Donald Trump

Donald John "FAKE NEWS" Trump, Sr. (1946–) was the forty-fifth President of the United States from 2017-2021. He is a "poleetical geenyus", honoured as the first president in US history to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives,[4] with the most bipartisan impeachment standing in US history.[5][note 1] More proof of his mentioned political genius comes from the fact that he is the first one-term president since the failed reelection of George H. W. Bush in 1992, and the only President ever to lose the popular vote twice, one with a bad candidate and disgruntled voting population, and the other facing a gaffe machine who didn't campaign much in person due to a pandemic. His career reads like a Greatest Hits album of everything wrong with American society, culture, and politics. Take his Republican predecessors. Nixon can be summed up as "Hate is good," Reagan "Greed is good," and Bush "Dumb is good." Trump takes all of that and says "Cruel is good." For many, Trump's presidency was summed up by a very simple phrase: "the cruelty is the point." Nothing mattered to Trump or his supporters more than crushing everyone they hated. Nothing else mattered, not pride, not convenience, not practicality, not pragmatism, nothing but pure unadulterated suffering inflicted upon everyone else. Such viciousness and unremitting hostility would lead to predictable results.[6]

A guide to U.S. Politics

Hail to the Chief?

2016 Republican National Convention American Freedom Coalition Dewey Defeats Truman John F. Kennedy Michael Bloomberg Orval Faubus Tim Pawlenty

Persons of interest

Bobby Jindal Jim Jordan Michael Bloomberg Phil Gramm Ron Johnson Tony Zirkle v - t - e

Not to be confused with his equally racist father or his even dumber son

“”They promised they were going to take on corruption in Washington. Instead, they've racked up enough indictments to field a football team. Nobody in my administration got indicted, which, by the way, is not that high a bar.

—Barack Obama at a rally for the 2018 midterm elections.[2]

“”He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.

—Thomas Jefferson, with a quote that applies quite well to his eventual successor as president, Mr. Trump.[3]

He's also known for being the self-declared "Chosen One and the King of Israel",[7] a bizarrely unsuccessful American businessman,[8][9] brash television personality,[10] neo-Nazi sympathizer,[11][12][13] honorary Russian Cossack,[14] heel wrestling personality,[note 2] sexual-assault enthusiast,[15][note 3] demagogue,[16] fascist personality-cult leader[17][18] who governs as a thug and an aspiring strongman,[19] Nobel Peace Prize nominee,[note 4][21] and current false equivalency.[22][23]

Following an escalating series of gaffes and scandals in the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election, at least 160 Republican leaders withheld or renounced their support for his candidacy.[24] Despite significant backlash from the public and his own party, he won the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination, and against all odds, was elected President of the United States.[note 5] On Inauguration Day, Trump had the dubious honor of having the single largest number of protesters in American history — the Women's March.[26]

Despite his campaign mythologizing around his path to the presidency somehow "coming from outside the system" and being "free of cronyism" (imagining a Democrat-disgruntled working class being the ones to carry him into office), actual Trump supporters generally have above-average incomes, typical of the same voter demographic that have always supported the GOP.[27][note 6] In American terms, Trump is pretty much styling himself as the second coming of Jesus Christ Ronald Reagan Andrew Jackson Richard Nixon, complete with his enemies lists and paranoia. In turn, Trump actually appears to have secured the conspiracy theorist vote,[28][29][note 7] a demographic which, these days, appears to include both himself[30] and his trophy wife.[31]

Trump's presidency was an unmitigated disaster. Responsible for numerous human rights violations and outright crimes against humanity, he was condemned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,[32] for implementing a punitive policy to deliberately separate migrant children from their parents at the Mexican border and have them placed in literal cages.[33][34] He implemented a massive crackdown against reporters so they couldn't report on his actions,[35] allows the police to repeatedly arrest reporters for doing their jobs, orders police to teargas reporters,[36] and loathes American journalism so much that he directly ordered violence against them.[37] His inflammatory rhetoric, direct incitement of violence, defense of his antagonistic or outright homicidal supporters,[38] endorsement of police killings on leftists,[39] bragging that his government assassinates leftists and antifascists (and heavily implying under his direct orders),[40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] and vicious scapegoating of minorities directly inspired multiple acts of violence,[47] [48] even actual politically-motivated murders by his supporters.[49] [50] [51] When nationwide protests broke out over police brutality, Trump used Homeland Security to kidnap protesters,[52] [53] [54] threatened to use the military to crack down on Black Lives Matter activists [55] and anti-police brutality demonstrators,[56] brutalized nearby reporters and journalists,[57] [58] assaulted a fucking mayor,[59] and teargassed peaceful protesters so he could do a photo op in front of a church with an upside-down Bible. [60] [61] [62]

He used his office to enrich himself and his associates, retaining ownership of his businesses in violation of the US Constitution,[63] charging the Secret Service for the privilege of protecting him,[64] golfing more than 500 times at his own clubs on taxpayer money,[65] and raking in cash from foreign governments through the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC.[66] Trump's businesses brought in $1.9 billion in revenue in just the first three years of his presidency.[67] Trump is also a warmonger, with his administration ordering record numbers of bombings and airstrikes on Afghanistan,[68][69] Yemen,[70] and Somalia,[71] at a horrific civilian cost. He did this with almost no accountability, as he revoked an Obama-era rule on reporting civilian deaths in drone strikes.[72] Then he intentionally[73] botched the public response to the COVID-19 pandemic, unnecessarily exacerbating an economic and humanitarian catastrophe[74] while spitting invectives against Asians[75] and politicizing the wearing of face masks despite them being one of the most effective tools against the virus.[76] This led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans from preventable illness.

Stung by the results of the 2018 midterm elections—[77]when Democrats gained control of the House while Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate[78]—and the ongoing Russia probe, Trump appears to be distancing himself from the ordinary presidential duties, sending aides, including Vice President Mike Pence, to various events in his stead.[77] In 2019, it was revealed that after Trump removed FBI Director James Comey over investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the FBI began investigating whether Trump was a knowing or unknowing asset of the Russian government assisted by Russia to act against the interests of the US government.[79] Trump has put forward policies clearly in favor of the Russian government's interests, most importantly on the matter of the NATO alliance of the US as the leading country of the alliance along with European countries, Turkey, and Canada, with Trump indicating in public statements that the US could abandon the NATO alliance.[79]

On December 18, 2019, Trump became just the third President in United States history to be impeached due to a coordinated campaign within his administration to pressure Ukraine for dirt on his potential political rival, Joe Biden, in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. The US Senate almost immediately voted to acquit President Trump on February 5, with Mitt Romney being the only member of Trump's party to vote for removal on either count.[80]

In the 2020 US presidential election, Trump lost his reelection bid by a staggering margin against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, losing no less than five states that he won in 2016[81] and losing the popular vote by at least seven million.[82] Worse? Trump got taken out in Georgia AND Arizona! Two Republican strongholds wiped off the face of the Earth. Either way, consistent with his spoiled and immature nature, he refused to accept the results and filed dozens of frivolous lawsuits while spreading baseless claims of election fraud.[83] In 2021, only weeks before Biden's inauguration, the recording of a secret tape was leaked, showing Trump attempting to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-GA), whose home state went for Biden, to "find" enough votes to flip the state.[84]

While the aforementioned phone call certainly qualifies as an impeachable offence, on January 6th, 2021, in perhaps the single most infamous and dangerous thing he has ever done, Trump instigated an attempted self-coup by egging his armed supporters into storming the fucking Capitol, so they could stop Congress from certifying Biden's win in 2020. Capitol Police quite literally opened the doors for Trump's mob to storm the Capitol. Said supporters were actively trying to assassinate multiple members of Congress, including Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to reject Biden's certification (which isn't even in his powers as VP, for obvious reasons). The entire Congress fled underground and evacuated the building, leaving the Capitol at the whims of Trump's mob until the National Guard came in to retake the building. In the midst of this chaos, Trump refused to deploy the National Guard (Pence did it instead), ignored panicked calls from his fellow Republicans, and reportedly relished in the violence being done in his name and by his words. After basically trying to slaughter an entire branch of the government, Donald Trump became the first President ever to be impeached twice, the only one to have instigated insurrection, and the only one to have incited an attack on the Capitol.

Business ventures

Yes, this is real.

“”In 1995, when he offered this company, if a monkey had thrown a dart, at the stock page, the monkey on average would've made 150 percent. But the people that believed in him, who listened to his siren song, ended up losing well over 90 cents in the dollar. They got back less than a dime.

—Warren Buffett on Trump's Atlantic City hotels business[85]

Incompetence

Farewell, Trump Mortgage. We hardly knew ye.

“”When it comes to great steaks, I've just raised the stakes! Trump Steaks are by far the best tasting, most flavorful beef you've ever had. Truly in a league of their own.

—Donald Trump on his Trump Steaks™ partnership with Sharper Image (an electronics store).[86]

“”The net of all that was we literally sold almost no steaks. If we sold $50,000 of steaks grand total, I'd be surprised.

—Jerry Levin, CEO of Sharper Image, Trump Steaks™ post-mortem.[86]

It's always been a bit of a mystery just how much Trump buys into his own bullshit. He estimates his net worth at "OVER TEN BILLION", which is impossible for him to prove, but also impossible for anyone to disprove.[note 8] This is not just based on his assets (which are not terribly liquid) but also how he feels about his worth daily.[87] The record really shows a middling businessman with many structural advantages, who came out on top because of how rigged the system is.[88] It's not hard to make a lot of money in New York real estate, especially when your rich daddy gives you a big head start. In fact, over time, it becomes practically impossible to lose money.[89] This is relevant to his claim that he can do an exceptional job of running the US government since he hasn't been truly tested in a situation with no fawning yes-men or training wheels. Oh fuck.

Really, the Trump Brand still exists and is fiscally solvent because of his daughter Ivanka.[90] Supposedly, his sons are both dumbasses, but she is scarily intelligent. It was her idea to start selling off the name in exchange for royalties without putting up the capital costs of construction and running a property, something which Donald opposed but is now the cornerstone of the company since it's effectively free money. Ivanka is obviously worried about damage to the Trump brand since she's tried to spin out a separate sub-brand; she's the one who staged a family intervention and convinced Dad to fire his campaign manager.[91]

Trump's record on predicting economic recessions is also laughably lousy:[92]

• In 1999, he predicted an economic crash worse than the Great Depression.
• Then, in 2001, he reversed his position and claimed the US market was strong right before a minor recession hit.
• In 2005, he claimed the real estate market was strong and followed this up with the launching of "Trump Mortgage" in 2006. Trump Mortgage subsequently went out of business when the housing market crashed the next year.
• In 2011, he predicted massive inflation, suggesting the price of a loaf of bread would soon be $25.
• And he has been predicting another recession since 2012... though this has been silent since his election.

Criminal connections

"Одобрено Дональдом Трампом, 45-м президентом США" (Approved by Donald Trump, 45^th President of the United States), according to the Ураласбест (Uralasbest) asbestos company[93][94][95]

“”That may be Trump's one skill – performing so many outrages that he gets us to sideline some of them while we try to deal with the worst/most recent.

—Ophelia Benson[96]

Trump's connections with mob figures are old and run deep, according to journalist Wayne Barrett; they're mostly associated with his casino and huge erections, including but not limited to buildings.[97][98][99] In 2015, the details became public of Trump's involvement with Colombo crime family figures during the making of Trump's first name-branded product: a Cadillac limousine in 1988.[100] Trump will never willingly release his tax returns, and Ted Cruz suggests those returns could show the extent of his mob dealings.[101] Trump and some of his spawn have been named as material witnesses in a massive tax-avoidance scheme by mob-connected Felix Sater.[102] As an aside, it has been reported that Trump himself paid no income taxes in 1978, 1979, 1984, 1992, and 1994.[103]

The tax schemes have apparently caught up with the Trumps: in 2018, the New York Times reported that Trump and his siblings engaged in vast tax fraud starting in the 1990s; the allegations are based on confidential tax returns and financial records.[104] Following the Times' report, New York state tax officials began their own investigation into the Trumps' alleged tax fraud schemes.[105]

Trump's connections to organized crime go back to shortly after his first forays into Manhattan real estate.[106] Trump made friends with Roy Cohn, formerly Joseph McCarthy's lawyer during the McCarthy Senate hearings, but who by then was a mob lawyer.[106] Cohn likely introduced Trump to Genovese crime boss Anthony Salerno.[106] In his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback, Trump denied that there was any association between asbestos exposure and cancer, stating "I believe that the movement against asbestos was led by the mob, because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal. Great pressure was put on politicians, and as usual, the politicians relented."[107][108] Ironically, it was Trump's hiring of organized crime-controlled companies that enabled his demolition contractor to hire the illegal workers that were exposed to asbestos.[106][109] Trump is still pushing asbestos denialism in 2018 via his EPA director Scott Pruitt, who announced that the EPA would cease evaluating asbestos hazards in the environment.[107] This is some four decades after the last known time that the asbestos industry itself engaged in denialism.[110]

In 1979, Trump hired a demolition contractor to take down the building at the future Trump Tower site.[106] The contractor used undocumented, non-union Polish workers who were exposed to asbestos.[106][111] Though the site was a union site, there was no picket because it was a mob-controlled union; Trump was fully aware that the Polish workers were in the country illegally.[106] It came out in 2017 after a judge released the documents that Trump paid $1.4 million to settle the resulting class-action lawsuit.[112] Trump used overpriced concrete from companies controlled by Salerno and Gambino family crime boss Paul Castellano to build Trump Tower and Trump Plaza.[106]

When Trump sought to build casinos in Atlantic City in 1982, he could hide his mob connections by persuading the New Jersey Attorney General John Degnan to only investigate him for the prior six months.[106] At least one Trump company has been exposed as having ties to international money laundering from an ex-Soviet Union state,[113] and it has been speculated that the Trump casinos may have been used for laundering before bankruptcy.[114] Trump bought land in Atlantic City at an inflated price from hitmen connected to Nicky Scarfo, of the Philadelphia crime family, as well as purchasing or leasing other land that likely benefitted the Scarfo mob.[106]

A Saudi prince claims he bailed Trump out twice when the mogul got into financial difficulties. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal bought up a private yacht that Trump was forced to cede to creditors during the 1990s and later helped buy a NYC hotel when Trump was short of funds a second time. Said Saud is now embarrassed by the association.[115][116]

On January 1, 2017, Trump hosted and appeared on stage with Joey 'No Socks' Cinque at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.[117] Cinque is a Gambino crime family affiliate who was convicted of felony possession of a trove of stolen artwork.[117]

Trump has lied on numerous occasions about his connections to organized crime, including under oath.[106][118]

To summarise the summary and return to this section's opening quote: Donald Trump's life and career have essentially been one decades-long Gish Gallop through the ethical badlands.

