Tag: Israel

What I believe

I am a classical liberal fusionist. The following brief outline will hopefully explain what that means followed by a brief summary of where Trump stands relative to my beliefs of what is good for America.

I want to be free to make my own decisions about my life and for you to be similarly free as well. As we live together with 8.3 billion others, we must have understandings/rules/laws guiding our interactions if we are to live peacefully with each other. An efficient government limited to those purposes is essential. As a classical liberal I strongly support the limited, enumerated powers and structure (checks and balances) of government provided by the American constitution. Our constitution provides that our government will have limited powers sufficient to protect us from foreign and domestic threats of corruption, fraud and attack, secure our property rights, adjudicate disputes, provide public goods (e.g. roads, pollution regulations) and establish the rules (guardrails) for private enterprise. Our constitution specifically prohibits our government from infringing upon our freedom of speech, assembly, or religion.

Such limited government powers would leave use with substantial freedom to choose our own way of life. The quality of our lives will depend importantly on how wisely we use that freedom. While it would be ideal for those in need of help to receive it from family and friends and from private charities established for that purpose, I believe that the private provision of charity on any large scale has been so displaced by government welfare that I accept the government’s role in providing a social safety. But the current mix of programs restrict our freedoms and are inefficient. I propose a Universal Basic Income as the most efficient approach and the most consistent with individual freedom. https://wcoats.blog/2020/08/20/replacing-social-security-with-a-universal-basic-income/

America has flourished because the substantial freedom our government leaves us is generally used well. The vast majority of us use our freedom in ways that respect the freedoms of others. The three monotheistic religions—Christianity, Judaism and Islam (and no doubt others as well)—provide important guidance for virtuous behavior. These include honesty, charity, love, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, humility, forgiveness, etc. Virtue is the other leg of Fusionism, which is explored in the wonderful new book by Stephanie Slade: Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right.

While respecting the freedoms of others, I may choose (within my abilities) how I make my living, whom to buy from and sell to (free trade), and how to spend my free time and with whom. Much of our relationships with others will reflect the locally accepted norms of good behavior. This extends far beyond driving on the same side of the road. Some of these norms have been codified into laws, which we expect to be applied equally to all of us. Some are the norms of courteous behavior (good manners). Thus, freedom and rights have fostered the entrepreneurship that has made the U.S. the economic envy of the world.

But today, with the internet and jet planes, our world extends far beyond our own communities. Engaging with as much of the world as possible peacefully has benefits. It can enhance our safety by making agreements with other governments that reduce the occurrences of war. It can add joy to our lives by exposing us to the many wonder of other cultures and geographies. It has enormously lifted the average standard of living because of the extension of the benefits of specialization made possible by trade. Global average per capital real income has risen 13 to 15 times (1,200 to 1,400%) over the last two centuries. This after many, many centuries of virtually no change.      

But what is required to travel to or trade with other countries? How can our planes fly over and safely land in other countries? How do we prevent the signals from other countries’ satellites from interfering with the internet and other signals from our own as they fly over? Just as our Federal government can establish laws to protect our safety, liberties and property across state lines that benefit us all, they need to do so across country borders.  https://wcoats.blog/2020/12/01/the-rule-of-law-china-and-the-u-s/ Without such agreements we would not be free to trade and travel nearly as widely as now. https://wcoats.blog/2017/01/06/the-liberal-international-order/

We have failed to live up to these standards on many occasions, but they are the north star to which we strive. Or at least until now. On July 23, 2019, speaking to a Turning Point USA audience (and on other occasions as well) President Trump said: “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” With that he threatened to throw away the limits on the power of our government and the checks and balances on its exercise. Some of his policies have been consistent with the principals I believe in, but many have not.

The Economy: The government’s limited role of protecting property rights and promoting business transparency has unleashed the entrepreneurial energies that have led to our country’s flourishing. Like President Biden before him, Trump thinks his ideas of where to put our resources are often better than the market’s—thus projecting government activities beyond its proper functions. He was right, however, to think that many government agencies and their regulations were more burdensome than helpful to the private sector. A review and streamlining of the government’s oversight of the economy would be a good idea. Unfortunately the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk was a crude hatchet job that did more harm than good.  https://wcoats.blog/2020/11/04/saving-the-american-dream/

Immigrants: America would not exist without immigrants. https://wcoats.blog/2026/07/06/immigrants-2/ Currently they are important to provide the younger workers needed to pay the expenses (e.g. Social Security benefits) of our growing number of longer-living retirees. Rather than allowing more legal immigrants, Trump has reduced the number and promised to deport those here illegally. https://wcoats.blog/2026/02/08/immigrants/ . While I support efforts to prevent illegal immigration, Trump’s quickly recruited and improperly trained ICE agents have murdered innocent Americans and deported American citizens, along with illegal immigrants, without due process and in violation of court orders. The rule of law be damned. https://wcoats.blog/2025/08/29/immigration/

Free Speech: Our constitution specifically protects free speech for a good reason: https://wcoats.blog/2012/09/15/further-thoughts-on-free-speech/ It helps build public consensus and support for good public policies.

