Trump – Warren's space

What now?

I am a classical liberal. Our country was founded and has prospered on the proposition “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” We jealously guard our individual liberty. We are free to decide what we want to do and how we want to do it. This liberty is subject to two major conditions: we must live with the consequences of our choices and actions, and our actions cannot interfere with the same exercise of freedom by others.

Our Right to be Free

When in 1964, at the age of 21, I voted for the first time, I was thrilled to vote for Barry Goldwater. His “Conscience of a Conservative” more or less defined my political philosophy. Ronald Reagan’s presidency that came a few years later reflected the Republican Party I believed in and supported.

When Donald Trump changed his party registration from Democrat to Republican in Sept. 2009 and was first elected President in Nov. 2016, the Republican Party I had belonged to quickly became something quite different from the one I had always supported. President Trump, an egotistical, corrupt bully, enlarged executive power freely violating norms and laws with no pushback from the Republicans in Congress. Trump unilaterally imposed tariffs indiscriminately, joined Israel in a war against Iran (after he had earlier withdrawn from the Iran deal that was preventing it from building a bomb), helped fund and arm Israel’s genocide in Gaza, imposed 43 trade deals that gave shares of American companies to the federal government, sharply reduced legal immigration despite a labor shortage, misused the Dept. of Justice and the withholding of funds to punish “his enemies,” closed the Kennedy Center when the courts wouldn’t let him put his name on it, etc. My Republican Party no longer existed. The separation of powers that our founders had wisely put in our constitution now rested only on the courts, which fortunately were doing their jobs most of the time. https://wcoats.blog/2026/04/20/trumps-record-so-far/

First-term Trump official Miles Taylor enumerated Trump atrocities as: “In less than two years, he’s nearly destroyed the U.S. Constitution. He ignored laws passed by Congress by the dozen… took a wrecking ball to agencies he had no legal authority to delete… purged the civil service… fired the watchdogs… remade the Justice Department into an instrument of revenge… ordered the prosecution of his critics by name… thumbed his nose at the courts… put troops on the streets… sent masked agents to kidnap people in the night… shipped them to foreign prisons without hearings… teased the suspension of habeas corpus rights and the invocation of the Insurrection Act… sued newspapers and threatened broadcast networks… arrested journalists… extorted law firms and universities… jailed students for what they said… and tried to literally rewrite parts of the Constitution by executive order.”

What was I and the country to do? I continued to vote for libertarian candidates, of course, but a few days ago large majorities of American voters threw out the hapless Republicans, giving Democrats a majority in both Houses of Congress. Trump’s lawlessness and bullying can now more easily be stopped. I am very relieved by this development. Trump could brag no more about sweeping into office with a huge majority (he actually received only 49.8% of the popular vote for his second term).

My friend Robert Calderisi recently wrote that: “Another almost-too-saintly candidate, James Talarico, was asked whether he loved his opponent— the loathsome attorney-general of Texas impeached by his own party several years ago for corruption— and he said, ‘We are both children of God, so he is my brother, but with love comes accountability, as with a family member who wants to drive under the influence and you are obliged not to give him the keys to the car.’”

The new Congress can begin by rebuilding trust in our government. It can subpoena Trump and his officials to explain seemingly self-serving deals and disregard for the law. It can require greater transparency for government actions such as the firing of at least seventeen Inspector Generals and many top military officers all without explanation. https://wcoats.blog/2026/08/19/where-is-trump-going/

But I am a classical liberal, a traditional pre-Trump Republican. I do not like many of the policies Democrats often propose. So, it is time to shift gears and remake the case for a strong and efficient but quite limited government that will effectively defend America and my personal rights. Rather than damning our opponents as evil enemies, we must again engage them in debate over how best to establish the rules governing our interactions with our neighbors and countrymen, and fellow citizens of the world.