Golf

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, the real-life Auric Goldfinger has been trying to build a golf course on (what used to be) a protected wetland habitat.[119] He tried to have several of his Scottish neighbors evicted, including a local farmer by the name of Michael Forbes who refused an offer on his property. For this, Forbes was awarded the "Top Scot" award in 2012.[120] His actions were parodied in this song.

Since then, the Scottish government's plans to increase wind turbine capacity (his opposition to which even led to a heated discussion over Twitter with the host of the British version of The Apprentice, Lord [formerly Sir Alan] Sugar)[121] has encouraged him to cancel his plans, proving once and for all that they are worth every penny. Trump reported to Scottish authorities that he lost millions on the project, whereas in his US presidential disclosure, he claimed that the project was highly profitable.[122]

Trump University

“”People don't know how great you are. People don't know how smart you are. These are the smart people. These are the smart people. These are really the smart people. And they never like to say it, but I say it and I'm a smart person. These are the smart; we have the smartest people. We have the smartest people. And they know it. And some say it, but they hate to say it. But we have the smartest people. Government will start working again. Fixing things.

—Giving people hope[123]

No one has more scorn for the victims of a con-man than the con-man himself.

Trump University was essentially a diploma mill, a scam in which people were promised an education in real estate by hand-picked experts in exchange for exorbitant "tuition". Salesmen were told to apply high-pressure tactics on vulnerable people. Some were encouraged to max out their credit cards, others had to cough up their disability money, etc.[124] In return, they received bare-bones real estate education from people Trump never even met, though he was very much involved in the marketing aspects.[125] He got a cut in return for these "institutions" being allowed to use his name.[126]

An even bigger issue lies with the name Trump University itself and its claims to offer certain degrees: graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral. This is in violation of New York law, which requires you to obtain a charter to call yourself a university. In 2014, the New York Supreme Court held that Trump was personally liable for running an unlicensed school and making false promises through his "university", the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative;[127][128] this was confirmed by the testimony of a former salesperson and the court-released "Trump University Playbook".[129][130][131] About 8000 former students are suing Trump U. in two separate class-action lawsuits, one of which involves the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.[132] In August 2016, Judge Curiel ruled that Trump must face a civil trial for fraud and racketeering under RICO, which automatically requires triple damages; things are looking terrible for Trump on this front.[133]

This is the case in which Trump attacked a “Mexican” judge's ancestry (he's actually from Indiana) because he made a judgment Trump didn't like.[134] But all this shows is that Trump is willing to do anything to help us make him realize his American dream, even if it means ruining us financially.

“”Why isn't this man in jail for fraud? In addition to his phony Trump University, there was also a Trump Institute that used plagiarized materials to peddle real estate advice.

—PZ Myers[135]

Trump faces lawsuits over this.[136] Trump may be liable for impeachment over this[137], but somehow managed to settle for a fraction of the damages.[138] No, we're not sure how this works.

The multilevel marketing company

In 2009, Trump "partnered" with the founders of Ideal Health International (est. 1997), a multilevel marketing business, rebranding this pyramid scheme as The Trump Network.[139] "Partnering" in this case is just another Trumpian term of art. It was yet another Trump brand rental where he claimed not to be involved with the company's operations, even though he, company representatives and advertising for the network implied there was an actual partnership "that was certain to lift thousands of people into prosperity"; after the brand rental came to an end in 2012, its assets were bought off by a Canadian and rebranded.[139]

The "business", which consisted of selling a urine test device with customized vitamins,[140][141] not only made investors lose money buying the highly overpriced products, but also buying customized infomercials in local TV channels.[139]

Charity

Donald Trump has been called "the least charitable billionaire in the world".[144] Take, for example, his donations to 9/11 charities: $1,000 (his own backyard, no less). The donation went to the anti-psychology Scientology front group, the "New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Fund", which was co-founded by Tom Cruise.[145][146] Trump, who owns 40 Wall Street, actually received $150,000 for damages due to 9/11 from a special federal fund earmarked for "small businesses", even though the building wasn't damaged.[147]

Many of Trump's larger donations are on their face self-serving, in the form of donations to:[148][149]

• His sons' schools
• Golf-related charities[150]
• Celebrity-related charities
• Land donations with golf easements
• Asbestos-contaminated land from failed golf-course projects ("Donald J. Trump State Park")[151]

To prove his anti-vaxx bona fides, Trump's foundation gave $10,000 to Jenny McCarthy's "charity" Generation Rescue.[149]

As for real charities, Trump has a pattern of stiffing them:[152][153] The Donald J. Trump Foundation had actually received more donations from a single other donor (World Wrestling Entertainment) than Trump himself contributed during the period 1990 to 2009 when he gave a paltry $3.7 million.[145] In 2014, Trump personally gave $0 to his own foundation.[154]

The office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was reported to have been considering an investigation of Trump University just before requesting and receiving a $25,000 political donation from Trump himself.[155] The donation allegedly came illegally from a non-profit Trump family foundation, which is not allowed to make political donations because of its tax status.[155] It's also come out that he may not have been donating the proceeds of several business ventures to charity as he had promised to do, which could amount to fraud. This is aside from the veterans' charity snafu.[156] These include Trump U, Trump Vodka, and his new book Crippled America, all high-profile activities with profits supposedly going to benefit charity. The harsh spotlight of a presidential run was suddenly not working out for him.[157] The Trump Foundation has been illegally soliciting money in the State of New York because it is not registered to do so as required by law.[158] On October 3, 2016, the Trump Foundation was ordered to cease and desist fundraising immediately by the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office.[159] The charity did not register properly as it should have and investigations by the Washington Post suggested Trump benefited personally from spending by the charity.[160] Additionally, the New York tax-collecting agency opened an investigation in July 2018 into the Trump Foundation, which could result in criminal charges.[161]

Tax returns

Donald Trump is the only presidential candidate in four decades other than Gerald Ford who has not released his tax returns. Ford published a summary of his instead. Although the chances of the bill passing are low, Democrats are proposing legislation requiring presidential candidates to release ten years of tax returns. In support of forcing Trump to release his tax returns, an organization called Americans for Tax Fairness argued that this would shine a light on the various means wealthy people evade taxes in general and Trump's potentially illicit business interests in particular. Trump has been accused of using public office to enhance his private business interests.[162]

According to legal experts, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was investigating Trump's ties to Russia, almost certainly had Trump's tax returns. However, he cannot release them unless they are relevant to a criminal case.[162]

Pretending to be religious

Trump signing an executive order to slacken offshore oil drilling safety standards. Perhaps he needed help figuring out where to sign? (We're told he reads very little.)

“”Can you believe that bullshit? Can you believe people believe that bullshit?”

—Trump, in private after a laying on of hands by evangelical leaders[163]

“”"[It] was the theo-political equivalent of money laundering. Dobson and his gang are making Trump clean so that he is worthy of evangelical votes.

—John Fea, history professor at Messiah College[164]

For I was an hungred, and ye sold me Trump Steak®: I was thirsty, and ye sold me Trump Water®: I was a stranger, and ye put me in a cage… (paraphrased from Matthew 35:25). It should not have surprised anyone that Trump embraced prosperity gospel-types, particularly heretic/charlatan Paula White. Both the Trump family preacher, Norman Vincent Peale, and the prosperity gospel concept were rooted in the 19^th-century New Thought movement.[165] Trump has frequently cited Peale, who was described as a 'Christian libertarian', as an influence.[165]

James Dobson of Focus on the Family believes that Trump was recently born again, but not everyone agrees.

When asked the inevitable leading question, "What is your favorite book?" Trump answered with the usual pandering reply, "The Bible!", although he couldn't provide a favorite verse.[166] Eventually, Trump found one: "Two Corinthians" (he means Second Corinthians, which incidentally is a book, not a verse), which earned him an endorsement from Falwell Jr.[167]

It also leads one to wonder how frequently he takes holy communion, despite Trump's claim of "as often as possible"[168] — quite the dedication to drinking red wine for someone who is also a teetotaler.[169]

Regarding the prospects of electing a hypothetical born-again Trump prone to fiddling with the nuclear football when bored or intoxicated, Hemant Mehta remarked that:[170]

“”If Christians do vote for the nuclear weapon-loving Trump, they probably have a better chance of meeting God real soon…

Rare moments of sanity

See the main article on this topic: Stopped clock

“”Our country is divided and out of control. The world is watching. Our country is totally divided and our enemies are watching.

—Trump accidentally says something poignant, for once.[171]

Despite his deplorable reputation, Trump is no exception to the stopped-clock principle. Here is an incomplete list of the [somewhat] right things he has done.

• He regularly calls out the neoconservatives and their hired help.[172] His annihilation of the Club for Growth was also on point.[173]

• Trump's comments on George Bush having advance foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks and the lack of strategy post-9/11 from the Bush administration have led some in the right-wing news media[174] (even confessed truther Alex Jones[175]) to label him a "truther", although this isn't very accurate, as Trump backtracked from some of the advance knowledge comments, and he is not known for his truthiness.[176] He also believes the famous “28 pages” redacted from the official 9/11 report were done to please the Saudis,[177] which would appear to be partially accurate.[178]
• On the bureaucracy front, he dropped a requirement that federal government agencies report on their Y2K preparedness 17 years after it came and proved to be a big pile of nothing.[179]
• His administration sided with South Dakota in a Supreme Court case that allows states to collect sales tax for all online stores, even if they don't have physical establishments in the charging state.[180]
• His claims on the troubles with (unfettered) free trade are largely correct.[181][note 9][note 10] The Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and is working on modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
• Impressed by the Bastille Day parade in Paris, Trump said he wanted to top it in the U.S., but later decided against it citing the tremendous costs involved.[182][note 11]
• He signed into law a bill that upgrades the birthplace of the famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, into a national historical park. He also signed bills linking historical sites related to the civil rights movement and commemorating the first Africans' arrival in the English colonies in Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1619.[183]
• His administration banned bump stocks by defining them as "machineguns", which are illegal under the National Firearms Act.[184]
• During the 2016 Presidential Campaign, he advocated for allowing people to purchase health insurance across state lines. However, he has not so far implemented this plan,[note 12].
• He supports paper backup ballots.[185]

Presidential candidacy

See the main article on this topic: Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump

The Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump began years before he actually won the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination. Indeed, Trump has been involved in politics for quite some time.

Rhetoric

Trump's most recent book.

See the main article on this topic: Rhetoric of Donald Trump

Donald Trump is notorious for his rabble-rousing and inflammatory, pernicious rhetoric, especially toward his political opponents and journalists that report on the bad things he has said and done. He frequently uses coarse language and has the verbal ability of a grade-schooler on a broken record: no big bad words or nuance plus the power of repetition makes for a dangerously convincing combo, especially if he speaks to his audience's racist, xenophobic, or sexist insecurities. This is why people claim that he says it "as it is" when he does nothing of the sort. In fact, the incoherent and often perfidious way he talks (such as labeling news he doesn't like "fake news"[186] and often setting off political fact-checkers like Politifact, FactCheck.org, WashingtonPost, and Snopes) muddies understanding of his real thoughts, being prone to interpretation. For instance, his words on "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best" and "they're animals" set off a debate on which group he's really referring to. His poor English is exacerbated when other countries try translating what he's saying.

Psychologists at the University of Texas and Princeton University studied over three million texts dating back to 1789, belonging to political leaders of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus news stories, books, movie subtitles, and cable news transcript. They noticed a clear trend of politicians speaking more simply but with greater confidence. Donald Trump accelerated that trend. In fact, he ranks first on confidence but last on analytical thinking compared to all other U.S. presidents. John Quincy Adams topped the U.S. chart with just under 99 points in analytical speech while Trump scored only 16 in a 2015 debate. The average for U.S. presidents is 90, with everyone other than Trump and Barack Obama scoring above 70. In speaking with confidence, Trump's score is 89; the average for U.S. presidents is 64.[187]

The Harvard Republican Club refused to endorse Trump, which is the first time in 128 years they would not endorse the Republican candidate. "He isn't eschewing political correctness. He is eschewing basic human decency."[188]

Stranger things

“”Never has more ignorance been stuffed inside one head.