Trump goes ballistic when criticized and misuses executive power to punish critics. These have included suing critics, threating the licenses of their employers, etc. https://wcoats.blog/2026/08/21/our-first-amendment-freedom-of-speech/

“ABC late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel said an interview he conducted with Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico will not air on broadcast because of what he called threats issued to his network by President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission.” The Hill 9/10/2026

Our constitution provides checks and balances on the powers of government in an effort to prevent (or minimize) the overreaching of government. Donald Trump took major actions against agency inspectors general across both of his presidential terms: Between April and May 2020, he removed or replaced five agencies’ inspectors general in a series of late-Friday decisions: just days into his second term, he dismissed seventeen independent inspectors general at once across cabinet departments—including Defense, State, Transportation, Labor, and Energy. Subsequent individual firings followed throughout early 2025 (such as the USAID IG in February 2025).

The nonpartisan inspectors general review agency programs, financial statements, and operations, recommend changes to make government operations more economical and effective, manage hotlines and intake processes for employees to report wrongdoing safely, and report their findings to the heads of the agencies they monitor and to Congress. In September 2025, a federal judge ruled that the mass January 2025 firings violated federal law because the administration failed to provide the mandatory 30-day notice and substantive rationale to Congress, though the court did not order their reinstatement.

At least 20 high-ranking generals, admirals, and civilian defense leaders have been directly fired or pushed out of their roles by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump. When including behind-the-scenes actions—such as blocking promotion rosters, cancelling appointments, and forcing early retirements—over 80 generals and admirals have had their careers altered, blocked, or cut short as part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at downsizing senior military leadership and reshaping the Pentagon. According to my military friends, those removed were generally the best of the lot. Not bowing to Hegseth’s silly games proved fatal. Where might this be going?

Trade: The Trump administration has stifled the free market allocation of resources to the detriment of our growth in several ways. He has complained about offshoring manufacturing resulting in our trade deficits (which by the way help finance the government’s fiscal deficits thus keeping interest rates on government bonds lower than otherwise). In fact, however, manufacturing output in the US is greater than it has ever been. Domestic employment in manufacturing, however, has fallen because of increased labor productivity.

Trump claims that high tariffs are needed to reduce our trade deficit. But he has not imposed them in ways sanctioned by the World Trade Organization, i.e., to improve competitiveness with a level playing field. His tariffs often seem weapons to get countries to agree to other totally unrelated goals. Trump’s bullying has cost the U.S. more than trade. Often his threats require that foreign companies building plants in the US give shares to the Federal government. The US government now owns shares in some 40 or so such companies (https://wcoats.blog/2026/08/10/econ-101-capitalism-and-socialism/ ). And the courts have struck down some of his tariffs. https://wcoats.blog/2024/11/26/tariffs/

Wars and foreign policy:  During his Presidential campaign, Trump promised to end our forever wars. Then, with Israel, he ordered an invasion of Iran. One reason seemed to be to stop Iran from developing atomic bombs (correcting Trump’s first term error of withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran which prevented such a development). https://wcoats.blog/2026/04/02/iran-and-the-bomb/. “Trump’s threats against countries trading with Iran expose the limits of US economic power, as allies resist Washington’s demands and the global economy moves towards a less American-dominated order.” “Trump is hastening the decline of American power,” by Joseph E. Stiglitz 9/12/2026. https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/09/trump-is-hastening-the-decline-of-american-power/

Trump’s continue support of Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza and increasingly the West Bank has further isolated the US, which stands alone with Israel in the UN in defense of these humanitarian atrocities. https://wcoats.blog/2026/03/31/fixing-palestine/

I agree with Trump’s insistence that others (in particular NATO members) pay their share of the cost of the defense they get with American help. But insulting our allis, often with tariff increases or threats, is not in America’s interest, nor in compliance with WTO rules.

In The New York Times (9/10/2026), Tom Friedman proclaimed that: “Trump is the most un-American president in my lifetime. No president has done more, and continues to do more, to unravel the post-World War II institutions and alliances that were built and sustained by his predecessors. We are talking about… our intimate relationships with Canada and Mexico and our military alliances with South Korea and Japan — to name but a few. These relationships and institutions together produced global and American prosperity and great power peace for generations….”

During his presidential terms, Donald Trump initiated U.S. withdrawals from or ceased participation in a wide range of prominent international treaties, agreements, and bodies:

  • Paris Climate Agreement: Withdrawn during his first term and formally pulled out of a second time in January 2025.
  • Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA): The U.S. withdrew in May 2018.
  • Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Withdrawn via executive order in January 2017.
  • UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Trump ordered the U.S. withdrawal from the founding 1992 climate treaty.
  • Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: The U.S. exited this Cold War-era arms control treaty with Russia in August 2019.
  • Open Skies Treaty: Withdrawn in November 2020.
  • World Health Organization (WHO): Initiated withdrawal in 2020 and executed withdrawal actions again during his second term.
  • UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) & UNESCO: Withdrawn during his first presidency.
  • Global Compact for Migration: Withdrawn in December 2017.

Standing alone we are much weaker than when standing together with friends.

Interest rates: While Trump’s threats to the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates reflects a complete misunderstanding of the forces in play and the Trump administration’s perverse impact on them, I have confidence in the integrity of Kevin Warsh and expect the Fed to raise its policy rate next week in keeping with its commitment to lower inflation to 2%. https://wcoats.blog/2026/08/29/inflation/

Corruption: Trump’s wealth increased $3 to $4 billion dollars during his second term so far. Corruption? No comment. “Trump has pledged a $5,000 dividend to every American adult if Republicans retain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, prompting questions about how the benefit would work, whether it is legal and where the funds would come from.” Washington Post 9/10/2026. Amazingly Trump publicly proclaims this bribery.