Standard time

I paid a lot for my Rado watch. It is the most beautiful watch I have ever seen in its simple design—quite the opposite of the Gaudy Rolex. Sadly, Rado no longer makes this model. Its only disadvantage was that it was hard to set and adjust. For some years I took it to the local watch repair shop to change its setting from standard to daylight savings time or visa versa. A few years ago, I just stop adjusting it and let it be an hour off half of the year.

The time on my watch has nothing to do with when I wake up in the morning, which is governed by the sun, so I sleep less in the summer than in the winter (like bears, I guess). I am happy to report that today my watch again matches the time on my other clocks. Why in the world can’t we get rid of this silly and annoying practice of changing the clock back and forth?

It doesn’t matter to me whether we freeze the clock on standard time or daylight saving time but the medical profession says that waking to sun light is strongly preferred. The Washington Post explains why in an article titled: “Why daylight saving time should be eliminated entirely” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/10/31/daylight-saving-time-is-bad-your-health-here-better-option/ President Trump also supports ending the switches back and forth but choses the wrong one. “The president still wants permanent daylight saving time. His bill could force an awkward clock change this winter.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/11/01/trump-backed-daylight-saving-time-bill-could-create-midwinter-time-jump/

One way or the other I hope we can stop the switching.

Brazil

“Flávio Bolsonaro Lands in Miami After Fleeing Brazil

Mr. Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday’s presidential election, fled Brazil for the United States via Argentina after the police canceled his passport in relation to an investigation.” New York Times /2026/10/28/

Was allowing a fleeing criminal to enter the United States a good thing? Was it consistent with our values? Was it good for America? The general consensus is that Brazil is a very corrupt place – on both sides. Should we help one side escape “justice”?

We did so when Russians we liked escaped the Soviet Union. In those cases, a good case could be made that we were serving justice—that we were protecting those whose only “crime” was criticizing the Soviet government. Perhaps the UK should give sanctuary to James Comey who Trump is trying to prosecute for criticizing him.

The U.S. Department of Defense

The United States has a large and powerful military to protect us from potential foreign invasion. It is for defense. We are also willing to aid the defense of allies as we did during World Wars I and II and the Korean war. This increases our voice in the world, i.e. it is sometimes in our interest to help friends. But for some reason we have sometimes been the aggressor as in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Yugoslavia/Serbia (when I later entered Belgrade, I saw the Chines Embassy we had bombed by mistake), Libya, and Syria. These attacks did not generally serve American interests. Nor do Trump’s bullying verbal attacks on our traditional allies.

It is in America’s interest to stick to the defensive use of our military. So why does Sec. Hegseth want to change the Defense Department’s name to the Department of War? When I asked AI this question it responded that:

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump want to use the secondary title Department of War to promote a “warrior ethos” that emphasizes fighting and winning wars rather than focusing on defensive or peacekeeping roles.”

It’s one thing for this guy to blabber on as a TV personality, but quite different and very dangerous for him to lead our military. I whole heartedly support Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky’s intention to reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth if Hegseth remains in his position when Congress returns to the capital following the November midterm elections.

The Real DOGE

Last year I criticized Elon Musk’s project to save the federal government $2 trillion a year (Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE) as a missed and botched chance to streamline our federal bureaucracy. I was, perhaps, overly influenced by the elimination of the USAID aid agency, which I consider a big mistake https://wcoats.blog/2025/02/17/usaid/ and an interview with a brainless boy on one of the DOGE teams who had no idea what he was doing. Tyler Hassen’s new book: “Inside DOGE: The Real Story from a Senior Insider,” has convinced me that I was largely unfair. Washington Post – Inside DOGE

While DOGE achieved far less than it promised, its primary failure was PR – its failure to properly explain what it was doing and how it was doing it. https://wcoats.blog/2025/04/27/trumps-chainsaw/ https://wcoats.blog/2025/11/29/kill/

It would have taken me days to research what DOGE actually achieved, but my AI program took less than one minute and probably was more though so I will just share its answer. This did not replace me but made, I think, my blog better.