—Laurence Tribe, professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School[189]

Trump's near-total disdain for the truth has been characterized as either gaslighting everyone he speaks to,[190] or as pathological lying,[191][192][193] though not in a clinical sense.[194]

The alarming nature of Trump's continuing behavior has gotten so bad since the election that psychologists have been breaking the so-called Goldwater rule in the American Psychiatric Association's code of ethics against giving a clinical analysis of someone who is not their patient. In 2017, John D. Gartner, a psychotherapist who formerly taught at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, has explicitly broken the rule without caveat to warn the public of Trump's dangerousness.[195] Gartner said, "Donald Trump is dangerously mentally ill and temperamentally incapable of being president."[195] Gartner diagnosed that Trump has "malignant narcissism", an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, aggression, and sadism.[195] Many other mental health professionals have also expressed their concern over Trump's mental state.[196][197][198] Dr. Allen Frances, The chair of the DSM-IV taskforce, the one that wrote the definition of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), stated that while Trump "may be a world-class narcissist", he does not have NPD.[199][200] Dr. Allen went further to state, "He can, and should, be appropriately denounced for his ignorance, incompetence, impulsivity and pursuit of dictatorial powers."[199]

Possible medical issues

By 2019, Gartner has called for a professional examination of Trump's mental health because of apparent worsening of Trump's speech patterns that could indicate dementia: confusing people and generations, semantic paraphasia, and tangential speech.[201]

Later, he totally did not have a series of mini-strokes before his unexpected visit to Walter Reed Medical Center.[202]

HS quarterback

He wins bigly every time!

“”He's like that right-wing uncle you dread seeing at Thanksgiving, just with a national media profile—and your uncle couldn't be happier about it.

—Paul Waldman[203]

The most significant Overton window shift this year has been anyone believing that Donald Trump is "anti-establishment".[note 13] Liberals and conservatives are just wired differently. Republicans generally respond better to displays of strength and forthrightness, whereas Democrats typically respond better to bipartisanship and compassion.[204] For better or worse, Trump looks at life like buying a used car. You go in with bluster and threaten to walk if they don't give you what you want.

With that in mind, it's no surprise that the candidate with the best “tell it like it is” game on Twitter and in debates won. It's a strategy in touch with the perceptions of the GOP base. Many still think that Romney had the general election sealed up, but choked. It's why Don's portrayal of his opponents as boring, dumb, nerdy,[205] losers,[206] low-energy,[207] chokers[208] or "choke artists"[209] has been so effective.

In the minds of the base, it's never been the case that the country has become more progressive, or that 12 years of Bushes were more regime change and Reaganomics than voters ever wanted. Nope, the perception is that McCain, Romney, Bush, Rubio—these candidates all “choked”, in concert with the American people wanting them all to be President but just not knowing it yet. They're all presumed guilty of giving the country two more Democratic terms based on supposed personal and strategic failures, never on a disconnect between what voters wanted and what these candidates were selling. The RNC propping up Romney (again!) in opposition to Trump shows that they can't even grasp this basic fact about their own voters.

However, in Trump's defense, he saved us from another Bush presidency, which Hillary probably would have had more trouble opposing.

Idiocracy

See the main articles on this topic: Idiocracy, Rhetoric of Donald Trump, and Dunning–Kruger effect

Donald Trump is neither an intellectual nor someone interested in deep thought or reading, both of which are crucial when running a country. Indeed, he has been accused by many of being the Dunning–Kruger effect incarnate,[210][211][212][213] and it becomes rather hard to argue when David Dunning himself tends to agree.[214]

Unclear yet present danger

“”He's always been that guy, and you denied it and ignored it and hand-waved it away and made excuses every step of the way because you were convinced that you were so much smarter than the rest of us. You were so certain that you had received some superior wavelength giving you special insight into the Donald; only you could tell that it was all an act. Only you could grasp that his constant courting of controversy was just to get attention from the media. Only you could instinctively sense that his style would play brilliantly in the general election and win over working-class Democrats. (SPOILER ALERT: It isn't.) You insisted that you could “coach him”.

—Jim Geraghty[215]

Trump's ability to blow up Republican sacred cows is pretty remarkable e.g. staunch conservative and shock value until the spotlight hits him. He then switches back to southpaw and blows the right-wingers away. Trump doesn't have a voting record. And human beings are really bad at processing information that falls outside of their heuristics and reconciling information that seems contradictory on the surface-level.

Therefore, if a candidate does not fall squarely into one of the two buckets we associate with politics — "conservatism" and "liberalism" — then he must be in the middle, despite not logically fitting as a "moderate" in any sense. And because many people subconsciously believe in the golden mean, Trump is using the same strategy almost every authoritarian populist has used to craft a successful coalition: pair radical ideas from one end of the spectrum with ones that either come from the other extreme end or are appealing for their "moderation". For example, pair your extreme views on immigration with opposition to trade or rhetoric opposing "hedge fund guys" and other selected wealthy capitalists who are unpopular across the board. This becomes a net win for Trump. He "tells it like it is" or "calls out both sides". Donald is an empty suit, and he invites us all to try him on:

Debate Trump: Taxes too high, wages too high. We're not going to be able to compete against the world.[216]

Gasbag Trump-on-the-stump: The influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high, and makes it difficult for poor and working-class Americans . . . to earn a middle-class wage.[217]

Subtext: To those of you working 2-3 jobs at $8.00 per hour, once I deport all the illegals you're still going to be making $8.00 per hour. F**k you very much.

A stopped clock on Iraq?

In 2002, Trump appeared on Howard Stern's show and voiced his support (such as it was) for the Iraq War based on the "business opportunity" in the region (as Clinton put it) in 2011. However, Trump personally had a financial interest in opposing the war in Iraq and expressed concerns about the war soon after it had started: by 2004, it was well-known that Trump was an opponent of the Iraq War.[218] In Las Vegas, Trump swerved the entire Republican Party, blasting the war louder than any Democrat would have:

Thousands and thousands of lives, we have nothing. Wounded warriors all over the place who I love, we have nothing for it.[219]

Then, during the election, Trump used the Iraq War as one of the most common sticks to beat Clinton with, even going to far as to suggest Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton were the "founders" of Daesh for leaving a power vacuum in the region: a power vacuum Trump also would have left, as he was calling for the immediate withdrawal of the US from Iraq as early as 2007.[220] When asked about running mate Mike Pence's decision to vote in favor of the Iraq War, Trump rather patronizingly said that Pence was "entitled to a mistake", and as for Hillary, "she's not".[221]

It is clear then that Trump's views on Iraq are not as well-informed as they initially appear.

Feud with HBO and Last Week Tonight

In March of 2013, Trump attacked Jon Stewart on Twitter for changing his name from Leibowitz to Stewart, tweeting:[222]

“”If Jon Stewart is so above it all & legit, why did he change his name from Jonathan Leibowitz? He should be proud of his heritage!

Two years later (in 2015), while spending a portion of May 31 embarrassingly trying too hard to flame Stewart,[223] Trump also insisted that the original tweet quoted above never took place while repeating the accusation, tweeting:[224]

“”All the haters and losers must admit that, unlike others, I never attacked dopey Jon Stewart for his phony last name. Would never do that!

Trump then proceeded to weave the tale that John Oliver (Stewart being the former boss and colleague of Oliver) had tried to get Trump to appear on Last Week Tonight,[225] something which Oliver maintains has never happened.[226] Oliver even checked to make sure nobody had accidentally invited him, and nobody had.

In response to all of this, on February 28 of 2016, Oliver started the #makedonalddrumpfagain campaign, explaining:[227]

"Trump" does sound rich — it's almost onomatopoeic. "Trump!" is the sound produced when a mouthy servant is slapped across the face with a wad of thousand-dollar bills. "Trump!" is the sound of a cork popping on a couple's champagne-iversary, the day the renovations in the wine cellar were finally completed.

The very name "Trump" is the cornerstone of his brand. If only there were a way to uncouple that magical word from the man he really is. Well, guess what — there is! Because it turns out, the name "Trump" was not always his family's name. One biographer found that a prescient ancestor had changed it from — and this is true — Drumpf. Yes; fucking Drumpf! And "Drumpf!" is much less magical.

It's the sound produced when a morbidly obese pigeon flies into the window of the foreclosed Old Navy. "Drumpf!" It's the sound of a bottle of store-brand root beer falling off the shelf in a gas station mini-mart. And it may seem weird to bring up his ancestral name, but to quote Donald Trump, "he should be proud of his heritage" — because Drumpf is much more reflective of who he actually is.

So if you are thinking of voting for Donald Trump, the charismatic guy promising to make America great again, stop and take a moment to imagine how you would feel if you just met a guy named Donald Drumpf. A litigious serial liar, with a string of broken business ventures and the support of a former Klan leader who he can't decide whether or not to condemn. Would you think he would make a good president, or is the spell now somewhat broken? And that is why tonight, I am asking America to make Donald Drumpf again!

Oliver also revealed that HBO had even officially filed paperwork to trademark the name "Drumpf". HBO has also purchased the domain donaldjdrumpf.com and released an official Chrome browser plugin called the "Drumpfinator", which changes every instance of "Trump" to "Drumpf" in the browser.[228]

Now, for people who don't know about that little spat, the Drumpf meme might come across as Oliver making fun of Trump's German ancestry. Crucially, however, the serious thought underlying the (entirely overtly satirical) relabeling of Trump to Drumpf is that Trump's image and persona are based on the Trump brand — and thus, if people instead knew him as Donald Drumpf (the way his family's name was spelled before the Thirty Years' War),[229] then hopefully people would stop automatically knee-jerk associating him with the fame and fortune attached to the Trump brand, and instead see the man — Donald — for who he really is as a person.[230] The Trump fortune was in fact predicated upon Fred Trump's lying to Jewish customers about his German ancestry and claiming that he was Swedish, a lie repeated by Donald in The Art of the Deal.[231][232][233]

Melania Trump's plagiarism scandal

Suspiciously similar.

See the main article on this topic: 2016 Republican National Convention § Melania Trump plagiarism controversy

“”You know, the president told me to stop whining, but I really have to say, the media is even more biased this year than ever before — ever. You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it — it's fantastic. They think she's absolutely great. My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech — and people get on her case.

—Donald Trump, roasting his wife at the 71st Al Smith dinner in New York[234]

On July 18, 2016, the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention, Trump's (current) wife, Melania, gave a speech discussing why the Donald would be the superior United States presidential candidate. The speech contained a paragraph that was pretty much identical to a paragraph of Michelle Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.[235][236][237]

Following Melania's speech, various media outlets reported the similarities, stating that the speech was "awkward", "embarrassing" and "an act of plagiarism".[238][239] Although it took the Trump campaign a while to do so, and whilst they procrastinated 24 hours in either avoiding the subject altogether[240] or claiming that Melania's speech wasn't really plagiarism[241] (although the fact that it was plagiarism was pretty much obvious to anyone listening to or reading the speech), someone high up essentially said "You're Fired" to Melania's scriptwriters, and that was the end of that one.[242]

Credentialism

See the main article on this topic: Credentialism

During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump frequently referred to his degree from the University of Pennsylvania's as "super genius stuff", and that it was difficult to get admitted to Wharton.[243] At the time of Donald's admission (1966), the admission rate at Wharton was 40% of applicants, fairly high.[243] James Nolan, an admissions officer and friend of Trump's brother Fred Jr., was leaned on by Trump's father to get him admitted.[243] Nolan was unimpressed by Donald, stating later, "I certainly was not struck by any sense that I'm sitting before a genius. Certainly not a super genius."[243] Later, it was alleged by Donald's elder sister Maryanne, that Donald's friend Joe Shapiro was paid to take his college entrance exam (SAT).[244] Elsewhere, SAT fraud has resulted in criminal charges,[245] and could result in the rescinding of a degree.[246] But no worries, Donald has rightfully earned a B.S. in B.S.!

Presidency

Trump-Russia connection

See the main article on this topic: Trump-Russia connection

“”While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

—William Barr quoting the Mueller report in his summary.[247]

Despite its popular name, the Trump-Russia investigation or the Russia probe examines more than ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Other countries with potentially illegal connection to Trump and his associates include China, Israel, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In particular, Trump, his daughter Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner have business interests in Qatar, the UAE, Israel, and China.[248] Nor is it limited to the office of the Special Counsel; there is a separate criminal investigation by the FBI.[249] In fact, by December 2018, investigators have begun scrutinizing virtually all aspects of Trump's public life, his presidential campaign, his inaugural committee, his charity, his business dealings, and his presidency itself.[note 14][250] Meanwhile, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the House Oversight Committee are conducting their own investigations on alleged Russian meddling and any collusion with Trump aides. These are arguably some of the most high-profile criminal cases in United States history.[251]

The investigation of the Trump-Russia connection is not limited to the office of the Special Counsel; it has also included a separate criminal investigation by the FBI[249] and may include other as yet unknown investigations. In mid-2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein revealed a broad effort by the Department of Justice to combat Russian "information warfare" waged against the United States to undermine her democracy and critical infrastructure. Indeed, the Russian attempt to influence the 2016 Election was "just one tree in a growing forest", he said.[252]

On March 22, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his final report to Attorney General William Barr. Barr informed Congress in writing he would brief them on the "principal conclusions" and restated his commitment to "as much transparency as possible." Polls show that Americans would like to see the report. Earlier in the month, the House voted unanimously in favor of a non-binding resolution urging the Justice Department to make the report public.[253] According to Barr's summary of the report's findings, Mueller found no evidence of any collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia. Because Mueller did not really answer the question of whether or not Trump obstructed justice, Barr asserted there was no concrete evidence for it. However, Barr acknowledged that Russian officials had offered to assist the Trump campaign. The end of the Special Counsel probe does not mean the end of legal troubles for Donald Trump, who still faces investigations from New York state prosecutors and from Congress.[254]

During the Special Counsel investigation, FBI agents traveled across the United States and to numerous other countries. Some witnesses were interviewed immediately after they had landed at an American airport. Charges were brought against dozens of individuals. However, no Americans were charged with conspiring with Russia.[255]

Undermining democratic institutions

See the main article on this topic: Authoritarianism of Donald Trump

Democratic backsliding is how democracies become authoritarian states.[256]

How to destroy a democracy

• Attack the watchdogs ☑
• Attack the media ☑
• Attack the law ☑
• Post-truth alt-right rhetoric ☑

Democracy watchdog Freedom House's report states that Trump's victory was a destabilizing threat to democracy.[257] In 2017, The Democracy Index listed the U.S. as a flawed democracy, but the reduced rank was not caused by Trump.[258] The lower rank was instead caused by the same factors that won Trump the election and contribute to the rise of far-right parties in Europe.[258] That factor is the decline of trust in government.[258] A lack of confidence in government may well lead to political apathy, lower voter turnout, and consequently a government that more poorly represents its people (along with currently anti-democratic measures such as Voter ID laws and gerrymandering, and arguably the first past the post system and the electoral college).