The Washington Post reported on 9/12/2026:

“Democrats hope to retake control of the House, and to use that power to probe Trump’s business ventures, legal maneuvers and policies…. ‘There’s so much corruption and grift that it’s going to take the entire House on the Democratic side to do investigations appropriately,’ Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), who would probably lead investigations as chair the Oversight Committee in a Democratic-held House….

“Trump family enrichment…

“Handouts to supporters…

“Construction projects…

“Immigration enforcement…

“Prosecutions of Trump’s political enemies…

“Institutional pressure campaigns.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/09/12/house-democrats-plan-sweeping-trump-investigations-if-they-win-november

It goes without saying that Trump does not support many of the US Constitution based principles I support. If I am right, as I am sure I am, that adhering to the principles of our Constitution is an important part of the foundation of our flourishing, Trump’s abuses of those principles will have the opposite effect. His disregard for the rule of law, his expansion of the powers of government to coerce us, and his disregard and flaunting international agreements and relationships will turn the US into a society of uncertain rights heading in uncertain directions depending on who is leading it at the time.

To give Tom Friedman the last word from his NYT article sited above:

“A year ago, I heard one of our former presidents privately observe that we can survive Trump’s second term as long as our institutions remain intact. Well, unfortunately, they have not. Who would argue today that the Justice Department, which has been turned into a personal legal weapon of the president, is intact, that the Department of Health and Human Services is intact, that the Pentagon is intact, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is intact or that the Federal Communications Commission, which is now run by a Trump-appointed hack who acts as combined government censor and minister of propaganda, is intact?”

Scoring the Iran War

What did we gain from the Iran war and what was the cost (so far)? Why did we launch this war? What was our objective and have we achieved it?

From a NYTimes article and JD Vance speech the US budgetary cost of our illegal attack on Iran was about $150 billion. This year’s conflict cost five to six thousand lives. This does not include the economic cost to the world from oil shortages and food shortages expected from the shortage of fertilizer, etc. NYTimes – Iran war costs

In evaluating what we gained from the war it is hard to know whether to treat the negative outcome as a negative gain or an additional cost. Prior to this war the Straits of Hormuz were open and passage was free. While Iran seems to have agreed to reopen them, they have now clearly demonstrated the potential to close them or charge for passage as potential future choke points. While Iran may be giving up its financing of friends in the neighborhood (Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Yemen), and this would be an import gain, it has established its military strength to defend itself while the US has demonstrated its vulnerability.

More importantly, Iran is now judged by many to be more likely to build an atomic bomb. The Iran Deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -JCPOA) negotiated by the Obama administration, which insured that Iran would not do so for at least ten years, was overturned during the first Trump administration. Hopefully such assurances can be reestablished during the 60 day negotiations still ahead. Though such a bomb would violate Islamic doctrine, the need for such protection has been greatly increased by US/Israel aggressions. But the MOU agreed to this week provides no assurance that a new agreement would be any better than the one Trump killed in May 2018. The Washington Post’s careful analysis suggests that it is not promising that a new agreement will be any better than the old one:  Trump condemned Obama’s Iran deal-here’s how his own compares

In an interview at the opening of his Presidential Library in Chicago, former President Obama stated that: “it feels like we are back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little worse off…”  The Hill-Obama on Trump Iran war Obama’s assessment was not including the costs of the war noted above.

US support of Israel has been very costly. Virtually the whole amaworld, other than the US, has condemned Israel’s behavior in recent years. The number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza alone since the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas that killed 1,200, is hard to estimate in part because so many remain buried under the rubble. As reported in an interesting effort to estimate deaths, over half of those killed were women and children, Ralph Nadar stated that: “The recent report by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, referred to a consensus of 680,000 deaths.  Fatalities by Israel-vast Gaza genocide-deliberately undercounted These deaths don’t include those in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria, which continue to this day despite a so-called cease fire.

More broadly the damage to America’s reputation because of our support of Israel’s bloody attacks of its Palestinian, Lebanon, and Syrian neighbors has been further increased by its illegal attacks on Iran. Our rapid decline continues.

According to Ian Bremmer: “The cease-fire does not mark the end of this chapter of conflict and regional division in the Middle East; it is instead driving a geopolitical realignment along new fault lines.

“More outcomes? A more polarized and fractured Middle East. Iran in a stronger strategic position. And American partners shaken by erratic and unpredictable conduct.

“The war has accelerated the collapse of the US-anchored order that held the Middle East together for decades. That arrangement kept oil flowing, rival powers out of the region, and Washington the broker of everything that mattered – from Iranian containment to the more recent Arab-Israeli normalization process. It was already fraying before the fighting started. The war broke it.”   Linkedin – What actually mattered

The General’s Son

In the book “The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” by Miko Peled, the General refers to Major General Mattityahu “Matti” Peled (1923–1995), an Israeli military commander who became a prominent peace activist, academic, and politician. A key architect of the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, he later transitioned into a radical advocate for Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and a two-state solution.

Like his father, Miko was also an avid Zionist who believed in peaceful relations with his Arab neighbors in two sovereign states. When Milo’s niece Smadar was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber in 1997, Miko’s reaction to his grief tells us all we need to know to understand the heart of this book. Rather than expressing hatred toward the Palestinian murderer of his beloved niece, he felt shame and anger toward his fellow Israelis for driving a Palestinian boy to take his own life in this way. The book relays Miko’s journey upto and beyond this tragedy and sets out a more balanced history than you might have heard.