What did DOGE promise to deliver and what did it actually accomplish

DOGE promised a sweeping transformation: roughly **$2 trillion a year** in lower federal spending, a leaner and more efficient federal workforce, modernized government technology, and unusually transparent public accounting of its results. What it demonstrably delivered was much narrower: aggressive cancellations and workforce actions, major operational disruption, and a reported—but largely unverified—$215 billion in savings, far below the original goal.^[1]^[2]

What DOGE promised

There were two related but distinct promises:

Promise	What it meant in practice
Cut federal spending by $2 trillion	Elon Musk’s early public target was to reduce annual federal spending by at least $2 trillion. The target was subsequently discussed at lower levels—$1 trillion, then approximately $150 billion in savings by FY 2026. ^[3]^[4]
Eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse”	DOGE was expected to identify and cancel low-value contracts, grants, leases, and programs, while cutting duplicative spending. ^[3]^[2]
Reduce bureaucracy and improve productivity	It sought to shrink or restructure parts of the federal workforce and make agencies operate more efficiently. ^[5]
Modernize federal IT	The January 20, 2025 executive order formally charged the renamed U.S. DOGE Service with improving government-wide software, IT systems, network interoperability, data integrity, and responsible data synchronization. ^[2]
Provide transparent, itemized reporting	Musk promised a public “Wall of Receipts” showing savings, so the public could inspect DOGE’s work. ^[1]

A crucial distinction: the legal executive-order mission was principally technology modernization and productivity. The far larger $2 trillion fiscal promise was a public political objective associated with Musk and DOGE’s wider cost-cutting drive, not a quantified requirement written into the order.^[2]^[1]

What it actually did

DOGE’s concrete actions included:

Embedding DOGE teams in federal agencies to examine records, systems, contracts, and operations. The executive order called for an agency team typically including a lead, engineer, HR specialist, and attorney.^[2]
Seeking to terminate contracts, grants, and leases, including underused office space, software licenses, and selected programs.^[6]
Pursuing federal-workforce reductions and agency restructuring.
Creating and maintaining the public “Wall of Receipts,” which ultimately listed claimed savings of approximately $215 billion—including categories beyond the individual contracts, grants, and leases shown in the main receipts records.^[5]^[1]
Expanding centralized access to agency unclassified records, software, and IT systems, with an explicit emphasis on data access and modernization.^[2]

Its temporary organization was set to end July 4, 2026—18 months after its creation.^[2]

Savings: claims versus evidence

The central result is that DOGE’s claimed savings and independently substantiated savings diverged sharply.

Measure	Amount	Interpretation
Original public aspiration	$2 trillion annually	The headline promise; DOGE did not come close to it. ^[1]^[7]
Later, lower goal	About $150 billion	Musk’s April 2025 goal for savings by the end of FY 2026. ^[3]^[4]
DOGE’s eventual claimed total	About $215 billion	An administration/DOGE estimate, not an audited accounting of net budget savings. ^[1]^[5]
“Wall of Receipts” reviewed by GAO	$110 billion	Claims tied to reported contract, grant, and lease actions that GAO examined. ^[1]^[5]
GAO-supported portion of that $110 billion	About 4%	GAO found only a small part of the reviewed claims had adequate support; this is not the same as an estimate of total program savings. ^[8]

The GAO’s findings are particularly important because headline savings are not equivalent to actual reductions in federal outlays. A canceled multiyear contract may have had unspent funds, may not have been canceled, may have been replaced by another purchase, or may impose transition costs elsewhere.