Russia often has a hand in democratic backsliding, namely in the former Soviet sphere and post-communist countries.[259]

Cabinet members, or how to create a cesspool

See the main article on this topic: Cabinet of Donald Trump

He ran on a populist platform, pledging to "Drain the swamp", meaning prevent Wall Street from controlling government, not a destructive anti-environmentalist platform. Now that he won, that means all of his supporters (and some former detractors) are lining up for sweet positions in his administration, including Wall Street. Besides promising to "hire the best people", he also promised to "drain the swamp", but his nominations and hiring practices prove that instead of draining or filling the swamp, he's creating a noxious cesspool; the people he chooses tend to be either on a pillage-and-burn mission or totally unqualified for the job. The worst thing is that his supporters don't care[260] as long as the cesspool monsters are not "politicians", whatever that means. The result is possibly the most fervently right-wing cabinet in recent memory and one that's still filled with quite a few politicians.

And this isn't going to go into how swamps are, in reality, biodiversity-rich hubs that provide a ton of benefits, not like Trump cares a single bit about the environment. Trump may be draining literal swamps, which is hardly a good thing, as he's threatened national parks by trying to allow exploitation and decreasing their sizes.[261]

The Trump team was actually well-prepared to fill the cabinet just before the election. Chris Christie, who had run against Trump in the primary but then joined the campaign, had prepared a 30-volume set of dossiers on possible cabinet picks that was ready one day before the general election.[262] Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, had a grudge against Christie; Christie as a US Attorney had previously sent Kushner's father (Charles Kushner) to prison for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. The 30 volumes were summarily thrown out, and Christie was fired two days after the election at the behest of Kushner and Steve Bannon.[262] The vetting process was then led by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who hired overwhelmed 20-year RNC staffers to do the vetting from scratch.[263] Said one vetter:[263]

“”You know, I'm like, 'Oh gentle Ben [Carson] is unqualified and thinks that pyramids store grain or whatever. Great. At least he's not beating his wife and his wife's not appearing on Oprah [a reference to Andrew Puzder].

Another vetter said:[263]

“”I think I truly understood what less than half of the people were being vetted for. Totally inadequate resources for the overall process. … We would probably run through dozens [of contenders] a day.

Policies

See the main article on this topic: Policies of Donald Trump

Starting right on the first week of his presidency, Trump has begun dismantling Obama's legacy. This is indeed one of the guiding principles of the Trump administration.

American carnage at Lafayette Square

When George Floyd was killed by a police officer named Derek Chauvin, protests broke out nationwide, with hundreds of cities hosting thousands of people speaking out against police brutality, white supremacy, and authoritarianism. Trump responded by calling on the military to "dominate" the protesters, and lived up to his word by calling in hundreds of out-of-state National Guards to patrol the streets of D.C. against the mayor's wishes. This led to numerous instances of police-driven and police-instigated violence against even reporters and journalists, with a grand total of 140 attacks on journalists from May 28th, 2020 to June 1st, 2020. Anchored by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, President Trump and Attorney General William Barr ordered the police to teargas peaceful protesters so Trump could walk across the street and take a picture with an upside down Bible in front of a church. It is a perfect encapsulation of his presidency. He would later use Homeland Security to continue cracking down on protesters, including kidnapping and detaining people for questioning in unmarked vehicles, an unmistakable hallmark of authoritarianism.

White House Outbreak of COVID-19

Throughout 2020, Trump refused to take adequate action against coronavirus,[264][265] downplayed and lied about the severity of the virus,[266] outright hindered efforts to get masks delivered to people,[267][268][269][270] ignored expert advice to wear masks and socially distance,[271][272] purged anyone who dared to speak out against his orders,[273][274][275][276] repeatedly held "super-spreader" rallies without masks,[277] threw out the idea of injecting disinfectant to stop the virus,[278][279][280] and pushed to reopen businesses, schools, and the rest of the economy while suppressing warnings against doing so by scientists and doctors.[281][282] He presided over the deaths of over 200,000 people by October 2020 while claiming "it affects virtually nobody."[283][284][285]

In late September, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of cancer, and her last wish was for her not to be replaced until a new president was inaugurated the next year. Despite the Republican party arguing the opposite approach when the exact same thing happend back with Antonin Scalia's death under Obama, Trump ignored her wishes and immediately nominated Amy Coney Barret, Ginsburg's exact ideological opposite, and held a Rose Garden event announcing Barret's nomination.[286] Within days, it was revealed that Hope Hicks, a White House aide, contracted COVID. First Lady Melania Trump tested positive, but Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. all tested negative. Campaign manager Bill Stepien tested positive, as well as Ronna Romney McDaniel, the RNC Chairwoman. Senators Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, and Thom Tillis all tested positive. Former Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were also tested positive.[287]

Trump revealed he tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as he was said to have trouble breathing. Doctors revealed that he had exhibited symptoms on October 1, including a "mild cough, and some nasal congestion and fatigue."[288] Evidence suggests Trump actually had the infection on September 30 but proceeded with his plans for a public rally that evening and a fund-raiser on October 1.[289]

"Yes, you! Box your stuff! Out the front door!"

See the main article on this topic: 2020 U.S. presidential election

Sure enough, tens of millions of Americans grew were utterly sick and tired of Trump's incompetence at leading America,^{[citation NOT needed]} and subsequently decided to get rid of him. On the morning of November 7th, 2020, everyone sane was relieved to know that President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr, the gaffe-shooting Amtrak machine who surprisingly hasn't been MeTooed yet himself, had won[290], and was set to be sworn in come January 2021. In these upcoming months, the most watchful observers braced themselves for the biggest, yuugest, most beautiful meltdown in Trump's entire lifetime; already he had tweeted:

“”I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT![291]

—Actual tweet by @RealDonaldTrump on November 7th!

It was difficult to tell what the Donald might have done next. His most loyal supporters broke into utter hysteria, either on Twitter screams or have literally said nothing. It was shaping up to be a hilarious and shocking period. Hilarious, at least, until it went one step too fucking far...

Coup attempt and second impeachment

See the main article on this topic: 2021 U.S. Capitol riot

In the wake of 2021, Trump told his supporters to march on the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election and instead certify Trump as the winner. This provoked mob violence that killed five people and nearly led to the slaughter of an entire branch of government, as Trump supporters were explicitly trying to assassinate Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and it's quite easy to infer that they likely would not have stopped there. As Trump refused to resign, and Pence declined to invoke the 25th Amendment, Congress later voted to impeach the wannabe dictator a second time for staging a coup attempt, a few days after they reconvened to certify Joe Biden's win.

List of nicknames

“”Long live Emperor Trump!

—A Chinese fan on social media[292]

Donald Trump is a man of many nicknames: "The Donald",[293] "John Miller",[294] "John Barron",[295] "David Dennison",[296] "Don the Con",[297] "God-Emperor Trump",[298] "Mr. Brexit",[299] and Cadet Bone Spur.[300] One might also add "The Waanald", in light of his constant whining on Twitter and elsewhere whenever someone says something about him he doesn't like.

In China, he is also known as "Donald the Strong", "Grand Commander", and "Uncle Trump". Many Chinese despise the political correctness in Western societies and see themselves in Trump, whom they consider genuine, which is unusual for a politician. Another reason for their fondness of the head-of-state of a geopolitical rival is that Trump, unlike his predecessors, has no appetites for discussing human rights and democracy with China and prefers to discuss trade. Moreover, Trump seems to recognize that China, as well as its president Xi Jinping, as an equal.[292]

During the George Floyd protests, Trump hid in the White House basement and turned off the lights, a feat that earned him the nickname "Bunker Boy".[301]

Trump supporters

La Familia Trump consists of the usual suspects: a pack of celebrities as unfit to hold office as the man himself. We have dossiers on most of them:

• Joe Arpaio: Cartoonishly-corrupt sheriff of Maricopa County. Arpaio, whose department has been sued multiple times for racist policing practices by the federal government, declared "I'm with him to the bitter end."[303]
• Anti-PC crusader Ann Coulter: Hopped on the Trump Train early[304] but appeared to sour on his 'half-baked tweets at midnight'. What's that old saying about a speck in your neighbor's eye?
• George Galloway: Here's a tricky one: Who would be a more terrible president, Donald Trump or George Galloway?[305][306] Fellow Brexiteer Nigel Farage appears to agree with Galloway on this one.[307]
• Sean Hannity: His inner construction worker cannot resist.[308] Compared Trump to King David, who "had five hundred concubines", ffs.[309]
• Alex Jones: Vaunted anti-government loon, is spreading the Trump Gospel—in essence, becoming a cheerleader for torture, the surveillance state, deportations, and zero-percent corporate taxes—all in exchange for a plug from Donald on his show.[310]
• Arthur Laffer: Trickle-down needs to be brutally murdered because it won't fucking die on its own.[311] (Shouldn't you be wrecking Australia's economy right now?)
• Michelle Malkin: Sees which way the wind is blowing and announced she would be "pulling the lever for Donald Trump." This from the woman who called him a "conservafraud" two years before. Others might have taken offense at Trump calling them "born stupid", but not Malkin: she couldn't Stump The Trump, and hopefully gained "wisdom" from the experience.[312]
• Ted Nugent: Of course, no collection of wingnuts would be complete without Nugent.[313] Political life lessons from him are like filling the seats at the BET awards with KKK members.
• Mehmet Oz - He looks healthy to me! What do you think, studio audience?
• Dennis Prager: Admits he only supports Trump out of hate for the left. One of the most adamantly anti-Trump talk show hosts of the past year was, in fact... Dennis Prager.[314]
• Dan Quayle: The people who know what the job actually entails want nothing to do with Trump.[315] That should tell you everything you need to know. Dan Quayle does, so there's that.[316]
• Donald Rumsfeld: Trump's not doing so well in endorsements; he'll take what he can get.[317] Let's speculate on other stupid endorsements he may get. Lynndie England? Ollie North? Is G. Gordon Liddy dead yet?
• Michael Savage: Called Trump "the Winston Churchill of our time."[318] We live in savage times indeed.
• Phyllis Schlafly: Marital rape supporter stay-at-home mom and Equal Rights Amendment opponent.[319] Now deceased.
• Ben Stein: Once a flack, always a flack. "He wants a peaceful, calm America."[320]
• Milo Yiannopoulos: Refers to Trump as "Daddy".[321] As the official spokesman for the Internet's sewer, Yiannopoulos half-jokingly yearns for a God-Emperor Trump to transform America into some sort of a fascist monarchy.[322]
• Kanye West: Trump's token African-American.

Similar people

• Benito Mussolini: Trump has adopted from him, consciously or not, many of the same gestures, rhetoric, body language, scapegoating tendencies, and authoritarian impulses all the way back when he was first a candidate for president.[323] As President, these parallels are now no longer just parallels, but profoundly problematic executive policy.[324]
• Silvio Berlusconi: Il Trump Italiano. Just subtract a foot of height and add underage Moroccan prostitutes.
• Boris Johnson: British Trump, from the anti-Obama racism and anti-immigrant stances to the terrible hair and larger-than-life image as a media personality. As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris also caught flak for his less than stellar response to the coronavirus pandemic and tested positive for COVID-19.[325] He also purges members of his own party for disagreeing with his policies, causing some of his ministers to also resign in protest.[326][327] He also ran afoul of the Supreme Court, which unanimously found he illegally dismissed parliament to prevent them from scrutinizing his no-deal Brexit plan.[328]
• Rodrigo Duterte: President of the Philippines who's also the oldest to be elected to their respective countries' highest office. He's been called the "Trump of the East" due to both being "self-professed political outsiders with a penchant for tough talk and shocking turns of phrase." They're known for misogynistic comments, outlandish bombast, impulsive and violent rhetoric, and being in favor of the death penalty for drug users.[329]
• Andrej Babiš: The Czech Prime Minister, who changed the tax system to benefit himself, has fingers all over the media, dominates the agriculture industry, and keeps trying to screw with his political opponents while complaining about entrenched corruption, insulting his critics, and inflaming anti-Muslim/refugee sentiment.[330][331]
• Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's most dangerous man who ended up winning the election, Jair reads like he was bred from a Trump cloning factory: he once said to a woman who accused him of rape, "I would never rape you because you aren't worth it." He's incited violence from his supporters, and he is a notoriously homophobic racist and misogynist, an incendiary reactionary on every social issue imaginable; he praised a dictator (Alberto Fujimori) for strong leadership, paid homage to a fascist colonel who tortured dissidents (including former President Dilma Rousseff), and repeatedly scapegoats society's ills on the weak and vulnerable. He even says "the only difference [between me and Trump] is that I'm richer!"[332][333][334][335]
• Doug Ford: Canadian premier of Ontario, a "businessman turned anti-establishment politician", a "son of a wealthy entrepreneur" who "rails against elites" and "often shuns expertise". But similar to Boris,[336][337] He also awards family friends and political allies with patronage,[338] and also attacks basic democracy by willfully ignoring court rulings in defiance of what the people say, as he changed the size of the Toronto city council to prevent them from voting against his policies in defiance of the courts saying such a thing was unconstitutional.[339]
• Sebastián Piñera: President of Chile, another businessman-turned-chief of state, who resembles 2020-stage Trump, as an outright authoritarian who ordered the deployment of the military against peaceful protesters.