Having settled in San Diego to teach karate, Miko began to participate in mixed Jewish/Arab groups (San Diego Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group) discussing their experiences in and hopes for Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) and became hopeful for two sovereign states living peacefully next to each other. When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat meet with President Bill Clinton at Camp David in Maryland, Miko was sure peace was at hand. When the talks fail to achieve agreement and Clinton seems to blame Arafat, Miko is shocked.

“Arafat had been consistent for years. For the sake of peace he was willing to give up the dream of all Palestinians to return to their homes and their land in Palestine. He was willing to recognize Israel, the state that destroyed Palestine, took his people’s land, and turned them into a nation of refugees. He was ready to establish an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza—which make up only 22 percent of the Palestinian homeland—with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital.

“He was ready to do all this, but he was not going to settle for anything less. He had always been clear about what he saw as the terms for peace.

“In the end, it turned out that… what the Israelis had demanded at Camp David was tantamount to total Palestinian surrender…. Barak demanded that Arafat sign an agreement to end the conflict forever and in return, he would be permitted to establish a Palestinian state on an area of land that could not be defined clearly because it was broken into pockets with no geographic continuity. Instead of Arab East Jerusalem, he would receive a small suburb of East Jerusalem as his capital. To that Yasser Arafat refused to agree.” (p. 126)

Miko’s love of Israel and increasing exposure to Palestinians (both in San Diego and in the West Bank, which he visited often to teach Karate and promote mutual understanding) exposed him to the shocking mistreatment of Palestinians in their own land. His compassionate heart and wisdom led him to strongly advocate the two-state solution to the struggles between the Arabs and Jews occupying the area.

During a visit to Ramallah to meet Abu Ali Shahin, Fatah commander and leader of the Palestine political prisoners for more the two decades, Miko exclaimed that: “Immediately after the war, while still in uniform, my father said that Israel must recognize the rights of the Palestinian people. He said that if we don’t do this, the Israeli army would become an occupation army and would resort to brutal means to enforce the IsraeliOslo occupation on the Palestinian people. He said this while still in uniform and he never stopped saying it and advocating for Palestinian rights till he died.” (p. 229)

In my own work with the IMF helping to establish the Palestine Monetary Authority called for by the Oslo Accord, I was disheartened to observe Israel’s abusive treatment of the Palestinians. The Oslo Accord itself did not provide for a fully independent and sovereign state for the Palestinians (themselves semitic children of Abraham). It provided what was hoped would be the first trust-building steps toward such a true state. However, Israel carved up the West Bank with highways only usable by Israelis. Palestinians driving to their new capital of Ramallah had to wait hours to enter via the Israeli-controlled check point. With my UN passport I could sail in via the Israeli entrance with no wait. Israel isolated the Palestinian population of the WBGS in every way imaginable.

Though declared illegal by the UN, Israeli Jews increasingly stole Palestinian land to establish Jewish settlements, carving up and often destroying Palestinian farms in the process. The number of Jews living in illegal settlements in the West Bank grew from about 80,000 in 1990 to almost 530,000 in 2025. But this pales compared to the shocking mistreatment reported by Miko.

At the end of Miko’s meeting with the 72-year-old Fatah leader, Abu, Ali Shahin, stated:

“We all belong to this land and need to live together. No one is safe in one Jewish state. Judaism is a religion, and I am speaking of a secular state of all its citizens. That is the only way to live here. Being Jewish or Muslim or Christian or atheist, that is a personal choice, not for me to dictate and not to be dictated to me. I don’t want a priest or a rabbi or a sheikh to govern my life. We belong in this land, and we need to live here as equals.”

Miko then writes: “This was not the first time I had heard someone talk of the ‘one secular democratic state,’ as the right solution. It was the part of the Fatah manifesto to create a secular democracy in all of Palestine. In the past, I could not stomach it, but the more I met impressive, intelligent people like Abu Ali, people who were driven by principle, the more I thought that there was no point, indeed no future, in dividing the people and the land. Not to mention the fact that the settlements and the facts on the ground had succeeded in erasing the West Bank as a viable area in which a Palestinian state could be established.”

In my book on my travels in the area, “Palestine: The Oslo Accords Before and After”, I still strongly supported a two-state solution. But when I asked George Abed, my IMF colleague then Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority I was there to help create, if he would write the Foreword to my book, he declined, saying the book was unfair to the Palestinians. I have now come to accept that he was right.

This book was published in 2012. From that year (January 2012) until October 6, 2023 Palestinians killed about 300 Israelis, who killed about 3,900 Palestinians. From the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel until now (June 2, 2026), Palestinians killed about 1,400 Israelis (of whom 1,200 were killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack), who then killed about 75,000 Palestinians. The status quo is clearly not working for Israelis or for Palestinians.

The United States, home to about as many Jews as there are in Israel, is a secular state with large populations of Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and other religious groups. Our constitution forbids the government from adopting any one of them. They have each flourished. I have reluctantly concluded that Israel must annex the West Bank of Gaza and give full and equal citizenship and rights to all Arabs and Jews living there. “A one state solution”,  “A one state solution – 2”.

The wars and ethnic cleansing now underway by the Netanyahu government is not only destroying Israel, but also dragging the United States down with it and I haven’t even mentioned Iran.

Trump’s Record so far

So far Trump II has made or is making a number of changes that have benefited our economy.  However, his delivery on his key campaign promises is mixed.

