To say that President Trump is unfazed by Saturday’s nationwide “No Kings” rally, which vies for bragging rights as maybe the largest single-day protest in U.S. historical past, is the kind of understatement too typical when describing his monarchical outrages.
Go away apart Trump’s grotesque mockery of the protests — his publish that night time of an AI-generated video depicting himself as a becrowned pilot in a fighter jet, dropping poop bombs on residents protesting peacefully beneath. Think about as a substitute two different post-rally actions: On Sunday and Wednesday, “Secretary of Conflict” Pete Hegseth introduced first that on Trump’s orders the navy had struck a seventh boat off Venezuela after which an eighth vessel within the Pacific, bringing the variety of folks killed over two months to 34. The administration has supplied no proof to Congress or the American public for Trump’s claims that the unidentified useless had been “narco-terrorists,” nor any credible authorized rationale for the strikes. Then, on Monday, Trump started demolishing the White Home’s East Wing to create the gilded ballroom of his desires, which, at 90,000 sq. ft, could be almost twice the dimensions of the White Home residence itself.
As sickening as the sight was — heavy tools ripping away on the historic property as high-powered hoses doused the dusty particles — Trump’s $250-million vainness venture is small stuff in comparison with a coverage of killing noncombatant civilian residents of countries with which we’re not at battle (Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador). But collectively the actions mirror the spectrum of penalties of Trump’s utter sense of impunity as president, from the comparatively symbolic to the murderous.
“In America the regulation is king,” Thomas Paine wrote in 1776. Not in Trump’s America.
Among the many commentariat, the president’s desecration of the East Wing is getting not less than as a lot criticism as his extralegal killings at sea. Many critics see within the bulldozing of the Folks’s Home a metaphor for Trump’s harmful governance usually — his different teardowns of federal companies, life-saving international help, healthcare advantages and extra. The metaphor is certainly apt.
However what’s extra hanging is the sheer sense of impunity that Trump telegraphs, always, with the “je suis l’état” flare of a Louis XIV — full (quickly) with Trump’s Versailles. (Individually, Trump’s mimicry of French emperors now consists of plans for a kind of Arc de Triomphe close to Arlington Cemetery. A reporter requested who it will be for. “Me,” Trump stated. Arc de Trump.)
No regulation, home or worldwide, constrains him, so far as the convicted felon is worried. Neither does Congress, the place Republicans bend the knee. Nor the Supreme Court docket, with its 6-3 right-wing majority, together with three justices Trump selected in his first time period.
The court docket’s ruling final 12 months in Trump vs. United States offers Trump digital immunity from felony prosecution, however U.S. servicemembers don’t have that safety relating to the lethal Caribbean Sea assaults or some other orders from the commander in chief which may at some point be judged to have been unlawful.
The operation’s commander, Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, reportedly expressed issues concerning the strikes inside the administration. Final week he introduced his retirement after lower than a 12 months as head of the U.S. Southern Command. It might be a coincidence. However I’m hardly alone in counting Holsey as the most recent casualty in Trump and Hegseth’s purge of perceived nonloyalists on the Pentagon.
“When the president decides somebody has to die, the navy turns into his private hit squad,” navy analyst and former Republican Tom Nichols stated Monday on MSNBC. Identical to with kings and different autocrats: Off with their heads.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a uncommon maverick Republican, famous on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that in years previous, the Coast Guard would board international boats suspected of ferrying medication and, if contraband had been discovered, take it and suspected traffickers into custody, typically gleaning details about higher-ups to make an actual dent within the drug commerce. However, Paul added, about one in 4 boats usually had no medication. Regardless of these days — everybody’s a goal for lethal pressure. “So,” Paul stated, “all of those folks have been blown up with out us figuring out their identify, with none proof of a criminal offense.” (Paul was the one Republican senator not invited to lunch with Trump on Monday within the paved-over Rose Backyard.)
On Monday, Ecuador stated no proof connects a citizen who survived a latest U.S. strike to any crime. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the USA of murdering a fisherman in a September strike, upsetting Trump to name Petro a “drug chief” and unilaterally yank U.S. international help. A Venezuelan advised the Washington Publish that the 11 folks killed within the first recognized U.S. strike had been fishermen; nationwide safety officers advised Congress the people had been headed again to shore when hit. In the meantime, the three nations and U.S. information reviews contradict Trump’s claims that he’s destroying and seizing fentanyl — a drug that usually comes from Mexico after which is smuggled by land, normally by U.S. residents.
Once more, irrespective of to America’s king, who stated final week that he’s eyeing land incursions in Venezuela now “as a result of we’ve acquired the ocean very nicely underneath management.” Trump’s courtiers say he doesn’t want Congress’ authorization for any use of pressure. The Structure suggests in any other case.
Alas, neither it nor the regulation limits Trump’s White Home makeover. He doesn’t must undergo Congress as a result of he’s tapping wealthy people and firms for the price. Previous presidents, conscious that the home is a public treasure, not their palace, voluntarily sought enter from numerous federal and nonprofit teams. After reviews concerning the demolition, which put the mislead Trump’s promise in July that the ballroom “received’t intrude with the present constructing,” the American Institute of Architects urged its members to ask Congress to “examine destruction of the White Home.”
Disparate as they’re, Trump’s ballroom venture and his Caribbean killings had been joined final week. At a White Home dinner for ballroom donors, Trump joked concerning the sea strikes: “No one needs to go fishing anymore.” The pay-to-play titans laughed. Disgrace on them.
Trump acts with impunity as a result of he can; he’s a lame duck. However different Republicans should face the voters. Maintain the “No Kings” protests coming — proper by means of the elections this November and subsequent.
Bluesky: @jackiecalmes
Threads: @jkcalmes
X: @jackiekcalmes