Among the problems GAO found:

108 of 264 leases DOGE listed as terminations were already being terminated before DOGE began. GAO said this overstated lease savings by more than $80 million.^[1]
More than half of the listed contracts were either not actually ended or had insufficient information to determine their status.^[1]
DOGE cited $1.7 billion in savings from a Defense Department technology contract that GAO said was never terminated or reduced; GAO therefore found no savings from that action.^[8]^[1]
DOGE did not provide enough detail for GAO to verify the methodology for 96% of reported grant savings, and it often did not apply its own stated method consistently to contracts.^[1]

Earlier independent reporting had already found major reporting errors. NPR’s contract-record review in early 2025 could verify only about $2.3 billion in maximum estimated savings from the items it examined, while emphasizing that even this figure could overstate actual savings.^[9]

Bottom line

DOGE did accomplish a real administrative and political intervention: it pushed agencies to cancel or reconsider some contracts, grants, leases, software licenses, and programs; it contributed to workforce reductions; and it made federal technology, data access, and organizational efficiency a central White House priority.^[6]^[2]

But it **did not deliver the $2 trillion annual spending reduction it promised**, and it did not produce a transparent, independently auditable accounting sufficient to validate even most of its public savings claims. Its own final figure—roughly $215 billion—was only about 11% of the original $2 trillion target, and GAO found serious reliability problems in the subset of claims it reviewed.^[5]^[1]

The fairest concise assessment is: DOGE was consequential as an instrument of disruption, contracting pressure, workforce change, and IT/data centralization; it was unsuccessful as a demonstrated $2-trillion deficit- or spending-reduction program.

⁂

https://www.doge.gov

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?”

Our First Amendment Freedom of Speech

President Trump seems to disregard our constitution generally but his attack on its guarantee of our freedom of speech is particularly dangerous. Its importance to our freedoms and democratic governance is so well-known and obvious that I will not bother to defend it. Trump has increasingly utilized his executive power and the administrative apparatus to target, penalize, or attempt to silence his critics, political opponents, and media organizations.

Through executive orders, directives, and appointees, the administration has ordered investigations into political adversaries and former officials who publicly criticized him. This includes directive-backed investigations targeting former government security officials like Chris Krebs (who contradicted election fraud claims) and first-term Trump official Miles Taylor.

Trump has repeatedly stripped high-ranking former officials and critics—such as former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey—of their security clearances, access to classified briefings, or government protection details after they issued public criticism. The Department of Justice is pursuing criminal prosecutions against former FBI Director James Comey on trumped up (no pun intended, maybe) charges.

Executive actions have targeted non-profit think tanks, advocacy groups, and legal firms that represented positions adverse to the administration or published critical reports, including threats to target their tax-exempt statuses or initiate government reviews.

In an excellent and damning critique of Trump’s use of executive power to silence his critics Walter Olsen reported that “Donald Trump says he’s going to sue a private think tank over a report criticizing his policies. The report, from the left-leaning Center for American Progress, enraged him by arguing that his decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C. doesn’t really deserve credit for the city’s drop in violent crime rates since then because rates had been falling steeply before he acted.” https://www.facebook.com/share/p/191KXwjiEJ/

Executive agencies have been leveraged to exert pressure on disfavored press. Measures have included revoking White House press credentials for journalists and news outlets covering the administration critically, threatening the regulatory status or FCC licenses of major broadcast networks, and directing federal agencies to limit media access.

Secretary of Defense Hegseth (after some thought and a glass of wine I have decided not to use any of the adjectives that I think apply to him) has largely shut down a free press in his department. When he issued directives requiring journalists to obtain official approval before publishing military information—even unclassified details—and prohibiting unapproved gathering of information, most journalists walked out and took legal action. Dozens of major news outlets across the political spectrum—including The New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox News—refused to sign the pledge. Media organizations issued joint statements condemning the directive as an unconstitutional attempt at prior restraint and an assault on First Amendment press freedoms.

Media organizations challenged the policy in court (New York Times v. Department of Defense). In March 2026, a federal district judge ruled that the DOD rules amounted to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and censorship, ordering the restoration of press credentials for journalists who refused to sign.

More recently “the longtime publisher of Stars and Stripes announced he’s stepping down weeks after the Pentagon installed an active-duty Navy captain at the military newspaper, an atypical appointment that staffers, board members and Democratic lawmakers say risks further eroding the publication’s independence from the government.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/08/20/democrats-sound-alarm-about-new-leader-uniform-stars-stripes/

Step by step the direction Trump is taking the country remains clear.

Where is Trump Going?