Trump promised to “stop the migrant invasion,” and to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.” He delivered. Southern border attempted entries that were blocked in 2023 and 2024 of 2,475,670 and 2,135,000, dropped to 237,538 in 2025 and authorized new arrivals dropped from 2.9 to 2.8 million in 2023 and 2024 to less the 2,000 in 2025. Deportations and voluntary exit jumped from over 460,000 and 700,000 in 2023 and 2024 to over 2,500,000 in 2025 of which and estimated 1.9 million were self exits.

However, the behavior of masked ICE agents, including the deaths of over 30 people in ICE custody in 2025 have created a public outcry.  In 2024 and earlier, the majority of ICE arrests focused on those with criminal records. In 2025, the government stated that 70% of ICE arrests involved individuals with criminal charges or convictions. However, independent analyses of 2025 data suggested that only 23% of those targeted in broader sweeps actually had prior criminal convictions, with many of those being for minor traffic or immigration offenses.

Trump also promised to “End inflation and make America affordable again,” and to “Stop outsourcing” and turn the U.S. into a “manufacturing superpower” by bringing factories back to the United States by tightening trade policy. The high CPI inflation rate of 4.1% in 2023 has fallen to 2.9% in 2024 and 2.7% in 2025. Manufacturing value added to US total output was $2.91 trillion in 2024 rising to $2.95 in 2025 all in 2017 dollars.

The US imports more than it exports. The US trade deficit in 2024 of $903.5 billion changed little at $901.5 billion in 2025, but the highly criticized and erratic US tariffs on imports (both threatened and actually imposed) where eventually struct down as illegal by the Supreme Court. They were not approved by Congress and where not justified to correct unfair trade practice by China, the EU and others. Rather they were threatened punishments if the target country did not give in to some other Trump demand. Here is an example of such an attempted abuse of tariffs. https://x.com/spectatorindex/status/2041842665172693207

Trump was right to promise to reduce costly and unproductive regulations and bureaucrat bloat. But his approach with the help of Elon Musk and the DOGE swat teams was misdirected and destructive. https://wcoats.blog/2025/04/27/trumps-chainsaw/

https://wcoats.blog/2025/07/01/econ-101-government-budgets/  Just how bad the Musk DOGE chainsaw was can been seen in the following deposition of one of the totally unqualified kids swinging the chainsaw. He is being questioned by a lawyer for an agency suing DOGE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXXvgZzK0Cc

And then there is the rest. Unlike previous US Presidents, Trump’s style of governing was that of a bully making threats. The result has not been good.

Trump the Egomaniac:  Putting his name on the Kennedy Center was sort of harmless (but distasteful) but then shutting it down all together is much less so and, and as is so often the case with Trump, hard to understand. The United States Institute of Peace is now the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace. Then there are programs he has created in his name: Trump accounts, Trump Gold Card, TrumpRx, Trump National Parks pass, etc. But he hasn’t stopped there, creating the “Trump-class” battleship. Though it violates the tradition of the U.S. Treasurer, currently Brandon Beach, signing our currency notes, Trump will do so in the future. While most of these displays of Trump’s name might be taken as the actions of an immature child, his proposal to issue special one dollar coins with his likeness seems to violate more than just good taste.

Trump the Authoritarian (postliberal)–domestic:  We have gotten used to Trump using his Truth Social or X/twitter accounts to damn and/or label as stupid or evil those who have criticized him, but he has used the power of his office to much more seriously attack his enemies or to force compliance with his policy views.

For example, after firing FBI director James Comey, who oversaw the probe of ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly called for investigations of Comey over alleged leaks and handling of memos, and his current Justice Department has pursued renewed inquiries premised on those same grievances. Similarly motivated DOJ indictments or investigations have been made against Trump appointed officials John Bolton, Letitia James, Robert Mueller, Andrew McCabe, John Brennan, and others who played leading roles in Russia‑related or Ukraine‑related investigations.

Beyond criminal investigations, Trump has repeatedly used or threatened non‑criminal tools of the presidency—regulation, funding decisions, security clearances, and administrative enforcement—to punish domestic opponents. He has used threats to cut off federal funds to Democratic‑led “sanctuary cities” or jurisdictions whose leaders criticize him, framing them as “anarchist” or lawless and directing DOJ and other agencies to look for legal hooks to withhold grants.  Reuters and civil‑society trackers describe cases where universities, law firms, and other entities changed diversity or governance policies after threats of lost contracts, funding, or investigations from the administration. https://protectdemocracy.org/work/retaliatory-action-tracker/

If you have wondered, as I have, why the Republicans in Congress have not exercised their constitutional rights to block Trump’s abuses of power, often in direct contradiction of Republican party principles, I assume that it is their fear of his vindictive attacks on anyone who criticizes him.

Trump has both threatened and actually moved to cut federal funds to a small but high‑profile group of universities, mainly to force changes on campus protests, DEI, admissions, and governance policies. At Harvard University billions in federal research grants and contracts were frozen or terminated starting in spring 2025. The reasons given by the Trump administration were the alleged failure to protect Jewish students and to tolerate antisemitism linked to pro‑Palestinian activism and criticism of “woke” policies, DEI programs. The Trump administration demanded leadership and governance changes, review of academic departments for perceived ideological “bias,” and changes to admissions policies. Harvard has filed legal challenges and publicly refused to accept some of the administration’s conditions, while still facing a major funding freeze.

