Trump appears to have no idea what’s going on in his own administration.
See also Ryan Bort at Rolling Stone, Trump’s New Go-To Response: ‘I Don’t Know.’ It’s clear that Trump is overwhelmed by the endless details of the job but also not trying terribly hard to get whelmed. He’s basically a slacker who has always gotten away with coasting and faking, and he’s not going to change now.
The question is, when will media other than the MSNBC evening lineup going to report that Trump has no clue what is going on in his own administration? And not trying to find out? He’s more interested in talking about his tacky gold decorations in the Oval Office than. the details of government. But who actually is the President of the United States right now?
Elsewhere: The IRS issued a rule change a few days ago. It is now permissible, it said, for clergy to endorse political candidates to their own congregations. Long-standing regulations have prohibited churches and other nonprofit organizations from engaging in political campaign activity. But the IRS apparently has decided that a candidate endorsement from the pulpit to church/temple/synagogue members is not “campaign activity.”
Obviously, Trump’s people running the IRS wouldn’t have done this unless Trump believed it would help Republicans in the midterm elections. But will it? IMO this could work against Trump as much as for him.
Among Christians, the hyper-conservative White evangelicals will stand by him, I’m sure. But White evangelicals are only about 15 percent of the total U.S. population. Black evangelicals tend to be Democrats. Jewish voters supported Democratic candidates, including the Harris-Walz ticket, by a substantial margin in 2024, and I don’t see that changing. Muslim voters who supported Trump in 2024 may regret that now. (I understand a large number of Muslim voters who were pissed at Biden but didn’t trust Trump voted for Jill Stein in 2024.)
But what will Catholic and mainline Protestant voters do? And what will their clergy tell them? I understand more of them tilted toward Trump in 2024 than in earlier elections, but there are signs that support for Trump among many Christians is breaking apart over the deportations. It has been reported that Pope Leo is appalled by the deportations, but I’m not sure if he has said so publicly. Some American bishops have spoken out, however. The Trump Administration has already butted heads with respected Protestant charities that work with migrants, such as the Lutheran-sponsored Global Refuge. I suspect that any politician running in the midterms who supports Trump’s deportations is not going to pick up many mainline Protestant or Catholic endorsements. Of course, Democratic candidates who support abortion rights may not get many Catholic endorsements, either.
So what happens about a year from now if Trump learns a whole lot of Protestant pastors and Catholic priests are urging their congregations to vote for Democrats? How many nanoseconds will pass before the old ban on clerical endorsements is reinstated? Trump may not care much about the Republican Party, but he sincerely wants the GOP to keep control of the House and Senate as long as he’s in office, I’m sure.
Do read this column from The Bulwark, Church Leaders Denounce Deportations. It’s by Bill Kristol, but it’s still pretty interesting anyway.
Trump has decreed or floated 50% tariffs on Brazil, which we have a trade surplus with, unless they cease prosecution of the previous right-wing president, who lost his election while Trump was out of office and tried a coup, which failed. Trump has been the one to draw parallels with his coup attempt without admitting he's guilty.
So yes, Trump is disconnected from the reality of stuff like, suspending shipments to Ukraine, but he's way involved in protecting criminals like himself. Speaking of which, he pardoned execs convicted of massive Medicaid swindles. Again, he's tuned in to different issues than the media considers news. PBS covered it. Did you see it on ABC?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/trumps-pardons-included-health-care-execs-behind-massive-frauds
On the tax exemption for churches, I hope real Christians take this directly at Trump. Some will – many will chicken out, taking no sides on "politics." As if cutting off food to needy people isn't something Jesus would have taken an interest in.
I've been pushing around the numbers. Let's say Trump can field 25,000 ICE and fascist federal officers. Let's say 250 million people oppose Trump's policies as things heat up. (250 million is roughly 2/3 of the population and very roughly representative of the percent of people who do not support Trump's policies.) In terms of terrorizing the population, that's one fascist to every 1,000 people inclined to support democracy and justice. Whether or not Trump can use the military is a VERY open question in two ways. Will the USSC allow it? More critically, will the military refuse to follow illegal orders?
Also in the news today…. I think the coffin nails were hammered in place to kill Trump's decree to invalidate Birthright Citizenship. The court allowed a class-action suit that made a class of all persons defined by the 14th Amendment. If it goes to the USSC, the suit exactly followed the formula the High Court said they will allow. (I think the USSC will refuse to hear an appeal by DOJ.) What will be even more important is if and how the courts respond to attempts to strip citizenship for political reasons, possibly coupled with attempts at deportation. I think Miller wants to go there, and from Trump's comments, he's sympathetic. I do not think the USSC is – such a ruling would strip the court of all legitimacy and fuel the demand to pack the court to make the conservative majority irrelevant.
Last – maybe I missed it, but is there an official word on Swami?