See also

Spawn of Trump

• Authoritarianism of Donald Trump
• COVID-19 pandemic#Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine… Doctor Trump
• Foreign policy of Donald Trump
• Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump
• Presidential candidacy of Donald Trump
• Rhetoric of Donald Trump
• Conservapedia:Donald Trump achievements — the go-to source to prove that little has been achieved since January 20, 2017.

Trump shell companies

• Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House — Michael Wolff's book about the Trump campaign and Trump's first year in office.
• Know Nothing Party: Rick Perry publicly called Trump a "Know Nothing" shortly after Trump announced his candidacy.[340] (And when Rick Perry thinks you've gone out to lunch, well…)
• Ultracrepidarian. Also, hire ghost writers to write bestseller books in your name about how smart and rich you are.[341]
• Nepotism — his daughter (Ivanka Trump) and son-in-law (Jared Kushner) are advisors to the President and are unable to get more than temporary security clearances due to being possible blackmail candidates.[342]
• Paradise Papers — offshore money, which may or may not have been used for tax fraud, and happened to have named 12 filthy rich men in Trump's orbit.
• Pissgate
• Secure the border

Trump, the game

So, sue me.

• Fun:A day in the life of Donald J. Trump
• Fun:Quantum Trump
• Fun:Trump insult generator
• Fun:Trump synonym generator
• Fun:Trump tweet generator

Trump subsidiaries

• Patrick Buchanan: A failed paleoconservative presidential candidate who shares many of the same nationalistic ideas about free trade, foreign policy, and immigration.[343] Naturally, he was an early and enthusiastic Trump supporter.[344] (Buchanan and Trump were opponents in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries.) And what do you know?[345]
• Charles Coughlin: An American Catholic priest who became the granddaddy of right-wing populism, nationalistic demagoguery, and globalist conspiracies.
• Paul LePage: I miss the old LePage, straight from the 'Go LePage, talkin' 'bout the soul LePage, set all his goals LePage,[346][347] I hate the new LePage, the bad mood LePage, the always-rude LePage, spaz in the news LePage[348][349][350][351]
• Joseph McCarthy: There are at least 40 million illegal immigrants. Some people say there are 30 million illegal immigrants. It's probably somewhere in the middle. 32, 33, 34 million.[352]
• Richard Nixon: Who indirectly led to the bastard even having a chance at the presidency due to Roger Ailes and the Southern Strategy.
• Sarah Palin: Basically a Nostra-dumbass. She foretold Trump without even knowing it.
• Ronald Reagan: A B-radio and film personality who completely changed his politics to appease his masters at GE TV theater. He was picked out of a hat because the name had a high recognition value. He didn't actually decide anything; he just read the lines he was given.
• Shinzō Abe: He is a far-right nationalist and former prime minister in Japan. He is often referred to as "Trump before Trump".
• George Wallace: The OG non-PC presidential candidate. At least Wallace didn't use racist dog-whistles. (He told voters exactly what they wanted to hear, regardless of how despicable it was!)

External links

• "Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement", The Hollywood Reporter.
• "Donald Trump: 'I Could ... Shoot Somebody, And I Wouldn't Lose Any Voters'" — We're not sure the world is ready for a mad emperor Gordon Gekko.
• "The End of the World" — a 1958 episode from a TV show featuring a conman named Walter Trump, eerily similar[353]
• Sesame Street mocking Trump: Ronald Grump Builds The Grump Tower, Grouch Apprentice with Donald Grump. Trump is so petty, this is why he wants to destroy the National Endowment for the Arts, which funds Sesame Street.[354]
• Match of the Millennium. Trump Alert!
• Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations
• How intelligent is Donald Trump?
• The many nicknames of President Donald J. Trump.
• In four years, President Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims: The Fact Checker’s database of the false or misleading claims made by President Trump while in office. (Updated Jan. 20, 2021) The Washington Post.

Trump language

• His insults toward other candidates, The New York Times.
• The language he uses – is it "bigly" or "big league"? Neither — it's big lie.
• Donald Trump limerick generator
• Donald Trump Insult Generator, TIME.

Videos

• Never forget.
• RNC Prays For Democratic Defeat, Trump Victory - The fact that they're literally praying in an empty room is a powerful statement. So alone in their righteous anger.
• Donald Trump is the President!
• Building Trump's Wall. The B1M.
• The Tsar Spangled Banner. Sheet Music Boss.
• Donald, where's your trousers? Performed by Garret Dillahunt (as John Henry) and Mackenzie Smith (as Savannah Weaver) in Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Notes

1. Senate was 57-43. While annoyingly not enough for rightful conviction, it still had the largest proportion of opposition voting to convict than ever before. Damn.
2. Tech Times gives a brief rundown, not to mention the time when "Trump" wrestled "Rosie O'Donnell" in a painful moment for WWE.

3. “” [...] I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]... I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet. Just kiss... I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything [to women]... grab them by the pussy... You can do anything.

   —Donald Trump

4. But which dictator wasn't a Nobel prize nominee?[20]
5. Although Trump did not win the popular vote.[25]
6. One must, however, take into consideration these facts:
   • Trump won the Rust Belt and Appalachia, both impoverished, majority-white areas formerly reliant on unionized blue-collar jobs and both key battleground areas;
   • Trump received the highest proportion of the (shrinking) union vote (43% for the Republicans vs. 51% for the Democrats) a Republican has ever received since 1976 (38% vs. 63%, respectively); such a vote has steadily grown since that year;
   • At the same time, the Democratic vote has declined due to them steadily not being able to mobilize their traditional bases, due to various factors from the end of door-to-door canvassing to voter ID laws. ("Who Put Trump in the White House?", Jacobin.)
   • Trump's most loyal supporters are small-business owners, who are the demographic more receptive to the kind of racial and economic resentment he rode his coattails to the White House on.("The Revenge of Joe the Plumber", Jacobin.)
7. In fact, quote: "Donald Trump supporters are 4.2 times more likely to tweet about the New World Order than Hillary Clinton supporters. Thirty-nine percent of people who tweeted the hashtag #NewWorldOrder followed Trump's Twitter account. Almost 32 percent who tweeted about #FalseFlag—that shootings and terror attacks like the Sandy Hook or Orlando massacres were staged by the government—followed Trump on social media. About 10 percent of the #FalseFlag tweeters followed Clinton."
8. Our favorite is when Romney called him out as a fellow politician and a businessman. Trump put on a freaking infomercial showcasing Trump Magazine, Trump Steaks, and Trump Wine/Vodka—Most of which are fake in one way or another. The steaks were probably bought from a local butcher since they are no longer sold anywhere. The magazine he referenced was a different one from the one Romney said had failed. It has basically no distribution, existing only as a table decoration for one of his resorts. He's like that Tai Lopez guy in the YouTube ads bragging about his library and his cars; he needs to maintain the illusion to keep his business going.
9. For a more in-depth and nuanced look on the deceptive promise of free trade, there is this excellent DW documentary.
10. The worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, ever!
11. Although on July 4th, 2019, he finally did get his parade- during which he made a speech where he strangely claimed that the US military "took over airports" during the War of 1812...
12. It should be noted that this isn't necessarily a good idea. First off, the "state lines" thing isn't due to federal law — it's a state issue. Each state has its own rules and regulations for what it considers acceptable insurance policy levels; this is the cause of the so-called "state lines". Second, forcing a state to follow another state's lower policy levels could cause problems--this document summarizes these issues.
13. His life's work has been about creating things and spaces exclusively for the wealthy. Trump Tower—the way the interior is laid out—is probably actually a perfect illustration of how Trump thinks about politics: he thinks about the American Dream in terms of creating opportunities for people to ride in gold-plated elevators (there are literally gold-plated elevators). This might also explain something about his preoccupation with China.
14. He faces lawsuits for possible violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

