On Sunday, President Donald J. Trump modestly declared his first six months back in the White House as “the most successful” such period for any president in history, boasting that he “totally revived” the country after being “DEAD” under his predecessor, “ended numerous wars” and made this the “most respected country” in the world. He previously called himself the greatest president in history “better than Lincoln, better than Washington.”
He claimed his poll numbers among Republicans and his MAGA movement have risen to historic levels, particularly on his signature issue, immigration.
The rest of America doesn’t share their enthusiasm. His approval numbers are under water and sinking, according to statistician Nate Silver and a variety of non-partisan polls. They’re down on immigration, the economy, trade, and inflation. Overall, only 44% approve and 53.1% disapprove of his performance (isn’t that what it is for him, a performance?).
To mark his half-year in office, the White House published a list of the president’s historic achievements. Left out were some of his dubious talents.
Donald Trump's dubious talents
Capitalist: He’s got the billions to prove it, and since becoming president he has become even wealthier, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics and many other sources. He’s peddling bibles, fragrances, bitcoins, watches, guitars, boots, green cards, cryptocurrency and even his police mugshot. No one has monetized the presidency as he has nor personally profited from overcharging the government to house and feed his own security details and other government officials.
Cartographer: He’s rewriting the map by changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, and who knows what’s next? The Pacific Ocean? Isn’t “peace” a woke term?
Expansionist: So far, he wants to take over two countries (Canada and Greenland) plus parts of two others (the Panama Canal and the Gaza Strip). He covets annexing an unwilling Canada to be the 51st state but opposes statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, which are interested in joining the union. Maybe it’s because those two, whose residents are US citizens, are predominantly non-white and vote Democratic.
Litigator: He is easily the most litigious president in history. He just sued media mogul Rupert Murdoch for $10 billion over a Wall Street Journal article he hated. He also banned WSJ reporters from the press pool covering his upcoming Scotland trip. It will be fun watching those two right wing billionaires battle it out. My money’s on Trump; he has the full resources of the Department of the Justice and the US Treasury working for him, paying all his bills.
Impresario: The pugnacious Trump wants the first sporting event ever at the White House to be a mixed martial arts fight to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday. He’s demanding that the NFL’s Washington Commanders “IMMEDIATELY” change its name back to the Redskins, implying federal approval of a new stadium for DC could be linked. He also wants the MLB’s Cleveland Guardians to bring back Chief Wahoo and the Indians.
Witch slayer: He has threatened Brazil with steep tariffs and has sanctioned a Brazilian Supreme Court justice to force that country to drop its “witch hunt” against its former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is charged with plotting a coup to overthrow an election he lost. Sound familiar? He also is demanding that Israel end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal corruption trial. Axios sees an “implicit threat” to suspend military aid to the Jewish state if that “witch hunt” continues.
The list isn't over
Censor: His administration has ordered the removal of all souvenirs and items in gift shops at national parks that it feels “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living.”
Historian: He has ordered renaming military bases for treasonous Confederate generals and slaveholders and removing those of women and gay rights activists. He also encourages talk of carving his likeness on Mount Rushmore alongside his lesser predecessors.
Investigator: He has demanded, ordered, and launched investigations of everyone he feels has done him wrong, from former presidents to lowly clerks. Lawyers who worked at the Justice Department investigating the January 6 insurrection have been summarily fired along with hundreds of others whose abject loyalty to Trump may be questioned. What the executive branch won’t go after, its sycophantic spineless Republican leaders in Congress will.
Energy expert: He has slashed government support for developing electric vehicles, including airplanes. “What happens if the sun isn’t shining while you’re up in the air?” he asked a campaign rally. He worries that batteries in electric boats would be so heavy they’d make them sink, and passengers would be electrocuted. He also opposes killer windmills.
TV fanboy: He has appointed what is widely considered the most inexperienced, incompetent and unqualified cabinet in history, but that doesn’t matter so long as they’re telegenic and will do as they’re told by White House staff.
TACO: Inconsistent tariff policies are constantly being announced, suspended, changed, dropped, resurrected and threatened. This led the Financial Times to the nickname: TACO – Trump always chickens out.
Educator: The self-described “smart, a true Stable Genius!” is eliminating the Department of Education, undermining the public school system and calling for taxpayer financing of religious schools. School librarians are being investigated. This president boasts – but cannot prove – that he graduated first in his class at Wharton; his personal lawyer said he was ordered to threaten lawsuits against any educational institution that released Trump’s grades or test scores.
Power broker: The thin-skinned president has long used the Stalinist term “enemies of the people” to describe the media figures and institutions that don’t agree with him. Since he couldn’t toss them in the gulag (if they’re US citizens) he found other methods. CBS proved a lucrative target. He accused it of election interference for a segment on 60 Minutes that most legal experts were certain he’d have lost if he didn’t have a sword to hold over their heads.
Paramount Global, CBS’s owner, wants to sell the entire company to Skydance Media, owned by a major Trump backer, and needs FCC (Trump) approval. CBS capitulated and paid Trump $16 million, chump change in a $8 billion deal. Stephen Colbert, star of CBS’s Late Show, called that a “big fat bribe.” Two days, later his show was canceled. The network denied it had anything to do with his biting humorous attacks on Trump, and if you believe that, you probably believe Trump’s tchotchkes will be worth a fortune after he’s long gone.
The list goes on. Trump is a man of many talents. Humility and truthfulness are not among them.
The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and a former legislative director at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.