The Donald Trump Score Card

Why haven’t Trump’s tariffs crashed the US economy? | Jeffrey Frankel

excerpt:

"To be sure, the prices importers pay have risen proportionately with tariffs, contrary to Trump’s claims that foreign exporters cover the costs of the duties by lowering their prices. It is US companies that have been absorbing the costs, much as they typically do when the dollar depreciates. This partly reflects the fact that they have no idea how long the tariffs will be in place. Trump might change his mind, or perhaps the supreme court will decide to adhere to the law and strike them down. This uncertainty also helps to explain why many affected companies have so far refrained from laying off workers.

But companies will not let tariffs erode their profit margins indefinitely. Assuming the tariffs remain, the US can look forward to more price increases, and downward pressure on real incomes, in 2026."

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/opinion/trump-weaker-resistance-stronger.html

excerpt:

"It has been a gruesome year for those who see Donald Trump’s kakistocracy clearly. He returned to office newly emboldened, surrounded by obsequious tech barons, seemingly in command of not just the country but also the zeitgeist. Since then, it’s been a parade of nightmares — armed men in balaclavas on the streets, migrants sent to a torture prison in El Salvador, corruption on a scale undreamed of by even the gaudiest third-world dictators and the shocking capitulation by many leaders in business, law, media and academia. Trying to wrap one’s mind around the scale of civic destruction wrought in just 11 months stretches the limits of the imagination, like conceptualizing light-years or black holes."

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/travel/us-travel-tourism-visas.html

excerpt:

“It’s a little bit of a lost year,” said Jan Freitag, the national director of hospitality market analytics at CoStar, a property research organization, who estimated that 11 million fewer hotel rooms had sold this year compared with last. “Every quarter we’ve revised our forecast down.”

International visitors reliably spend billions of dollars in the United States every year, with that cash, in turn, rippling out to restaurants, stores and other small businesses. Last year, tourism generated $2.9 trillion in economic output, supporting 15 million jobs, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the country.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/27/politics/small-businesses-health-insurance-aca

excerpt:

'However, without the enhanced subsidies, which were enacted by the Biden administration as part of a 2021 Covid-19 relief package, enrollees’ premium payments are expected to jump 114%, on average, next year. The provision’s lapse also means that consumers who make more than 400% of the federal poverty level — about $62,600 for an individual and $84,600 for a couple — will no longer qualify for any federal aid."

The House is set to vote in January on extending the beefed-up assistance for three years after four Republicans bucked their caucus and supported a Democratic proposal. But the measure faces a difficult path in the Senate, which voted down a similar Democratic bill earlier this month.

 

Watchdog group demands answers after 'unbelievable security lapse' by Trump's Secret Service team | New York Post

excerpt:

The watchdog group has been trying for three months to get information on how the protesters got advance notice about Trump’s closely-held movements — at an event intended to demonstrate that the city was thriving under new federal security protection.

“These people were allowed to get within arm’s length of the sitting president with knives and who knows what else in the restaurant available to them,” Fitton said.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/24/politics/white-house-epstein-messaging-frustration

excerpt:

“It’s just been confusing and compounding,” Matthew Barlett, a GOP strategist and former first-term Trump appointee, said of the administration’s contradictory messaging. “It’s perpetuated this news cycle, continues to give the White House and administration a massive headache of their own making, and I don’t see any remedy any time soon.”

 

Trump is gaining control of the northern triangle (Honduras, El Salvadod, Guatemala).


Trump-backed candidate Asfura wins Honduras presidential election
By Emma Bussey , Greg Wehner Fox News
December 24, 2025

Trump-backed candidate Asfura wins Honduras presidential election

 

Trump and Lindell are targeting Gov. Walz of MN and Somali immigrants for the 2026 governor race for which Walz is seeking a third term.

'My Pillow' and 2020 election truther Lindell is running for governor of MN. Trump says he deserves to be governor of MN but hasn't formally endorsed him.


https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/24/minnesota-elections-2026-tim-walz-mike-lindell-00701462

 

CBS kept the original name 'Kennedy Center' when it aired Trump's award ceremony.

Trump is the first president to host the ceremony.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/12/23/kennedy-center-honors-cbs-broadcast/

 

Trump should have the Village People on standby for such cancelations.

 

https://dallasbuilders.com/​labor-problem-easy-to-see-hard-to-solve/

excerpt:

"The construction work force has and will continue to rely on immigrant labor. The lack of it is the largest contributor to the aforementioned figures. Many left the industry during the recession and did not return. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), there are around 2.3 million foreign born workers in construction nationwide, which is still almost a half-million fewer than in 2007.