References

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3. Jefferson's Letter to Peter Carr. Yale Law School, "Avalon Project"
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5. Was Trump Impeached With More Votes Than Any Other US President? Snopes.
6. "The Cruelty Is the Point," Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
7. 'I am the chosen one': Trump again plays on messianic claims as he embraces 'King of Israel' by Sarah Pulliam Bailey (August 21, 2019 at 12:35 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
8. See the Wikipedia article on Business career of Donald Trump.
9. A look at Trump's most failed businesses, according to his tax records. Business Insider.
10. Trump Lives by Ratings. He Won't Like This One. by Annie Karni (1 April 2019) The New York Times.
11. Trump's failure to condemn Virginia neo-Nazis is shocking but not surprising by David Smith (14 August 2017) The Guardian.
12. How the President and Neo-Nazis Work Hand in Hand by Melissa Ryan (31 January 2018) The Progressive.
13. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists celebrate Trump's SOTU: David Duke and Richard Spencer, among others 'thanked' the US president for his address. (31 Jan 2018) Al Jazeera.
14. Trump Named Honorary Russian Cossack (Nov. 10, 2016) The Moscow Times.
15. See the Wikipedia article on Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape.
16. What History Teaches Us About Demagogues Like The Donald (June 20, 2016 3:05 PM EDT) Time.
17. Democrats Need to Wake Up: The Trump Movement Is Shot Through With Fascism by Rich Benjamin (September 27 2020, 4:30 p.m.) The Intercept
18. Trumpism is American fascism by Michael Gerson (Feb. 1, 2021 at 11:44 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
19. Bob Corker accused Trump supporters of being 'cultish'. He helped create the cult. by Eugene Scott (June 14, 2018 at 9:11 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
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21. Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by Eliza Collins (02/03/2016 04:05 PM EST) Politico.
22. This week should put the nail in the coffin for 'both sides' journalism by Margaret Sullivan (August 16, 2017) The Washington Post.
23. News Coverage of the 2016 General Election: How the Press Failed the Voters by Thomas E. Patterson (December 7, 2016, 5:00 am) Shorenstein Center.
24. More Than 160 Republican Leaders Don't Support Donald Trump. Here's When They Reached Their Breaking Point. by Karen Yourish (29 August 2016) The New York Times.
25. It's official: Clinton swamps Trump in popular vote by Gregory Krieg (Updated 1034 GMT (1834 HKT) December 22, 2016) CNN.
26. This is what we learned by counting the women's marches by Erica Chenoweth & Jeremy Pressman (Feb. 7, 2017, at 2:00 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
27. The Mythology Of Trump's 'Working Class' Support
28. Trump’s Long History With Conspiracy Theories, FactCheck.org, October 20 2020
29. Ben Collins, "Like Donald Trump? You'll Love the Illuminati.", The Daily Beast, Aug. 16, 2016
30. Matt Viser and Tracy Jan, "Warnings of conspiracy stoke anger among Trump faithful", The Boston Globe
31. Amy Davidson, "Melania Trump, Conspiracy Theorist", The New Yorker
32. BBC News, "US election: Trump presidency 'dangerous', says UN rights chief", 12 October 2016.
33. Trump Tried to Blur Responsibility for His Family Separation Policy in Final Debate. New York Times.
34. New documents reveal chaos behind Trump's family separation policy. CBS News.
35. "Fears of crackdown on US journalism as Trump ally removes editorial 'firewall'," The Guardian
36. "Teargassed, beaten up, arrested: what freedom of the press looks like in the US right now," Poppy Noor, The Guardian
37. "Trump Says Reporters Covering Protests Deserve to Be Attacked," Johnathan Chait, New York Magazine
38. "Trump defends supporters accused in deadly clashes," BBC News
39. "“There has to be retribution”: Trump’s chilling comments about extrajudicial killings, briefly explained," Aaron Rupar, Vox
40. "Trump Boasts About U.S. Marshals Killing ‘Antifa’ Suspect," Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post
41. "Trump Brags About U.S. Marshals Killing an Antifa Activist in Violent Raid," Molly Olmstead, Slate
42. "Trump Boasts About Federal Task Force Killing Anti-Fascist Wanted for Murder in Portland," Robert Mackey, The Intercept
43. "Donald Trump Sounds So Happy Describing How His Government Killed a Man," Tim Murphy, Mother Jones
44. "Trump gloats about US Marshals' killing of Portland 'antifa' suspect," Jason Hanna and Josh Campbell, CNN
45. "President Trump boasts of law enforcement who killed Portland protester: They didn’t want to arrest him," Ryan Haas, OPB
46. "Trump Endorses Extrajudicial Executions: Killing of Antifa Suspect Was Retribution," Daniel Politi, Slate
47. "Violence in the name of Trump," Jon Swaine and Juweek Adolphe, The Guardian
48. "'No Blame?' ABC News finds 54 cases invoking 'Trump' in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults," Mike Levine, ABCNews
49. "Trump Defends 17-Year-Old Supporter Accused of Killing Two," Maggie Haberman, New York Times
50. Trump's hate map, America's Voice
51. "Donald Trump is the accelerant," Fabiola Cineas Vox
52. "‘It was like being preyed upon’: Portland protesters say federal officers in unmarked vans are detaining them," Katie Shepherd and Mark Berman, Washington Post
53. "Federal Officers Deployed By Trump Admin Are “Kidnapping” Protesters In Portland," Johanna Silver and Matty Greene, Now This News
54. "Trump Sent Cops to Portland and They're ‘Kidnapping People off the Streets," Paul Blest, Vice News
55. "As Protests Swell, Trump Vows To Unleash Military Against Anti-Racist Demonstrations," Jessica Schulberg, Ryan J. Reilly, Richard Kim, and George Zornick, Huffington Post
56. "Trump threatens to end protests with military," Caitlin Oprysko, Politico
57. "Journalists Become Targets While Covering America’s Unraveling," Charlotte Klein, Vanity Fair
58. "Trump revels in "beautiful sight" of law enforcement grabbing journalist," Kathryn Watson, CBS News
59. "Portland mayor tear-gassed by federal agents as protests continue," Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBCNews
60. "Peaceful Protesters Tear-Gassed To Clear Way For Trump Church Photo-Op," Tom Gjelten, NPR
61. "The White House Tear-Gassed Protesters So Trump Could Have a Photo Op," Alison Durkee, Vanity Fair
62. "Trump campaign demands story retractions on tear gas use," Al Jazeera
63. Profiting off the Presidency: Trump’s Violations of the Emoluments Clauses. American Constitution Society.
64. Trump’s businesses have charged the Secret Service more than $1.1 million, including for rooms in a club shuttered for the pandemic. Inquirer.
65. 500 Visits to Trump golf properties. Citizens for Ethics.
66. Trump's Suite of Power. TIME.
67. Trump’s businesses bring in $1.9bn in revenue during first three years of presidency, report reveals. The Independent.
68. Bombs, missiles falling at record pace in long-running Afghanistan war. USA Today.
69. US airstrikes in Afghanistan near record high after Trump vows to hit enemy hard. Stars and Stripes.
70. Trump, the War President, Leaves a Trail of Civilians Dead in Yemen. The Intercept.
71. The Trump Administration's Air Strikes in Somalia Are On the Rise Again—and Civilians Are Paying the Price. TIME.
72. Trump revokes Obama rule on reporting drone strike deaths. BBC News.
73. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54094559
74. 5 Ways the Trump Administration’s Policy Failures Compounded the Coronavirus-Induced Economic Crisis. Center for American Progress.
75. Why masks are (still) politicized in America. Vox.
76. Trump’s refusal to wear a mask is helping politicize a crucial tool for fighting virus. Boston Globe.
77. Trump, stung by midterms and nervous about Mueller, retreats from traditional presidential duties. Los Angeles Times. November 13, 2018.
78. Democrats seize House control, but Trump's GOP holds Senate. Associated Press. November 7, 2018.
79. F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia by Adam Goldman et al. (Jan. 11, 2019) The New York Times.
80. Trump acquitted of both charges in Senate impeachment trial. CNBC.
81. US election results 2020: Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump to win presidency. The Guardian.
82. Biden's popular-vote lead grows to more than 7 million as Trump continues to tweet electoral disinformation. Business Insider.
83. Trump loves to win but keeps losing election lawsuits. Associated Press.
84. 'Trump heard on phone call urging Georgia officials to "find" enough votes to overturn presidential results. Melissa Quinn & Tim Perry, Jan. 4, 2021, CBS News
85. Buffett challenges Trump to exchange tax returns, slams GOP nominee's business record August 2, 2016 Reuters.
86. A Definitive History Of Trump Steaks™ ThinkProgress
87. Newsweek: How much Trump is worth? Depends on how he feels.
88. Because, if there's any business where the owners can't control income and expenditures, and where cash flow is at a trickle, IT'S A CASINO!
89. Campbell, Colin, "DONALD TRUMP: 'My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars'", Business Insider (10/26/15, 9:23 AM). He received a "small loan of a million dollars" (pocket change, really) from his multi-millionaire real estate developer father, who was named — this is a fact — Frederick Christ Trump.
90. D'Antonio, Michael, "The Quiet Power Behind the Trump Throne", 10/15/15.
91. Drexler, Peggy, "Lewandowski firing: Power of Ivanka?", CNN (6/20/16, Updated 8:04 PM ET). He obviously resisted firing Corey for a long time. According to CNN, his own daughter (the only competent member in the family) had to threaten to leave the campaign to get him to do it.
92. Andrew Kaczynski and Christopher Massie, "Sad! Money: Trump's Many Incorrect Predictions On The Economy", Buzzfeed (Apr. 4, 2016, at 1:30 p.m.).
93. Дональд на нашей стороне! by ОАО "Ураласбест" (June 24, 2018 at 10:28 PM) Facebook (archived from 11 Jul 2018 10:20:00 UTC).
94. 'Approved by Donald Trump': Asbestos sold by Russian company is branded with the president's face by Eli Rosenberg (July 11, 2018) at 9:00 AM) The Washington Post.
95. Did a Russian Asbestos Company Put Trump's Face on Their Product? A Russian asbestos producer shared a photograph of their product to social media with a seal of Donald Trump's face and the text "Approved by Donald Trump".] by Alex Kasprak (20 July 2018) Snopes.
96. Until the list of what is unacceptable is short enough to manage
97. "Donald Trump and the mob" by Chris Frates (Updated 12:37 PM ET, Fri July 31, 2015) CNN'.
98. Blaze Destroyed Trump Testimony For Roy Cohn: Lawyer's disbarment records lost in 2015 fire May 17, 2016 The Smoking Gun.
99. Former Mafia-linked figure describes association with Trump by Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger (May 17, 2016) The Washington Post.
100. Trump Limos Were Built With A Hood Ornament: Developer's first licensing deal was with New York Mafia figure (September 22, 2015) The Smoking Gun.
101. "Cruz suggests Trump has Mafia ties". New York Post. 28 February 2016.
102. Trump And Family 'Material Witnesses' To Huge Tax Avoidance Scheme By Mobbed-Up Partner. Huh! by Doktor Zoom (July 15, 2016 - 12:20pm) Wonkette.
103. New Evidence Donald Trump Didn't Pay Taxes by David Cay Johnston (06.14.16 10:00 PM ET) The Daily Beast.
104. Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father by David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner (Oct. 2, 2018) The New York Times.
105. New York state tax department reviewing fraud allegations involving Trump in NYT article by Brian Schwartz (October 2, 2018) CNBC.
106. Just What Were Donald Trump's Ties to the Mob? I've spent years investigating, and here's what's known by David Cay Johnston (May 22, 2016) Politico Magazine.
107. Donald Trump Called Asbestos Poisoning a Mob-Led Conspiracy, Now His EPA Won't Evaluate Asbestos Already in Homes by Nicole Goodkind (6/7/18 at 6:10 AM) Newsweek.
108. Trump: The Art of the Comeback by Donald J. Trump & Kate Bohner (1997) Times Books. ISBN 0812929640. pp. 83-84.
109. The Many Times Donald Trump Has Lied About His Mob Connections: He apparently lied under oath to deny he associated with organized crime figures by David Corn (Sep. 23, 2016, 5:00 AM) Mother Jones.
110. New Data on Asbestos Indicate Cover-Up of Effects on Workers by Bill Richards (November 12, 1978) Washington Post.
111. Donald Trump Denies Dangers of Asbestos, Promotes Its Strength October 9, 2015, Sokolove Law
112. Donald Trump Paid $1.4 Million in a Dispute Over Undocumented Workers. Read the Newly Unsealed Legal Papers Time. November 28, 2017
113. Dirty money: Trump and the Kazakh connection: FT probe finds evidence a Trump venture has links to alleged laundering network by Tom Burgis (October 19, 2016) Financial Times.
114. Did @RealDonaldTrump engage in extended/massive money laundering? by A Siegel (2017/01/08 · 16:18) Dail Kos.
115. "Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Trolls Trump: 'I Bailed You Out Twice'". msn.com.
116. Emma Graham-Harrison. "Donald Trump is a disgrace to his country, says billionaire Saudi prince". The Guardian.
117. Trump hosted 'small-time mobster' Joey 'No Socks' Cinque at New Year's party. Joseph Cinque – reportedly a convicted felon who bestows hospitality awards, often to Trump – was seen at president-elect's New Year's bash at Mar-a-Lago by Lauren Gambino (Tuesday 3 January 2017 13.52 EST) The Guardian.
118. The Many Times Donald Trump Has Lied About His Mob Connections: He apparently lied under oath to deny he associated with organized crime figures by David Corn (Sep. 23, 2016, 5:00 AM) Mother Jones.
119. Donald Trump's Golfcourse, Ramblers Scotland
120. See the Wikipedia article on Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards.
121. Donald Trump blasts Lord Alan Sugar in Twitter wind farm spat, The Telegraph
122. Trump's top example of foreign experience: A Scottish golf course losing millions by Jenna Johnson (June 22 at 2:57 PM) Washington Post.
123. https://www.lbc.co.uk/politics/us-election/donald-trump/donald-trumps-bizarre-speech-smartest-people/
124. Stuart, Tessa, "Meet the Trump University Teacher at Center of Class-Action Suit", Rolling Stones 6.3.16.
125. Tales from the Trump University legal vault by Maggie Severns (03/03/16 12:54 PM EST) Politico.
126. Zadronsky, Brandy, "What Trump Knew About 'Kardashian U'", Daily Beast (5/23/16 at 10:13 PM ET).
127. State educrats give failing grade to Donald Trump's 'misleading' Trump University by Douglas Feiden (Thursday, April 15, 2010, 11:27 PM) New York Daily News. Congratulations, you've just earned a degree from Trump University. It's just as useless as it sounds.
128. New York judge finds Donald Trump liable for unlicensed school by Karen Freifeld (Thu Oct 16, 2014, 4:14 pm EDT) Reuters.
129. Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman and Dalton Bennett, "Donald Trump said 'university' was all about education. Actually, its goal was: 'Sell, sell, sell!'", WaPo (7/4/16 at 4:52 PM).
130. Trump University 2010 Playbook. Ein Volk. Ein Reich. Ein Führer. One Company. One Culture. One Goal.
131. Declaration of Ronald Schnackenberg in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification United States District Court, Southern California District, Case 3:13-cv-02519-GPC-WVG.
132. Trump University's ex-students give enterprise a failing grade by Nanette Asimov (March 10, 2016 Updated: March 10, 2016 9:52am) San Francisco Chronicle. "If the Democratic Party hasn't recruited a group of disgruntled Trump University students to film a commercial, they should be sued for malpractice." — Republican Bill Whalen a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution
133. Judge Curiel Rules Trump Must Face Trial for Racketeering in Trump University Suit by Frank DiPrima (2016/08/02 · 19:34) Daily Kos.
134. East, Kristen, "Trump attacks 'Mexican' judge in Trump U lawsuit", Politico (05/28/16 09:55 AM EDT). THEY'RE NOT SENDING THEIR BEST PEOPLE!!... oh wait, they are.
135. "Crooked Donald". freethoughtblogs.com. 30 June 2016. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.
136. Donald Trump's pending lawsuits and his presidency
137. Law professor: Trump can be impeached for fraud and racketeering before he even takes office
138. Donald Trump Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Trump University Settlement by Kenneth Lovett & Nancy Dillon (Nov 18, 2016 | 8:35 PM) New York Daily News.
139. Quackwatch: "The PrivaTest: Another Scheme to Sell You Something"
140. Donald Trump's Naturopathic Vitamin and Diet Pyramid Scheme by Taylor Hermes (25 August 2015) Naturopathic Diaries.
141. The Trump Network (May 21, 2009)
142. "Bankers Heart". Public Art and Architecture from Around the World.
143. Does Trump own Bank of America Building in San Francisco? by Kathleen Pender (June 23, 2015) San Francisco Chronicle.
144. Donald Trump: The Least Charitable Billionaire In The World by Ben Davis (2015) NewsExaminer.
145. Trump Made No Donations To 9/11 Charities: Billionaire was a zero in aftermath of terror attack (November 3, 2015) The Smoking Gun.
146. "When It Came To September 11 Charity, Billionaire Donald Trump Actually Had His Hand Out", The Smoking Gun 2.17.16.
147. Feds Gave Donald a Quick Bundle: He's among titans who got 9-11 funds set for small biz by Russ Buettner (Sunday, January 29, 2006, 12:00 AM) New York Daily News.
148. Trump: The Least Charitable Billionaire: The Donald is a miser, not an "ardent philanthropist". (April 12, 2011) The Smoking Gun.
149. There's something fishy about Donald Trump's charitable donations by Marcia Dunn (Aug. 2, 2015, 11:04 AM) Business Insider.
150. Donald Trump's Donations Put Him in Line for Conservation Tax Breaks: Republican front-runner frequently donates development rights for properties, giving him the ability to claim a tax break in return by Richard Rubin (Updated March 10, 2016 10:41 p.m. ET) Wall Street Journal.
151. Town Board Discusses Trump Park's Dog Park by Plamena Pesheva (June 25, 2010 1:05 am ET) Yorktown-Somers Patch.
152. Trump's pattern of stiffing charities by Dana Milbank (June 1, 2016) Washington Post.
153. Trump promised millions to charity. We found less than $10,000 over 7 years by David A. Fahrenthold (June 28, 2016) Washington Post.
154. Donald Trump Still A Miser, Tax Return Shows: Billionaire's foundation again staked by NYC ticket scalper January 15, 2016 The Smoking Gun.
155. Florida AG asked Trump for donation before nixing fraud case by Jeff Horwitz et al. June 6, 2016 Associated Press.
156. Fahrenthold, David A., "Four months after fundraiser, Trump says he gave $1 million to veterans group", WaPo 5.24.16.
157. Ben Schreckinger, "Trump's charity claims could violate fraud laws", Politico (06/20/16 05:18 AM EDT ).
158. Trump Foundation lacks the certification required for charities that solicit money by David A. Fahrenthold (September 29 at 8:25 PM) Washington Post.
159. Trump Foundation Ordered by New York AG to Stop Fundraising by Katy Tur and Benjy Sarlin (Oct 3, 2016, 1:15 pm ET) NBC News.
160. End NY fundraising, Trump foundation told
161. New York's tax agency opens own probe of Trump Foundation by David A. Fahrenthold (July 20, 2018) The Washington Post.
162. Get Trump's tax returns, progressive group tells House Dems. NBC News. January 3, 2019.
163. In a new book, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen describes alleged episodes of racism and says president likes how Putin runs Russia by Ashley Parker & Rosalind S. Helderman (September 5, 2020, at 5:26 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
164. "James Dobson Says of Donald Trump: “I Know the Person Who Led Him to Christ”". patheos.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.
165. Why you should know about the New Thought movement by Christopher H. Evans (February 15, 2017 10.21pm EST) The Conversation.
166. Trump says Bible is his favorite book but declines to share favorite verse by Eugene Scott (Updated 12:31 PM ET, Thu August 27, 2015) CNN. The book of Job, now back to work, you!.
167. Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. endorses Trump by Robert Costa and Jenna Johnson (January 26, 2016) The Washington Post.
168. "Donald Trump accidentally put money in the Communion plate at an Iowa church". independent.co.uk. 1 February 2016. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.
169. Donald Trump and nine other teetotalling moguls Forbes
170. "Christian Liar David Barton: You'll Have to Answer to God One Day, So Vote for Donald Trump". patheos.com.
171. Sinclair, Harriet (July 18, 2016). "Trump to discuss US safety at Republican Convention 2016 in wake of terrorism and gun violence". International Business Times.
172. Weiss, Phillip, "Adelson will mold Rubio into 'perfect little puppet'", Mondoweiss 10.13.15. Remember, Shelly is even richer and crazier than Trump. He wants to nuke Iran and wishes he had served in the Israeli military instead of the U.S. Army.
173. Strauss, Daniel, "Donald Trump sends Club for Growth cease and desist letter", Politico (09/22/15 03:00 PM EDT, Updated 09/22/15 03:51 PM EDT).
174. "Fox News Calls Trump A Truther", via The Young Turks' official YouTube channel. Published on October 20, 2015.
175. "Donald Trump: The Latest 9/11 Truther", from Alex Jones's official YouTube channel. Published October 20, 2015.
