Do you remember what it was like? The daily outrages, the migraine-inducing stupidity, the wild news cycles that churn day and night? Donald Trump Haven’t even returned to the office yet. But he reminded America of the chaos he caused in four years and previewed what was to come in the next four years.
Within 10 days of defeat Kamala HarrisTrump has unleashed a diverse team of would-be administrative appointees, some of whom are so crazy and unqualified that even some Republican Party expressed reservations. There’s a Fox News host, Pete Hegsethfor the minister of defense. Have Matt Gaetzwho is it seems was nominated to be attorney general on a whim on a flight — despite a House investigation into allegations he had sex with a minor, among other matters. And, on Thursday, there was an anti-vax conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services. False accusations against these three ensure news cycles last for weeks, even before you understand the dangerous ways in which they wield their power.
Speaking of danger: Yes Tom Homan—an architect of the inhumane family separation policy during Trump’s first term—as “border czar.” Have Stephen MillerEveryone wants to suppress legal immigration, ready to direct White House policy. And yes Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy as the two heads of a “department” that will ostensibly focus on making government more efficient – but that may just be a way for Musk to circumvent regulations and let Trump gain power from the administrative state.
All of this was announced on Trump’s TruthSocial page — marking his return to rule tweet by tweet.
It’s not just administration and Cabinet announcements: Trump, in recent days, has pressured the Senate to Allows you to schedule breaksthis would further weaken the legislature’s check on his power, and “joke” on Congress allowing him to run for a third term: “I doubt I will run again,” he told House Republicans, “unless you do something. ” Accompanying him on the victory lap in Washington is Musk, the world’s richest person and one of Trump’s most powerful advisers, who has made a surreal debut over the past week and a half as a quasi-politician. guest-Participate in the president-elect’s phone call with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy And meeting with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani.
After a period of relative quiet under Joe Biden, political amnesia seems to have happened to many Americans, who seem to recall the depravity and disorder of Trump’s first term as nothing more than “mean tweets” during an otherwise productive presidency. fruit. But the wild opening days of this transition will jog public memory: The Trump Show was loud, crazy, and always happening.
The next four years will not only test our democracy—they will test our endurance.