Similar reasons were given for stopping and/or threatening to stop funding of contracts and projects at Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, and Princeton, University of Pennsylvania and UCLA.  These are the tip of an ugly iceberg that are very inappropriate in our liberal, limited government, freedom loving country.

But not all demands were objectionable.In October 2025, the White House offered a formal “compact” tying preferential access to federal funding to a raft of ideological and policy conditions that were agreed to by nine universities.Vanderbilt University.Dartmouth College.University of Pennsylvania.University of Southern California.Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).University of Texas at Austin.University of Arizona.Brown University and University of Virginia.

Key policy demands in the compact included:

  • Ban consideration of race or sex in admissions and hiring.
  • Cap international undergraduate enrollment at around 15% and subject foreign students to additional vetting.
  • Freeze tuition for several years.
  • Eliminate or sharply curtail DEI offices and programs.
  • Guarantee “ideological balance” or a “vibrant marketplace of ideas” without a dominant ideology

Trump the untrustworthy Bully –International: Trump pledged to serve American interests first, promising to end America’s forever wars and claimed to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. Virtually every aspect of his foreign policy has been a failure, weakening our standing abroad and our national security.

The second Trump administration has ended no wars, conducted military strikes in at least seven countries, and with Israel started a new war in Iran. It has been complicit with Israel in the ethnic cleaning of Gaza and increasingly the West Bank, and by financial and armament support of Israel. Trump has weakened or lost the support of traditional allies with his threats to annex Canada and Greenland and his insults of European and other countries for not supporting his illegal war in Iran and more generally.

Bully Trump’s approach is illustrated by his spat with Pope Leo XIV. On Truth Social Trump proclaimed:

“Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”

On April 19, 2026, Trump warned that the U.S. would “knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge” in the country if they did not accept a new “DEAL,” Not that Trump cares but many of his threats, specifically those targeting civilian infrastructure like water and power plants, have been flagged by international human rights groups as potential violations of international humanitarian law.

Pope Leo XIV declared President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy “a whole civilization” unacceptable and suggesting Americans should contact their representatives in Congress to stop the conflict.

“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran.  And this is truly unacceptable. There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole, in its entirety.

“I would like to invite everyone to think in their hearts of so many innocent children, so many totally innocent elderly people who would also be victims of this escalation. I would like to invite everyone to pray, but also to seek ways to communicate. Perhaps with congressmen, with authorities, saying that we don’t want war, we want peace.”

Trump responded by calling the Pope “Weak on crime” and “Weak on Nuclear Weapons” and falsely claiming the Pontiff agreed that Iran should have nuclear capabilities. In his Easter Sunday message the Pope said: “Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace.”

Trump’s failure to understand market trades and deals as win-win has fed his zero sum bully approach. America has been seriously damaged as a result.  Trump has either ignored or withdrawn from the international agreements or organizations such as the WTO, and WHO that have provided the basis of global cooperation and flurishing since WWII. And we have suffered as a result. https://wcoats.blog/2026/03/21/america-alone/  

Trump’s disregard for law has also been an element of his financial corruption, the details of which will hopefully be properly investigated.  Since returning to the White House for his second term, Trump’s net worth has grown by approximately $2.5 billion to $3 billion according to most financial trackers. Trump’s Presidency has been very bad for America.

Winning the War in Iran

Most of you know that I am an optimist (though often disappointed). But I am quite optimistic that Trump will declare victory in his and Israel’s illegal war in Iran very soon. Moreover, he will offer Iran enough (lifting of sanctions, etc.) that they will end their attacks as well, including, of course, insuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Israel will also end its attacks on Iran (as well as on Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and Gaza) because Trump will tell them to (or is it the other way around).

But here is the really optimistic forecast. Trump will blame the mess in Iran on the worst, most damaging Secretary of Defense we have ever had and fire Pete Hegseth. How is that for good news!

Fixing Palestine

In 1995 and 6 I led IMF technical assistance teams to Israel to establish the Palestine Monetary Authority as called for by the Oslo Accord. We were excited by the prospects of contributing to peace between the Arab and Jewish populations who had occupied the area for millennia (as well as new arrivals). We spoke, as did many others, of the Oslo Peace Process establishing a two-state solution to the struggles between the Palestinians and Jews since the establishment of Israel in 1948. In fact, we should have referred to the Oslo Accords as establishing only a step, a rather small one at that, toward a two-state solution—two independent states following Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967.

I wrote about these experiences in “Palestine-The Oslo Accords Before and After-My Travels to Jerusalem” Our work was greatly facilitated by the fact that the governors of the Bank of Israel, Stan Fischer, and of the newly created Palestine Monetary Authority, George Abed, had been IMF colleagues. I asked each if they would write the foreword to my book. Stan declined saying that it was too sensitive a topic and George declined saying that my book was unfair to the Palestinians.

I have just finished reading a new account of the efforts to find peace in the area by two insiders with much wider exposure than I had had:  “Tomorrow is Yesterday-Life, Death and the Pursuit of peace in Israel/Palestine” by  Hussein Agha and Robert Malley. And I concluded that George Aben had been right about my account.

The two authors had been intimately involved in the many efforts to find agreement between the relevant parties. Drawing on their experience advising the Palestinian leadership (Arafat and Abbas) and US presidents (Clinton, Obama, and Biden) and their participation in secret talks over decades, Agha and Malley expose the weaknesses of those efforts and point to the potential of a very different approach. “They stress that the two-state solution became a global goal only when it was no longer viable; that U.S. officials preferred technical schemes to a frank reckoning with the past; that Hamas’s onslaught [on Oct 7, 2023] and Israel’s war of destruction were not historical exceptions but historical reenactments; and that the gaps separating Israelis and Palestinians have less to do with territorial allocation than with history and emotions.” From Amazon Books website.