176. David Weigel. "Trump's foes say he's a 9/11 truther. Truthers would disagree.". Washington Post. February 15, 2016.
177. Hains, Tim, "Donald Trump on 9/11: 'You Will Find Out Who Really Knocked Down The World Trade Center'", RCP 2.17.16.
178. "Congress Releases Secret 9/11 Document Detailing Possible Saudi Ties to Al Qaeda" (16 July 2016). New York Times.
179. "Trump Orders Government to Stop Work on Y2K Bug, 17 Years Later", Bloomberg.
180. "Supreme court rules states can collect sales tax from online retailers", The Guardian. "The Trump administration had urged the justices to side with South Dakota."
181. G7: Fact-checking Trump's tweets about trade. BBC News. June 11th, 2018.
182. Trump Cancels Washington DC's Military Parade Over High Costs. BBC News. August 17, 2018.
183. Trump signs bill to upgrade Martin Luther King's birthplace to national historic park. USA Today. January 8, 2018.
184. Bump Stocks (February 21, 2019) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
185. Trump floats idea to secure elections: 'It's always good to have a paper backup' by Ayanna Alexander (03/06/2018 05:15 PM EST) Politico.
186. Trump doesn't believe his own damaging rants about 'fake news' by Margaret Sullivan (February 4, 2019) The Washington Post.
187. Trump's speech: Less analytical, more sure than predecessors. Associated Press. February 11, 2019. Accessed February 14, 2019.
188. "Flirtations with fascism" Butterflies and Wheels.
189. As @DavidChalian implies, Trump knows nothing at all about what he calls "the plan". Never has more ignorance been stuffed inside one head. by @tribelaw (4:16 AM - 21 Apr 2017) Twitter.
190. What we talk about when we talk about Donald Trump and 'gaslighting' by Caitlin Gibson (January 27 at 1:25 PM) The Washington Post.
191. Trump just proved he's a pathological liar. Which part is worse: The lying or the pathology? by Tom Toles (November 28, 2016) The Washington Post.
192. Bernie Sanders: Donald Trump is 'pathological liar': 'He changes his mind every single day' by Ben Kentish (Friday 9 December 2016) The Independent.
193. Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year. by Glenn Kessler (Jan. 23, 2021 at 3:35 p.m. PST) The Washington Post.
194. We Asked a Psychologist Whether Donald Trump Is a Pathological Liar by Celeste Katz (May 04, 2016) Mic.
195. Temperament Tantrum: Some say President Donald Trump's personality isn't just flawed, it's dangerous by Olive Murphy (Jan. 27, 2017, at 6:00 a.m.) U.S. News & World Report.
196. Harvard professor says there are 'grave concerns' about Donald Trump's mental stability: 'An apparent inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality leads us to question his fitness for the immense responsibilities of the office' by Lucy Pasha-Robinson (Sunday 18 December 2016) The Independent.
197. 8,000+ mental health professionals tell Sen. Schumer Trump is mentally ill and must be removed by Hal Brown (2017/01/30 · 06:57) Daily Kos.
198. Citizen Therapists Against Trumpism
199. An Eminent Psychiatrist Demurs on Trump's Mental State by Allen Frances (February 15, 2017) The New York Times.
200. The psychiatrist who wrote the definition of narcissistic personality disorder says Trump doesn't have it: Calling the president 'mentally ill' is an insult to people who have genuine conditions, says Professor Allen Frances by Harry Cockburn (Thursday 16 February 2017 07:43 GMT) The Independent.
201. Trump's cognitive deficits seem worse. We need to know if he has dementia: Psychologist by John Gartner (Published 3:15 p.m. ET April 9, 2019 | Updated 4:13 p.m. ET April 9, 2019) USA Today.
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203. Waldman, Paul, "How Donald Trump fooled the GOP into believing he 'tells it like it is'", The Week 9/11/15. Your racist uncle has been saying the exact same stuff as Trump on Facebook for years. Is he a media master too?
204. Sargent, Greg, "Morning Plum: Democrats want compromise. Republicans don't. That's bad for Democrats.", WaPo 11.14.14.
205. Engel, Pamela, "Donald Trump taunts Jeb Bush for ditching his glasses in favor of contacts", Business Insider (2/17/16, 11:40 AM).
206. Bump, Phillip, "Losers: A list by Donald Trump", WaPo 8.8.15.
207. Wilstein, Matt, "CNN Helps Trump Brand Jeb Bush as 'Low Energy'" Mediate (9/8/15 6:26 pm).
208. Merda, Chad, "Trump on Romney: 'He just choked, choked like a dog'", Chicago Sun Times.
209. Donald Trump Calls Mitt Romney 'Irrelevant' 'Choke Artist' by Paola Chavez & Veronica Stracqualursi (Mar 3, 2016, 2:40 PM ET) ABC News.
210. Pressler, J. Donald Trump, the Dunning-Kruger President. The Cut. January 9, 2017.
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212. Purtill, C. This psychological quirk could explain why Trump's least experienced lawyer feels so confident. Quartz. March 30, 2018.
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217. "Trump Flunks Immigration", WaPo.
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219. Meghashyam Mali "Trump: GOP rivals want to 'start World War III over Syria'", The Hill.
220. Juan González, Scott Anderson (August 12, 2016). "Donald Trump Claims Obama & Clinton Founded ISIS, But Bush Negotiated U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq". Democracy Now!
221. Savransky, Rebbecca, "Trump: Pence entitled to make mistakes, Hillary's not", The Hill (7/17/16 at 7:01 pm).
222. Donald J. Trump (May 3, 2013). "Tweet Number 330360556362018816". Twitter. "If Jon Stewart is so above it all & legit, why did he change his name from Jonathan Leibowitz? He should be proud of his heritage!"
223. The Independent: "Donald Trump calls Jon Stewart 'the most overrated joke on television' after broadcaster roasts Republican for his Isis claims"
224. Donald J. Trump (May 31, 2015). "Tweet Number 604838076586856448". Twitter. "All the haters and losers must admit that, unlike others, I never attacked dopey Jon Stewart for his phony last name. Would never do that!"
225. Donald J. Trump (October 31, 2015). "Tweet Number 660597552023228416". Twitter. ".@thehill John Oliver had his people call to ask me to be on his very boring and low rated show. I said "NO THANKS" Waste of time & energy!"
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231. Fred C. Trump, Postwar Master Builder of Housing for Middle Class, Dies at 93 by Tracie Rozhon (June 26, 1999) The New York Times.
232. Donald Trump Even Lies About Being Swedish (He's Actually German): A Swedish website teases the world's most famous comb-over for continuing to peddle his grandfather's fake origin story by Michael Daly (03.24.16 10:02 PM ET) The Daily Beast.
233. Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All: The Art of the Deal made America see Trump as a charmer with an unfailing knack for business. Tony Schwartz helped create that myth—and regrets it by Jane Mayer (July 25, 2016) The New Yorker.
234. "Read the Transcript of Donald Trump's Speech at the Al Smith Dinner", TIME
235. Tumulty, Karen; Costa, Robert; DelReal, Jose (July 19, 2016). "Scrutiny of Melania Trump's speech follows plagiarism allegations". The Washington Post.
236. Bump, Philip (July 19, 2016). "Melania Trump's speech appears to have cribbed from Michelle Obama's in 2008". The Washington Post.
237. Haberman, Maggie; Rappeport, Alan; Healy, Patrick (July 19, 2016). "Melania Trump's Speech Bears Striking Similarities to Michelle Obama's in 2008". The New York Times.
238. Engel, Pamela (July 19, 2016). "Melania Trump's speech appeared to lift from parts of Michelle Obama's 2008 convention address".
239. Allen, Cooper (July 19, 2016). "Was Melania Trump's speech plagiarized from Michelle Obama?". USA Today.
240. Haberman, Maggie; Rappeport, Alan; Healy, Patrick; Martin, Jonathan (July 19, 2016). "Questions Over Melania Trump's Speech Set Off Finger-Pointing". The New York Times. Paul Manafort: "This is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, she seeks out to demean her and take her down." Uhh?? OK??
241. Tatum, Sophie (July 19, 2016). "RNC official cites 'My Little Pony' to defend Melania Trump". CNN.
242. Apology from speechwriter for the #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes ominishambles speech by Meredith Melver (July 20, 2016) via Jon Sopel, BBC (9:47 AM · Jul 20, 2016) Twitter (archived from 11 Jun 2020 21:00:18 UTC).
243. Trump has referred to his Wharton degree as "super genius stuff". An admissions officer recalls it differently. by Michael Kranish (July 8, 2019, at 8:00 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
244. In secretly recorded audio, President Trump's sister says he has 'no principles' and 'you can't trust him' by Michael Kranish (August 22, 2020, at 6:51 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
245. See the Wikipedia article on 2019 college admissions bribery scandal.
246. Secretly recorded audio of Trump's sister prompts new call for investigation into his admission to Penn by Michael Kranish (August 28, 2020 at 12:50 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
247. AP FACT CHECK: Trump hails an exoneration not offered. Associated Press. March 25, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2019.
248. It's Not Just a "Russia" Investigation Anymore. Slate. March 8, 2018.
249. Maria Butina, Russian gun rights advocate, charged in the U.S. with acting as Russian Federation agent by Tom Jackman & Rosalind S. Helderman (July 16, 2018, at 3:28 PM) The Washington Post.
250. Trump has led a lot of organizations. Nearly all of them are now under investigation. The Chicago Tribune. December 15, 2018. Accessed February 5, 2019.
251. Trump Russia affair: Key questions answered. BBC News. December 12, 2018.
252. Russia Campaign 'Just One Tree in a Growing Forest', Rosenstein Says. The New York Times. July 19, 2018.
253. Mueller Delivers Report on Trump-Russia Investigation to Attorney General. The New York Times. March 22, 2019. Accessed March 22, 2019.
254. No collusion: Key takeaways from Mueller's Russia findings. Associated Press. March 25, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2019.
255. Mueller Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy, but Stops Short of Exonerating President on Obstruction. The New York Times. March 24, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2019.
256. Definition of Democratic backsliding
257. Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy
258. Declining trust in government is denting democracy
259. Energy, Russian Influence, and Democratic Backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe
260. Tesfaye S. (December 2, 2016). Fill the swamp! Donald Trump's voters don't seem upset by all the Wall Street insiders and D.C. lobbyists. Salon. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
261. Pereira, S. (November 5, 2017). Trump Administration Threatens National Parks and Monuments. Newsweek
262. Chris Christie confronted with his own vetting dossier by Jonathan Swan (June 23, 2019) Axios.
263. Behind the scenes: How Trump's team staffed the U.S. government Jonathan Swan (June 23, 2019) Axios.
264. "A new investigation reveals Trump ignored experts on Covid-19 for months", Aja Romano, Vox
265. "Trump officials ignored coronavirus warnings, ousted scientist says in complaint", Noam N. Levey and David S. Cloud
266. "Trump attacked Fauci's advice and boasted of ignoring government experts in his coronavirus response", Mia Jankowicz, Business Insider
267. "White House abandoned plan to send 650 million face masks across the U.S. in April, report says", Hannah Miao, CNBC
268. "Federal Program to Supply Coronavirus Tests to Nursing Homes Led to Unexpected Costs and Testing Hell", Andrew Jacobs, New York Times
269. "Of Course Trump Nixed a Masks Plan That Could've Eradicated COVID-19 in April", Bess Levin, Vanity Fair.
270. "The White House Stopped the Post Office From Sending Out Free Masks", Claire Lampen, The Cut
271. "An Oral History of the Pandemic Warnings Trump Ignored", Garrett M. Graff, Wired
272. "Why Trump Was Deaf to All the Warnings He Received", David A. Graham, The Atlantic.
273. "White House spokesperson confirms Trump is purging people: If we find them, we'll take appropriate action", John Haltiwanger, Business Insider.
274. "White House Confirms It's Purging Disloyal Employees From the Bowels of the Federal Government", Eric Katz, GovExec
275. "The dangerous consequences of Trump's oversight purge", Maeve Reston, CNN
276. "Trump Proceeds With Post-Impeachment Purge Amid Pandemic", New York Times
277. "Trump held six indoor rallies after acknowledging the coronavirus was airborne", by Grace Segers and Nicole Sganga, CBSNews.
278. "Please don't inject bleach": Trump's wild coronavirus claims prompt disbelief", Poppy Noor, The Guardian
279. "It's irresponsible and it's dangerous': Experts rip Trump's idea of injecting disinfectant to treat COVID-19", Jane C. Timm, NBCNews.
280. "Coronavirus: Outcry after Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment", BBC
281. "How Trump's Push to Reopen Schools Backfired", Eliza Shapiro, New York Times
282. "Trump threatens to cut funding for schools, slams CDC reopening guidelines as too tough and expensive", Christina Wilkie, CNBC
283. “It affects virtually nobody”: Trump erases coronavirus victims as US death toll hits 200,000", Aaron Rupar, Vox
284. "As nation surpasses 200,000 deaths, Trump keeps downplaying coronavirus", Ben Gittleson, ABCNews.
285. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-it-affects-virutally-nobody-trump-coronavirus-rally/ "Trump said coronavirus "affects virtually nobody", as U.S. surpasses 200,000 deaths", Caitlin O'Kane, CBSNews.
286. "Trump announces Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his pick for the Supreme Court", Seung Min Kim and Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post
287. "Trump's Symptoms Are Said to Be 'Very Concerning' as Virus Infects More G.O.P. Allies", Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, New York Times
288. Hanson, Hilary (October 3, 2020). "Trump's Doctors Reveal President Is Further Into COVID-19 Diagnosis Than Previously Announced". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
289. Pasquini, Maria (October 3, 2020). "Trump's Doctor Says 'We Are 72 Hours Into This Diagnosis,' Evades Questions on President's Fever". People. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
290. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/07/us/election-results
291. "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!" @realDonaldTrump on Twitter. (Archive)
292. 'Uncle Trump' Finds Fans in China. The New York Times. November 9, 2017. Accessed May 13, 2019.
293. Why does everyone call Donald Trump 'The Donald'? It's an interesting story. by Amy Argetsinger (September 1, 2015) The Washington Post.
294. "Donald Trump's 'John Miller' interview is even crazier than you think" (May 16, 2016), The Washington Post
295. Marc Fisher and Will Hobson, "Donald Trump masqueraded as publicist to brag about himself", WaPo 5.13.16.
296. The 7 most interesting aspects of Stormy Daniels's lawsuit against Trump by Aaron Blake (March 7, 2018 at 8:52 AM) The Washington Post.
297. Michael Avenatti Follows Up 2020 Talk by Workshopping Trump Nicknames on Twitter: 'Don the Con' by Josh Feldman (Jul 6^th, 2018, 11:38 am) Mediaite.
298. God Emperor Trump Facebook.
299. McCarthy, Tom (August 18, 2016). "Trump says he'll be known as 'Mr Brexit' despite poor poll showing – politics live". The Guardian.
300. Duckworth to Trump: I won't be lectured by a draft dodger. CNN. January 21, 2018.
301. Trump branded 'bunker boy' for 'hiding in the basement' and turning off White House lights: 'Total lack of leadership', Raw Story, June 1, 2020, Accessed June 1, 2020
302. Shearlaw, Maeve, "Rodman and North Korea: A Short History", The Guardian (9/30/14, 10.31 EDT). Say what you will about North Koreans, they're really solid on border control.
303. "Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio endorses Trump". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2016.
304. Joshua De Leon, "Coulter Endorses Trump – Says Bush, Rubio and Perry Are Midgets Who Would Doom GOP", Ring of Fire.
305. Nelson, Louis, "George Galloway: trump Better Than Clinton", Politico (06/07/16 01:25 PM EDT).
306. "The serial litigant finally says 'sorry'", Private Eye #1421.
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308. Ludlum, Judd, "The Truth About How Sean Hannity Covers Donald Trump", ThinkProgress (4/22/16 12:26 pm).
309. Michael, Brett, "Sean Hannity's Defense Of Trump Is Now Beyond Parody", Uproxx 10.8.16.
310. Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Says President-Elect Trump Called To Thank His Audience. Jones: Trump Says He Will "Be On In The Next Few Weeks" by Ben Dimiero ( November 14, 2016, 9:52 AM EST) Media Matters for America.
311. Tankersly, Jimm, "One part of the Republican establishment actually loves Donald Trump", WaPo 4.19.16. Won't someone think of the billionaires?
312. Josiah Ryan, "We Asked Michelle Malkin If Donald Trump Would Make Good President. She Had This to Say", The Blaze.
313. Neetzan Zimmerman, "Ted Nugent: President Trump 'would kick ass and take names'", The Hill.
314. Goldstein, Aaron, "Dennis Prager had me, but then he lost me.", The American Spectator (5/10/16, 11:54 pm).
315. Samuelshon, Darren, "George H.W. Bush to vote for Hillary Clinton", Politico (09/19/16 11:20 PM EDT).
316. Collins, Eliza, "Dan Quayle: Trump is 'more qualified' than Clinton in this election", USA Today (5/12/16 at 12:55 p.m. EDT).
317. Levitz, Eric, "Donald Rumsfeld Will Vote for Trump Because He's a 'Known Unknown'", New York Magazine (6/23/16 at 5:19 p.m.) Officially a self-parody.
318. Cathy Burke, "Michael Savage: Trump Is the 'Winston Churchill of Our Time'", Newsmax.
319. Phyllis Schlafly Faces Ouster Attempt Following Trump Endorsement by Brian Tashman (Monday, 4/11/2016 12:15 pm) Right Wing Watch.
320. Kelley, Marty, "Pretend Smart Person Ben Stein Thinks Donald Trump's A Moron, Endorses Donald Trump", Wonkette 6.7.16.
321. Milo Yiannopoulos ひ✘ (09 January 2016). "Tweet Number 685895852368506880". Twitter. "help me daddy @realDonaldTrump"
322. The Rubin Report. "Milo Yiannopoulos Loves Donald Trump". March 24, 2016.
323. An American Authoritarian The Republican presidential candidate is not a Fascist, but his campaign bears notable similarities to the reign of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. by Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Aug 10, 2016) The Atlantic.
324. It Is Happening Here, (President) Trump is Already Early Stage Mussolini by Clive Irving, The Daily Beast.
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329. "The 'Trump of the East' could be the next president of the Philippines", Washington Post
330. 'Czech Donald Trump' set on becoming next prime minister by Philip Heijmans (Oct 21, 2017) USA Today.
331. Trump-style billionaire populist on brink of power in the Czech Republic: Andrej Babis stands accused of buying up Czech media to stifle criticism by Robert Tait (21 Oct 2017) The Guardian.
332. Meet Brazil's Donald Trump: He's Deliberately Outrageous and He Wants to Be President: Legislator Jair Bolsonaro has always been brash and, often, deeply offensive. Now his refusal to be "politically correct" is turning him into one of the big winners of Brazil's current political crisis. by James Armour Young (Apr 27, 2016, 11:20 am) Vice.
333. Is this the world's most repulsive politician? THOUGHT Donald Trump was bad? Meet the could-be Brazilian president whose repulsive beliefs have shocked the world. by Gavin Fernando (May 2, 20168:46am) news.com.au.
334. Brazil has a Donald Trump, and his chances at the presidency are looking better every day by Chayenne Polimédio (June 20, 2017) Quartz.
335. The Most Misogynistic, Hateful Elected Official in the Democratic World: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro by Glenn Greenwald & Andrew Fishman (December 11, 2014, 7:48 a.m.) The Intercept.
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345. ....Border is eventually going to be militarized and defended or the United States, as we have known it, is going to cease to exist...And Americans will not go gentle into that good night. Patrick Buchanan. The great people of our Country demand proper Border Security NOW! by Donald Trump (19:18 - 13 Jan. 2019) Twitter (archived from June 5, 2020).
346. Lowell, Jessica, "LePage says Trump was his third choice for president", Maine Today 8.18.16.
347. MacNeal, Caitlin, "You Know It's Bad When Maine Gov. Paul LePage Is Telling Trump To Cool It", TPM (8/5/16 at 12:20 PM EDT).
348. Alexander Burns, Maggie Haberman, and Jonathan Martin, LePage calls for Republican party to disavow Trump; then endorses him, NYT 2.28.16.
349. Levenson, Eric, "Maine Gov. LePage says he's open to Trump administration job", Boston,com. 5.5.16.
350. "LePage's Daughter Hired By Trump Campaign", TPM via Associated Press (8/25?16 at 4:42 PM EDT).
351. "Gov. LePage to Donald Trump: Just ignore the media", Portal Press-Herald 8.2.16.
352. Sherman, Amy, "Donald Trump wrongly says the number of illegal immigrants is 30 million or higher", PolitiFact (7/28/15 at 2:18 p.m.).
353. Trackdown Shakedown: An episode of the 1950s western TV series 'Trackdown' featured a character named Walter Trump who claimed he would build a wall to protect a town from the end of the world by Dan Evon (Updated: Jan 12, 2017) Snopes.com.
354. Trump wants to defund PBS. 'Sesame Street' brutally parodied him for decades by Avi Selk (March 21 at 12:25 PM) The Washington Post.

