The Donald Trump Score Card

Why did businesspeople back Trump?

excerpts:

"That presumption of hardheadedness requires revisiting now, amid tariff chaos, trillions burned in the stock market, collapsing consumer sentiment as inflation expectations hit a 32-year peak and growing fears of recession. Who knew the global economy was more complex than a zero-sum game? Perhaps businesspeople aren’t so rational after all. Their faith in Trump — call it “Trump Derangement Syndrome” — looks like a cultural phenomenon begging for anthropological study."


"Anything he says that seems irrational — tariff wars, or the annexation of Canada — can be dismissed by supporters as a negotiating bluff, or “red meat for the Maga base”, distractions that only hysterical liberals take seriously. Stock-market investors, who voted for Trump with their money, have been bewildered to discover that he genuinely wants those things. His consistent attacks on free trade since the 1980s should have been a clue."


"Which US presidents were best for business? On a crude measure of stock-market growth during their administrations, Bill Clinton was top, with 151 per cent, followed by that closet communist, Obama, on 127 per cent, calculates Paul Whiteley of the University of Essex. Given what Democrats have done for the rich, it’s touching naivety that leads businesspeople to put their faith in Trump."

 

Judge says Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can't be deported from U.S. as protesters call for his release

excerpt:

" spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was arrested in coordination with ICE and the State Department “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism” because he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday on X that the administration would revoke the visas and green cards “of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

 

Judge says Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can't be deported from U.S. as protesters call for his release

excerpt:

Trump said Khalil's arrest was the first of many to come.

"We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it," he said on Truth Social. "Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again."

Trump and his administration did not provide evidence of those allegations against Khalil or any other protesters."

 

Trump attracts such people.


https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5276336/donald-trump-jan-6-rape-assault-pardons-rioters

excerpt:

"Theodore Middendorf was accused by Illinois prosecutors of "Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child." Prosecutors said in a court filing obtained by NPR that Middendorf "committed an act of sexual penetration." Indiana state records indicate that Middendorf's victim was 7 years old.

Middendorf entered a guilty plea in that case in May 2024 and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. He is currently registered as a sex offender in the state and remains in custody on those charges.

Separately, Middendorf pleaded guilty to destruction of government property for striking a window at the U.S. Capitol with a flagpole on Jan. 6. He had not yet been sentenced for his role in the Capitol riot when the Justice Department moved to dismiss his case following Trump's order.

Peter Schwartz had a "jaw-dropping criminal history of 38 prior convictions going back to 1991" when he assaulted police officers with pepper spray on Jan. 6, according to federal prosecutors."

 

Musk created a giant inefficiency mess.


Trump administration says it is working to reinstate more than 24,000 fired federal workers

excerpt:

"But many of the employees being reinstated won't be getting right back to work; instead, they'll be placed on administrative leave, including at the Education Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, two agencies that have been targeted for dismantling, and a number of other major federal departments.

Several of the officials said in the filings that reinstating employees to "full duty status would impose substantial burdens" on their departments or agencies, noting that the employees would need to be onboarded again, complete training and paperwork, and receive applicable security clearances and government equipment."

 

Trump has been making false statements about Canada not buying U.S. agricultural products.


https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/10/politics/trump-canada-dairy-tariffs-fact-check/index.html

excerpt:

"And while Trump claimed in February that “they don’t take our agricultural product for the most part,” Canada is actually the world’s second-largest export market for US agricultural products as a whole, according to the US Department of Agriculture, purchasing about $28.4 billion worth in 2024.

Canada is also the second-largest US export market for dairy, purchasing about $1.1 billion worth in 2024. That figure has grown steadily over the past decade, from about $625.5 million in 2015."

 

The U.S. had the same high tariffs on dairy as Canada when caps are exceeded.


https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/10/politics/trump-canada-dairy-tariffs-fact-check/index.html

excerpt:

"Those tariff levels are eye-popping, and they certainly function as major trade barriers above the zero-tariff quota maximums. (Mussell noted: “The US has precisely this same system for its dairy market. It has tariff-rate quotas, and beyond that volume, very stiff tariffs and almost no imports.”) But the International Dairy Foods Association, which represents the American dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, pointed out Friday that the US is not at Canada’s zero-tariff maximum in any category."

 

Trump twists facts and fabricates others about Canadian tariffs on dairy.


Does Canada really tariff U.S. dairy 250% and above? It’s complicated - National | Globalnews.ca

excerpt:

“To date, 100 per cent of U.S. dairy imports to Canada were made free of tariff.”

In posts on Truth Social this week, Trump called out the hefty levies on some farm goods, writing Tuesday that, “Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250 per cent to 390 per cent on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous.”