As you can see, this issue predates President Trump, so blaming him for the current shortage is a bit misguided. He is, however, part of the problem and potentially part of the solution going forward. His enforcement actions and talk of walls and deportation are most certainly part of the problem. Creating fear in the communities our industry and our economy relies on for continued prosperity is hardly an incentive for them to confidently step out of the shadows."

 

Article from April 2025.

This was at the start of Trump's deportation crusade..

The housing industry was already damaged by the Great Recession and the Covid pandemic.

Trump has worsened it with his deportations that cripple the work force and trade wars that increase prices.

The same can be said for the farming sector.


What the Skilled Labor Shortage Means for Homeowners

excerpt:

"The U.S. construction industry is facing a critical shortage of skilled labor, with far-reaching consequences for homeowners. Following the Great Recession, the industry lost more than 2.2 million workers—nearly 29% of its workforce—and has yet to recover. As a result, homeowners are experiencing higher renovation costs, fewer available contractors and longer project timelines.

To meet demand, the industry needs to hire about 723,000 workers annually, according to the Home Builders Institute. However, as of mid-2024, it is averaging fewer than 6,000 new hires per month. Experts cite shifting cultural values, immigration policies, an aging workforce, and misconceptions about trade careers as key contributors to the shortage."

 

Toward the end, he once again lied about Biden supposedly stealing the 2020 election from him and stealing water from the American public.


Trump, 79, Makes Weird Noise as He Whines About McDonald’s

excerpt:

“Biden came back with a rigged election and he immediately restricted the water again. I came back in and immediately unrestricted it again, so now you have unlimited water to clean your damn dishes, OK? And other things. Your hands.”

 

Trump hinted at the name change in August 2025.


Can the Kennedy Center Actually Be Renamed? Unpacking the Legality of Adding President Donald Trump's Name to the Memorial

excerpt:

Plans to add Trump's name to the JFK memorial seem to have been underway since August 2025, when the president previewed the Kennedy Center Honors on Truth Social. "GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER," he wrote, adding, "whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS."

 

Construction workers added Trump's name to the outside of the building the day after his hand-picked board voted (supposedly) unanimously (but it wasn't unanimous) to have his name on it.


Can the Kennedy Center Actually Be Renamed? Unpacking the Legality of Adding President Donald Trump's Name to the Memorial

excerpt:

On Dec. 18, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared the news on X, writing that the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts unanimously voted to rename it "the Trump-Kennedy Center." She added that the change came after "the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building," both financially and in terms of its "reputation."

"Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future!" Leavitt concluded. "The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur."

 

Trump, 79, Makes Dumb Mistake With Kennedy Center Renaming
William Vaillancourt
Sat, December 20, 2025 at 4:54 AM UTC

Trump, 79, Makes Dumb Mistake With Kennedy Center Renaming

excerpt:

Trump’s hand-picked group of allies on the Kennedy Center board voted Thursday to change the name—a vote which he said was “unanimous.”

But Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex-officio member, said that when she tried to push her button to object, she was muted.

“Participants were not allowed to voice their concerns who were online, yet it was said at the end it was a unanimous vote,” she told CNN. “Clearly, the Congress has a say in this... The Kennedy Center was created by Congress.”

 

US lawmakers condemn seizure of Venezuelan oil tanker: ‘Trump is sleepwalking us into a war’

excerpt:

Trump confirmed the tanker seizure shortly after it occurred, telling reporters: “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela – large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually.” When asked what would happen to the oil, Trump responded: “We keep the oil, I guess!”

 

Oz....."this will make states be more creative with health care"....well you can't create a hospital out of thin air, jackass. We have populated areas in this state where you are two hours from a hospital. Fire and ambulance are volunteer systems. Their solution was "well, we could medivac serious issues to the big hospital". So, to paraphrase, if you have a heart attack, you are going to die waiting for an ambulance or chopper.

 

Blogger: Stephen Miller is dreaming of a white nationalist Christmas.

 

Chip Roy of Texas calls for Nazi-style tactics in the U.S. such as immigration bans like ones in the1920's because he says it helped the U.S. defeat the Nazis in Germany.

Trump is currently doing it with a militarized police force.


Chip Roy Touts Defeat of Nazis While Calling for Total Immigration Shutdown on Fox News: ‘We Can Do It Again!’
Ahmad Austin Jr.
Mon, December 29, 2025 at 9:54 PM UTC