DJT is from a different species than past presidents, a self-involved narcissist. Rather than working to enhance American society, strengthen the nation, reduce inflation, lower the national debt, provide decent health care for all citizens, unify disparate groups, as other presidents have done or tried to do in the past, DJT is working primarily for himself rather than the nation. He’s interested in gaining revenge on anyone who crossed him during his first term, increasing his own and his family’s wealth and glorifying himself. No other president has pursued monuments to himself and self-glorification as DJT has. And no other president has accumulated the same level of wealth while in office. Perhaps some of his supporters are beginning to realize this, as his approval rating has been continuously falling.
His disturbed personality was not as evident during his first term in office. But now he likely feels he has nothing to lose and is willing to give vent to all of his emotions. He has pushed the Department of Justice, now run by his personal lawyer Todd Blanche, to go after everyone who questioned his actions during the last decade. These include Lettetia James, the prosecuting attorney in New York who sued Trump and the Trump organization for financial fraud in 2022. He also has directed the DOJ to prosecute James Comey, Former head of the FBI, Adan Schiff, a California Senator, John Bolton- Trump’s former National Security advisor and numerous others. There have been no successful prosecutions so far, but there have been significant legal costs and anxiety for Trump’s targets.
Trump’s glorification projects are lengthy, many of them yet to be consummated. He had his name placed on the Kennedy Center and made himself Chairman of the Board. He tore down the East Wing of the White House to put up a ballroom. He put gilt on many of the objects in the White House because he thought it looked better. He wants to build a 250 foot arch called the Arch D’Trump modelled after the Arc De Triumph in Paris. He’s urging his lackeys in Congress to have his image sculpted on Mt. Rushmore with the other presidents. He has pictures of all the presidents in the White House with his on top. A $250 bill is being printed with Trump’s image on it. He wants to have a class of new aircraft carriers named after him. And this is not a complete list.
Trump and his family have made billions of dollars in the crypto market which he thought was a scam originally. Now his sons run a crypto firm and have received huge sums from Middle Eastern officials and oligarchs. Trump has collected hundreds of millions of dollars from wealthy tech bros and financial gurus who want to stay on his good side. Some of this money may be used for a Trump library. He allows people who pay a hefty fee to get early information on his Truth Social Posts so they can use it to aid in their investments. He accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jet from the government of Qatar estimated to be valued at $400 million or more. This contravened the emoluments clause in the Constitution, but Trump didn’t care. He has been given immunity for whatever he does in his role as president by the Supreme Court that seemed happy to do his bidding.
These actions described above are just a few of the efforts by Trump to glorify himself and gain extreme wealth. His presidency has not been about America first, but me first. The question that is being asked is what will follow?
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020