Robert Malley was the United State Special Envoy for Iran in 2021-23 and as Special Assistant to President Clinton from 1998 to 2001, he was a member of the U.S. peace team and helped organize the 2000 Camp David Summit. Hussein Agha, a Lebanese, is a senior associate of Oxford University’s St. Antony’s College was a senior associate fellow at Chatham House.

Malley and Agha stress the diversity of players in the search for peace—ultra orthodox to nonreligious Jews—Palestinian groups that spent more energy fighting one another than fighting Jews. Selecting Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat for US lead negotiations at the Camp David summit left out most groups and many relevant issues. The authors end with the somewhat encouraging call to return to the beginning (1948 and before) and seating all Jewish and Palestinian groups at the table to take on the fundamental issues of history head on if there is any chance of finding the compromises needed to live together in peace with one, two, or more states as options.  https://wcoats.blog/2024/01/19/one-state-solution-for-palestine-israel/   Their narrative is a very enlightening account. 

Kurdistan

Though large numbers of Jews were scattered around the world for two thousand years, Palestine has always retained a significant number of them. Of the almost 11.3 million Jews in 1900, most were in Europe (9 million), Russia (3.9 million) and the United States (1.5 million). At the beginning of the WWII the global population of Jews had grown to 15.4 million of which one third were in the US.

Even before the holocaust there were movements to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The 1917 Belfour Declaration from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Walter Rothschild, pledged British support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The local Christian and Muslim community of Palestine, who constituted almost 90% of the population, strongly opposed the declaration.

What became known as Zionism (as formalized by Theodor Herzl, it aimed to secure a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution and to revive Jewish culture and language) took many forms. For example, the question who is Jewish continues to be debated. Following World War I, Britian ruled the Lavant (Palestine). On September 3, 1947, the UN adopted the boundaries (green line) to divide the British mandate between a state of Israel and the rest. Israel was given 56% and Jerusalem (an important Christian, Jewish, and Muslim shrine) was made international. When Britten ended its Mandate, Israel declared its independence.

Most Zionists sought a democratic Jewish state. Upon its founding in 1947, Israel was roughly 60% Muslim, 40% Jewish and 10% Christian. That was an unacceptable problem for those wanting a democratic Jewish state. From the Nakba of 1948 (Jewish ethnic cleaning of over half of the Palestinians then living in Israel) Israel was about 90% Jewish in 1949. Currently the population of Israel is about 10 million, of which 73% are Jewish, and 20% are Muslims. Finding peace with the rest of Palestine has remained a challenge to this day. Are the prospects for a peaceful Kurdistan very different.

The Kurdish population worldwide is estimated to be between 40 and 45 million, making them one of the largest ethnic groups without a sovereign state. However, about 30 million of them live within what would be the sovereign state of Kurdistan should it be allowed to exist, made up of chunks of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Kurdish military forces have fought for territory but largely in pursuit of claims to rule what they considered home ground. It is extremely unlikely that the Kurds in this area would have any interest in expanding their territory. None the less Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey have generally been hostile to any effort of the Kurds to rule themselves. The formation of a Kurdistan raises the questions whether that would bring greater peace to the wider region and whether the “internal” politics would support domestic rule that would properly serve the Kurdish people (or all residents of the area). Intense opposing political views exist within Kurdistan, particularly in Iraq, where the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) compete for control, often leading to governance deadlocks, separate security forces, and split zones of control.

In addition, we must ask whether the Iraqi Kurds, Iranian Kurds, Turkish Kurds, and Syrian Kurds feel more loyal to the country they are located in or to their fellow Kurds in the surrounding countries. Does a nation function better toward the interests of its citizens when based on ethnic and/or religious commonality or when based on common principals of governance and rights?

Israel is an example of the first option—Jewishness. As a classical liberal (libertarian) I support the American approach of rights and laws applied equally without regard to ethnicity or personal religious beliefs. For Kurdistan, the question with whether the Kurds of Turkey, Iraq, Iran or Syria feel greater loyalty to other Kurds or to the country they live in.

I started this blog expecting to build the case for a Kurdistan. I have talked myself out of it.

Trump’s Board of Pease and Founding Executive Board

Trump’s current Gaza “peace plan” presented last September combines a 20‑point ceasefire and demilitarization while promising large‑scale reconstruction and investment. The ceasefire starting October 10 and hostage return that “ended” Israel’s two-year attack on Gaza following Hama’s Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel, is to be followed by rebuilding the totally flattened Strip.

Hama’s Oct 7 attack killed 1,400 Israelis and Israel’s counterattack has killed over 72,000 Palestinians (over half of them women and children) with more yet to be counted under the rubble. Moreover, the attacks and blockage of food and medical supplies since the “ceasefire” starting October 10, have resulted in almost 500 more Palestinian deaths.

