the world well for 80 years. In weakening this global system, and turning America into a rogue nation, Trump is aligning himself with the primary foreign policy goals of China and Russia and betraying the country, again.
As I wrote recently I think it is right to view Trump not just as an insurrectionist but also a secessionist.
Higher Prices, Trump’s Betrayal Of Middle Class Americans - The combination of aggressive tariffs and reducing the immigrant population and legal flow to the US will lead to worker shortages and higher prices for Americans. Trump and the Republicans are also looking at substantial middle class tax increases and cuts to health care subsidies and the mortgage interest deduction that will also raise costs for middle class Americans. Taken together, it’s hard to imagine a more profound betrayal of his central promise to everyday Americans that he would lower costs and cut their taxes.
Trump Endorses Political Violence - Trump’s pardoning and commutation of what were in some cases long prison sentences of over 1,500 insurrectionists is among the most dangerous acts a President has taken in our history. These extremist groups will now believe that he and the US government has their backs. Rule of law in the world’s most important democracy has suffered an extraordinary blow. It’s another profound betrayal of the United States of America.
As we all search for words today I keep coming back to betrayal. Trump 2.0 is a profound, ongoing betrayal of America, and everything that has made this remarkable nation the most powerful and prosperous in the world. It is why we must fight. As dark as all this is, we cannot for one moment forget that what Trump is doing is wrong; he and his project remain deeply unstable; he is embracing deeply unpopular actions; he is old, impulsive, reckless and clearly in decline; and extremists and ideologues are often far better at bread and circuses than governing.
In a note to our paid subscribers yesterday, Not Letting Trump’s Madness Become Our Own, I wrote:
I think the greatest challenge we will have in opposition is settling on a few critical battles and sticking with them over time. Trump wants us chasing every new outrage, enthusiastically leaping into new alluring rabbit holes. We cannot let his daily madness become our own. We need to go slow, and not rush into battle. If we get spread too thin, or turn on another, or become perpetually disappointed our victories will be far too few. As we’ve discussed it’s critical that we get wins, celebrate them, build on them, get stronger and weaken him over time. Turning our pro-democracy movement into an effective opposition will require patience, discipline, over the horizon strategies and ferocity. Like a child learning to walk we will wobble, stumble and fall in these next few months but we must, must, at all costs, stick together as we learn how to walk, and then run, and together become the ferocious opposition the moment requires.
In my very first note to you after the election I wrote:
Over the past few years we, our country, our leaders, Merrick Garland, the Harris SuperPAC and many, many others failed to adequately indict Trump and explain what an unprecedented threat he was. A rapist, fraudster, traitor and 34 times felon was just elected President. The relentless normalization of his extremism, madness and ugliness, the legacy media’s complicit in reporting on the race not the stakes, was a collective failure of enormous consequence.
Related to point one, I still think many on our side and in the establishment simply do not understand the nature of the conflict America finds itself in today. Trump and his global allies are playing a different game than we are used to. They have invented a whole new deeply illiberal game with all sorts of new pieces and rules. We have been slow, dangerously and recklessly, slow in recognizing how the rules of the game have changed.
It’s why whatever happens next, it is time for the Democratic Party’s generational wheel to turn and for new leaders who are not steeped in and hobbled by old ways to take the helm. We are facing a new battlefield, and more contemporary strategies, tactics, alliances and leaders are required in this next stage of the fight. Now is a time for re-invention, re-imagination, and risk-taking. We need to build a new politics for the American center-left, a more modern one, one more suited to the opportunities and challenges in front of us, a more “networked” one as my friend Joe Trippi would say.
A few things you can do now:
Keep working against Trump’s Unacceptable 4 - Hegseth, Gabbard, Kennedy, Patel. Hegseth is likely to come to a vote later this week or early next week. No hearings have been set for either Kennedy or Gabbard - a good sign. Make your voice heard today. Call your 2 Senators and House Member. Insist they do everything they can to defeat these unqualified extremists.
Support Abigail Spanberger for Governor of Virginia. Electing Spanberger is one of most important jobs this year. Donate, volunteer, learn more, watch my interview with her - take an action today. I hope everyone here in the Hopium community makes getting Spanberger elected one of the things you do this year. She is a great candidate, a true patriot, the kind of leader we now must support and advance.
Watch my recent interviews with three of the leading candidates for DNC Chair - Ken Martin, Martin O’Malley and Ben Wikler. Read my latest set of recommendations for how we raise our game, go 24/7/365 and make our pro-democracy movement more successful.
Help Hopium and other pro-democracy commentators and orgs you support grow. We need to become stronger, bigger, to do the work that needs to be done. Fight for us in your networks the way you fight for a candidate or cause. Become a paid Hopium subscriber and join me for our first live gathering of the year tomorrow night at 7pm ET.
Keep working hard all. The road ahead will be hard, but we need to stick together, stay engaged, practice self-care and start racking up wins - Simon
I just read Josh Marshall at TPM and between him and Simon, I'm feeling more determined and prepared. To paraphrase Josh and echo Simon, they told us it would be "shock and awe" and we need to hang together and not overreact because that's what they want us to do. We all know it and should have the courage of our convictions to hold us up.
So thanks Simon, for helping us Keep Calm and Carry On.
I wish the media would report that his inauguration speech and his post speech were filled with “lies”—stop using terms like “false claims”to describe them.