Trump’s absurd proposals distract from his damaging actions | Editorial

Week Three in the Trump White House of Horrors brought a fresh round of distraction and derangement.

While many of President Donald Trump’s moves appear to be illegal or dictatorial, no one is willing to stop him. The result is a diminishing of the United States as a beacon to the world, along with the swift erosion of democracy at home.

To be sure, some of the president’s irresponsible musings and half-baked ideas will quickly blow over, but others will lead to lasting damage. Sadly, this barrage of bilge is the new abnormal.

Take tariffs. Trump called them “the greatest thing ever invented” and promised they would fix what’s ailing the MAGA millions — even as he inherited a strong economy. Lost in the bluster is how tariffs worsened the Great Depression and would raise prices, slow growth, and reignite inflation.

Unbowed by history or facts, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico — America’s two largest trading partners. He also placed a 10% tariff on China.

Trump callously admitted Americans would feel “pain” from his tariffs, but claimed it would be “worth the price.” Apparently, any of his supporters who lose their jobs or see their 401(k) shrink would have to take one for the team.

Right on schedule, the stock market tanked. But markets bounced back once Trump paused the tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days after both countries agreed to boost border security. Tune in next month to see if Trump remembers the ruckus.

After starting and ending the one-day North American trade war, Trump moved on to the next dramatic episode. Special guest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fresh off of a war-crime-filled bombing campaign that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, joined Trump in the White House, where the former Queens developer announced plans for the U.S. to “own” Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East” — provided the two million Palestinians who call it home leave.

It is hard to put into words the proposal’s sheer absurdity. Not to mention, it violates international law. If former President Joe Biden had floated such a cockamamie idea, Republicans and their partners at Fox News would have called for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him.

Of course, Trump’s Gaza plan won’t happen and was quickly walked back. But the hullabaloo from the two-minute tariffs and the Gaza Strip idiocy served the broader mission by distracting from the real dirty work.

That includes the massive purge of federal workers all for spite, regardless of the harm. For example, firing dozens of U.S. Justice Department and FBI officials — using bogus weaponization claims — puts the country at risk, while firing National Labor Relations Board officials abandons workers whose rights have been violated by employers.

The firing of independent inspectors general makes clear Trump has no interest in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, while firing the head of the Transportation Security Administration and other aviation security officials puts the flying public at risk.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans failed to fulfill their constitutional duty and instead approved Trump’s unqualified cabinet picks.

But perhaps the most dangerous person roaming the government halls is Elon Musk, the South African-born richest man in the world.

Trump put Musk in charge of a made-up and legally questionable agency called the Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk is unelected and a national security risk. His ties to other world leaders, including in Russia and China, pose a dangerous conflict of interest. So do the $3 billion in contracts Musk’s companies, which include SpaceX and Tesla, have with 17 different federal agencies. Meet the corporate welfare boss.

Musk has amassed unchecked power as his team has gained access to internal government systems — including classified documents and sensitive information in the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment system, like taxpayers’ Social Security numbers — as well as Medicare and Medicaid data through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Musk’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) forced the cutoff of food, medication, and supplies to hundreds of thousands of people around the world facing violence and displacement. The loss of aid will result in starvation and death.

Musk boasted on X: “Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”

The billionaire’s arrogance is matched by his ignorance. Beyond the humanitarian damage, shutting down USAID will make the world less safe while weakening American influence abroad and creating opportunities for adversaries like China.

USAID was started by President John F. Kennedy, who said that “there is no escaping” our moral and economic obligations “as the wealthiest people” in the world and our political obligations “as the single largest counter to the adversaries of freedom.”

Trump and Musk know nothing about moral or economic obligations. Their thirst for power and money is going to leave America’s democracy in the woodchipper.