United States 2016 presidential election articles on RationalWiki

Topics: Affordable Care Act - Citizens United v. FEC - DAESH - Gun control - Illegal immigration - Koch Industries - United States Electoral College - Trump's Wall
Parties: Democratic Party (primaries) - Green Party - Libertarian Party - Republican Party (primaries • Convention • Tea Party)
Candidates: Bush (R) - Carson (R) - Christie (R) - Clinton (D) - Cruz (R) - Huckabee (R) - Jindal (R) - Johnson (Lib) - Kasich (R) - Paul (R) - Perry (R) - Sanders (D) - Stein (Green) - Trump (R) - Walker (R) - Webb (D) • Running mates: Kaine (D) - Pence (R)
Winner: Donald Trump

United States 2020 presidential election articles on RationalWiki

Topics: Abortion - Climate change - Coronavirus - Education - Illegal immigration - Gun control - LGBT rights - Marijuana - Taxes - United States Electoral College - Universal healthcare
Parties: Democratic Party (primaries) - Green Party - Libertarian Party - Republican Party (primaries)
Candidates: Biden (D) - Trump (R) • Running mates: Harris (D) - Pence (R)
Winner: Joe Biden
Fallout from sore losers: 2021 U.S. Capitol riot

Presidents of the United States

v - t - e

Washington (n/a) - J. Adams (Fed.) - Jefferson (Dem-Rep) - Madison (Dem-Rep) - Monroe (Dem-Rep) - J.Q. Adams (Dem-Rep) - Jackson (D) - Van Buren (D) - Harrison (Whig) - Tyler (Whig) - Polk (D) - Taylor (Whig) - Fillmore (Whig) - Pierce (D) - Buchanan (D) - Lincoln (R) - A. Johnson (D*) - Grant (R) - Hayes (R) - Garfield (R) - Arthur (R) - Cleveland (D) - Harrison (R) - Cleveland (D) again - McKinley (R) - T. Roosevelt (R) - Taft (R) - Wilson (D) - Harding (R) - Coolidge (R) - Hoover (R) - F.D. Roosevelt (D) - Truman (D) - Eisenhower (R) - Kennedy (D) - L.B. Johnson (D) - Nixon (R) - Ford (R) - Carter (D) - Reagan (R) - G.H.W. Bush (R) - Clinton (D) - G.W. Bush (R) - Obama (D) - Trump (R) - Biden (D) (incumbent)
*Ran for VP on the "National Union" ticket together with Lincoln but was otherwise a lifelong Democrat