The next phase is the rebuilding of the buildings destroyed by Israel during its war on Hamas. For this purpose President Trump has created a Board of Peace. Wikipedia reports that: “Donald Trump is explicitly named in the Charter of the Board of Peace as its inaugural Chairman. The chairman has no term limit, and they alone have the authority to nominate their designated successor. Only the Chairman has the ability to invite countries to join the board. The Chairman has the exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities of the Board of Peace. All revisions to the Charter and administrative directives issued by the Board of Peace are subject to approval by the Chairman.[1] Trump’s chairmanship of the Board of Peace is independent to him holding the presidency of the United States and he has indicated that he would like to remain chairman for life.” “Board of Peace”

“To operationalize the Board of Peace’s vision—under the chairmanship of President Donald J. Trump—a Founding Executive Board has been formed…. The appointed members are:

  • Secretary Marco Rubio
  • Steve Witkoff
  • Jared Kushner
  • Sir Tony Blair
  • Marc Rowan
  • Ajay Banga
  • Robert Gabriel”.

White House statement on President Trump’s comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict”

A long list of countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and other European nations, were absent from the signing of the Board of Peace in Davos, and some have specifically rejected the invitation.  And why should they join an organization that puts Trump in charge of the world for life.

“His plan is to strip the United Nations – and thereby the international community – of any oversight of Gaza’s fate…. The US president hopes his “Board of Peace” will deliver the knockout blow, supplanting the UN and the system of international law it is there to uphold.” “Trump’s Board of Peace is the nail in the UN”

These concerns for the status of the UN are important, but I want to flag a different flaw in Trump’s “peace” plans having to do with its rebuilding.

“Jared Kushner on Thursday unveiled a sweeping U.S.-backed vision at Davos to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip into a “New Gaza” economic hub by 2035,” “Jared Kushner unveils new Gaza”  These plans reflect the statements made by Trump one year ago in which he proposed that the United States should “own” the Gaza Strip, “level the site” (clear the ruins) and build resorts there, calling it “the Riviera of the Middle East.” Rights groups and major news outlets noted that behind these pledges to make Gaza a “Riviera of the Middle East” was a plan to permanently “empty” Gaza of its more than 2 million Palestinian residents and not allow them to return. Trump said Palestinians would be moved to neighboring states such as Jordan and Egypt, providing them with “much better housing” and a “beautiful location” elsewhere.

In a statement by Tony Blair: “For Gaza and its people, we want a Gaza which does not reconstruct Gaza as it was but as it could and should be.”

What is missing in these plans is recognition that Gaza is the home of and owned by two million Palestinians, who surely should have a say in its future.

“What is Israel’s objective in Gaza”

Benjamin Netanyahu

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel’s actions in Gaza, including the alleged use of starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally targeting civilians. 

Netanyahu is now considered a wanted suspect by the ICC, and member states are obligated to arrest him if he enters their jurisdiction. So why is he enjoying dinner with US President Trump? Sadly, the US too often ignores the rules of international relations that we helped establish. In doing so we are diminishing our status in the world community. Lossing friends and becoming more and more isolated is NOT in America’s self-interest.

As of now, Netanyahu has not been tried or found guilty by any international court for war crimes. The legal process would require his arrest, extradition, and a full trial before any conviction could occur. Not only has America failed its obligation to arrest him, we have supported his efforts to eliminate Palestinians (one way or another) from their homeland. America is complicit in these crimes. Our support of Israel’s wars is not compatible with our principles of the rights of each and every person and our generous and well-meaning hearts. Those of us who speak out against these crimes risk punishment by the Trump administration — even the deportation of legal residents who have committed no crimes. If we do not speak out against these horrors, we must accept some blame for them.

Say what?

During his very busy first few days President Trump did some things I liked and some things I didn’t like.

Among the many executive orders I liked were: a) DEI rollback in federal agencies; b) Plan to reduce US troops in Europe by 20,000; c) Freeze on Federal hiring (hopefully reviewing where more employees are needed and where fewer are needed; and d) Delay in TikTok ban (though I doubt he can legally override Congress with an executive order).

Among those I disliked were: a) Pardoning  over 1,500 convicted of storming the Capital on Jan 6 in an effort to overturn the election results; b) Joining Israel’s genocide of Palestinians by lifting American sanctions on illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank “Trump-Israeli settlers in West Bank”; c) Halting Afghan refugee application processing and canceling flights for refugees approved to resettle in the U.S. This decision impacted thousands of refugees, including over 1,600 Afghans who had already been cleared for resettlement. “Refugee flights canceled”; and d) dropping government security protection for some of Trump’s enemies ( John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Anthony Fauci, etc.)—This in America!!!

But in Trump’s address to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday he said that the US is back under new management and “open for business”, turbo-charged by the “largest deregulation campaign in history”. In the same speech he warmed our trading partners to “come make your product in America” or face more tariffs. Aside from the direct contradiction between these two statements the shocking ignorance (or Trump babble) of the second statement left me (almost) speechless. “Trump’s Davos speech”

For starters the US work force is fully employed. Though some German cars, for example, are already assembled in the US, to produce Porsche here would require taking workers from whatever they are now producing (perhaps those producing exports to Germany that Germany would no long be able to afford). Or we could increase legal immigration (badly needed already anyway as birth rates fall and our aging population increases retirees relative to workers) and bring German workers here to build their cars. If Trump really meant what he said, it would not benefit the US (America First) or anyone else. We do not enjoy a high standard of living because we are self-sufficient but because we trade globally for the best deals. But Trump doesn’t seem to believe in free markets.

https://wcoats.blog/2018/03/03/econ-101-trade-in-very-simple-terms/  

The politics of Trade
Econ 101: Trade balance