In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said the tariffs “go up to 400 per cent — you never hear of that.”

The claims of a 390 or 400 per cent tariff are false. The steepest food tariff, which applies to some milk-based fats and oils, tops out at 313.5 per cent for products that exceed the import caps, according to the Canadian tariff schedule.

 

Singer Courtney Love announces she's getting UK citizenship, trashes 'emperor' Trump

excerpt:

"Emperor-core is going on at Mar-a-Lago. It's frightening now. It's like cyanide now," she continued.

"Core" is internet slang, attached to words as a suffix, to describe an aesthetic or trend associated with the word.

Love is not the only celebrity to announce she was fleeing America in Trump's second term.

Actresses Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres also reportedly moved overseas after the 2024 election to escape the new administration.

 

Federal judge blocks Trump administration from banning transgender from military service.


Federal judge blocks Trump administration from banning transgender people from military service

 

Congressional Republicans threaten revolt over Trump-led defence shake-up

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“We will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the joint staff, and collaboration with Congress. Such moves risk undermining American deterrence around the globe and detracting from our negotiating positions with America’s adversaries.”

 

America's adversaries: Trump

That fact still hasn't sunken in to the GOP.

 

Trump admin considers giving up NATO command that has been American since Eisenhower
By Courtney Kube and Gordon Lubold
March 18, 2025

Trump admin considers giving up NATO command that has been American since Eisenhower

 

With little school kids present in desks in the Oval Office, Trump asked the children if he should sign the order destroying the Department Of Education. A boy nodded yes and he signed the papers.


‘A dark day’ for American children: Trump issues order to kill the Department of Education

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“Should I do this?” Trump asked one child before signing the document. The boy nodded.

 

Trump's fascism will kill U.S. tourism.


https://www.splinter.com/trumps-fas...-good-and-help-his-bid-to-destroy-the-economy

excerpt:

"The United Kingdom and Germany both just issued travel warnings to the United States. A Canadian woman with a U.S. work visa was detained by ICE for two weeks and put in a “tiny, freezing cement cell with bright fluorescent lights and a toilet” with “five other women lying on their mats with aluminum sheets wrapped over them.” She was not allowed to make a phone call until the third day of her detention. The U.S. government is disobeying court orders so they can disappear people to a foreign gulag in El Salvador. Fascism is in full swing in America, and this is what it looks like."

 

Columbia University gives in to Trump and bans masks.


Columbia University to comply with Trump administration demands for mask ban, special officers, more

 

Trump fires everyone in civil rights division of DHS.


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/tr...pentagon-hegseth-doge-live-updates-rcna196783

excerpt:

Nearly all of the employees working in the Department of Homeland Security's civil rights division were fired, a DHS spokesperson confirmed to NBC News today.

The spokesperson said the offices "have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS’s mission."

 

Trump says there could be flexibility in how he imposes reciprocal tariffs on countries scheduled to go into effect April 2, which he calls 'Liberation Day'.


Trump tariffs live updates: Trump suggests 'flexibility' as 'Liberation Day' nears for reciprocal duties

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Steel and aluminum: A 25% US tariff on imports of steel and aluminum from all countries took effect on Wednesday, March 12.

European Union: The EU has responded to those metals duties with counter-tariffs on $28 billion in US goods from April, bringing Trump's trade war across the Atlantic. However, on Thursday, the EU delayed the implementation of some of those tariffs until mid-April — including a 50% duty on American whiskey, which had prompted Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European spirits.

Canada and Mexico: Trump's 25% across-the-board tariffs on its US neighbors went into effect on Tuesday, March 4. Just two days later, Trump confirmed the US would pause tariffs on goods and services compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) until April 2. For its part, Canada retaliated to the steel and aluminum tariffs with new duties on about $20 billion of US goods. The two countries have agreed to new trade talks.

China: Trump has enacted new blanket tariffs of around 20% on top of existing 10% duties that went into place during Trump's first term. China has responded with up to 15% duties on US farm goods such as chicken and pork, which went into effect Monday, March 10.

 

Trump revokes legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.


Trump revokes legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans

 

Trump shuts down three watchdog groups at DHS.


https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/21/us/trump-news

excerpt:

"The Trump administration shut down three watchdog agencies in the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, gutting the offices responsible for conducting oversight of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The cuts affect the civil rights branch of D.H.S. and two ombudsman offices: one overseeing immigration detention and another responsible for scrutinizing the administration’s legal immigration policies, according to five current and former government officials. More than 100 people at the civil rights office alone are losing their jobs."