From Trump’s first days of his second term I have worried about where he was taking us.

“US President-elect Donald Trump’s trade policy challenges the post-war global trading system. By rejecting the World Trade Organization’s principles of non-discrimination and reciprocity, Trump proposes a power-based approach that would fundamentally alter international economic relations, risking the predictability and fairness that have underpinned global trade for seven decades.” “How Trump threatens the world trading system” Fortunately our Supreme Court has blocked some of Trump’s outrageous tariff threats. Congress has been missing in action.

But Trump hasn’t stopped there. Though promising to end our “forever wars” and restraint in our international relations, Trump is coming on as the most aggressive President in memory. Many people have been understandably astonished by Donald Trump’s recently proclaimed desires to ‘take back’ the Panama Canal ‘in full, quickly and without question’ and to take over the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland. More shockingly he has launched attacks wherever he wants without regard for international law or the requirement of Congressional approval.

In the 66 bombings of boats heading to the US in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, the US has killed 215 people. In an unprovoked bombing of Iran jointly with Israel, in February of this year, Trump launched a war without Congressional approval that we are still stuck in leaving us with greatly reduced military capacity. “President Trump said today [Aug 17, 2026] that he was ’not in a hurry’ to strike a new deal with Iran now that his preliminary truce with the country has reached its official expiration date. He also took aim at Oman, an American ally on the Arabian Peninsula that has been attempting to mediate negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

“’If Oman gets in the way,’ the president said, ‘we’ll bomb the shit out of them.’ His comments, in an interview with Fox News, underscored how difficult it has been to end a conflict that Trump said would be over months ago.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17

“Trump separately on Monday doubled down on the idea that the U.S. has total control of the Strait of Hormuz and on the possibility it could be turned into a U.S. territory.

“We control it with the blockade, and I like the idea of declaring it a territory,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office…. President Trump posted an image of a map labeling the Strait of Hormuz as a U.S. territory early on Tuesday in an apparent effort to double down on his calls to annex the waterway.” https://thehill.com/6034221 Trump is rapidly losing allies who would not support our war in Iran (Spain, South Korea, and Oman). France and Germany have also criticized the war. The Soviet Union was never so bold.

In addition, the Trump administration has exited or initiated withdrawal from a series of major international treaties, conventions, and accords:

Arms Control & Security

Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA): Withdrew in 2018, re-imposing economic sanctions on Iran.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Exited in 2019, citing non-compliance by Russia.
Open Skies Treaty: Withdrew in 2020, citing Russian violations and restrictions on surveillance flights over key regions.

Climate & Environment

Paris Climate Agreement: First withdrew in 2017 (effective 2020; reinstated under Biden); exited a second time on his first day back in office in 2025.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Ordered the U.S. exit in January 2026 as part of a broader withdrawal from climate-focused international bodies.

International Agreements & Compacts

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Signed an executive order to withdraw the U.S. signature in 2017 before the trade deal was ratified by Congress.
UN Global Compact on Migration: Opted out in 2017, stating the agreement compromised U.S. sovereignty over immigration policy.
OECD Global Minimum Tax Agreement: Rescinded U.S. support and commitments to the agreement upon taking office in 2025.

An example, of Trump’s disregard for the international rule of law, the US State Department just announced: “sanctions against the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and another official amid the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle the international body. Sanctions were imposed on ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese national who was investigating alleged war crimes carried out by Israel, said Rubio in a statement.” https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/rubio-announces-sanctions-against-international-criminal-court-president-6076592

Trump has delivered on his promise to tighten our borders and removed illegal immigrants. Deportations and voluntary exits 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.

While Trump is complaining about our balance of payments deficits, his immigration policies are making it worse. One of our important exports are tourists to the US who spend for food, accommodations and other goods and services while here. The number of tourists in 2025 was 5.5% lower than in 2024. Trump’s clamp down on student visas is bound to reduce their number this year and going forward. https://wcoats.blog/2026/07/30/foreign-students/

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. His picture hangs from many government buildings. 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.

Far more dangerous than indulging his ego are Trump’s use of government power to punish his “enemies” (those who criticize him). 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. 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. These are just the tip of the spear. https://wcoats.blog/2026/04/20/trumps-record-so-far/

Trump’s wealth has increased $2.2 billion in the first year of his second term. Ralph Nader told Chuck Schumer that: “You should have described his huge loot as $1.1 million an hour. That’s right, $1.1 million an hour based on a 40-hour work week over one year. (And remember, Trump spends a lot of his time on his vengeance missions, his golf game, and napping—so a 40-hour work week is a generous estimate.)” https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/08/17/1-1-million-an-hour-trumps-personal-profit-in-2025/

About 65% of this was from Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures. The office that regulates the nation’s banks is run by a man Trump appointed, and he just gave World Liberty Financial, the family’s own crypto venture, preliminary approval to operate as a trust bank. If you want an insider trading advantage, you can pay Trump $100,000 per month for early access to his Truth Social messages on social media.

Trump’s corruption worries me less than his steady strengthening of his control over the government. One of his first acts was firing all Inspector Generals, independent officials who audit government programs in order to prevent fraud and find waste. Many of the Defense Department’s (now called the War Department—guess why?) best generals and admirals have been fired. The new head of the Justice Department was previously Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney.

The Trump Treasury Department has just [Aug 17] permanently exempted American companies from disclosing who actually owns them — effectively gutting the Corporate Transparency Act, a bipartisan anti-money-laundering law passed with overwhelming support in 2020. The rule doesn’t just halt enforcement; it deletes all beneficial ownership data already submitted. Where is all this headed? Trump now jokes about a third term. Ha, ha.

While Trump has done many things that are worrisome and we should object to, he made many campaign promises that he has not delivered. Should we be thankful?? https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/18/opinion/trump-economy-campaign-promises.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

While I increasingly worry about all of this, Trump’s destruction of the Kennedy Center hurts me personally the most. I am too old to worry too much about the rest.

Foreign Students

The Trump administration finalized a major rule to tighten student visas by ending the “duration of status” policy and imposing a fixed four-year maximum admission cap. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/07/16/trump-administration-issues-final-rule-end-foreign-student-visa-abuse Why? Foreign students benefit the U.S. in a number of ways and we should seek to increase their number.

First: hosting foreign students is an export, it pays foreign money into the U.S. via tuition, room and board and other purchases these students make in the U.S.. The inflow of foreign exchange helps provide us with the means for paying for what we import from abroad. https://wcoats.blog/2025/11/04/trade/

Second: Foreign students gain firsthand experience of life in the U.S., often making lifelong friends. They take this knowledge home improving American relations with other countries. American student benefit from meeting and befriending the foreign students, thus broadening their knowledge of other cultures.

Third: When foreign students decide to remain in the U.S. we benefit from their knowledge and expertise increasing American income and wealth.

According to annual economic impact data calculated by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, foreign students spent and contributed $43.8 billion and supported approximately 378,000 jobs in the U.S. in the 2023–2024 Academic Year. This fell 2% during the next year, which was the first year of the current Trump administration.

We would do much better to deport Stephen Miller.

Tariffs again

“Mr. Trump said that generic-drug manufacturers must move production to America or their products will face a 100% tariff from August 2028. A 200% levy would follow from August 2029.”

All economists and hopefully you as well understand that your standard of living (income) is higher (much higher) because you can specialize in what you are best at and trade for the rest (exploiting “comparative advantage”). If you had to be totally self-sufficient you would be dirt poor.

Unfortunately, Stephen Miller and Donald Trump don’t understand this or is it just that Trump gets such a kick out of throwing his weight around that he doesn’t care??

	What now? – Wa… on Where is Trump Going?
	What now? – Wa… on Trump’s Record so far
	What now? – Wa… on Our Right to be Free
	Trump’s Record so fa… on America Alone
	Trump’s Record so fa… on Trump’s Chainsaw