So far, bluster, confusion and cruelty.
FDR in his first ten days stabilized the banking system by making bank deposits secure. What has Donald Trump done in his first ten days? His efforts have been fits and starts that are the result of impulsive initiatives and sloppy staff work in that his ideas are either bluster or platitudes and, whether through slyness or stupidity, manages to engage in a vagueness which directs attention to those who carry out policies rather than himself. His way of operating was best exemplified when he famously spoke to the adherents of his at the ellipse before sending them off to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6th in 2021, saying they “should be strong” and the future of the nation was at stake, even if he did not ask for violence, but that was the clear inference they could draw from what he said and so he was complicity in the insurrection even though he never said so in so many words and so is excused from the clear meaning of his words on many occasions, treated as sentiments or exaggerations rather than lies or assaults, his words redefined as a version of what he says in a more reasonable manner, as when J. D. Vance said Trump was using Haitgians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio was just a metaphor for how bad immigrants were though Trump treated that ass literally true. Imagine if Biden had used language so vaguely or needed interpretation to make what he said palatable. But Biden stayed close to truth and wass can did even about world leaders, as when he said managing Bibi was difficult.
Susie Wiles as chief of staff had not had any interagency memo or detailed plan or contact with the Colombians before sending illegal immigrants back to Colombia and so had to bring the planes back from en route and then threatening to put up high tariffs on Colombia so that the military planes with shackled Columbians could be accomplished in their deportation when a little preliminary conference could have allowed extradition without difficulty. Just use commercial planes and no shackles. Trump and the Republicans see Trump as being strong and respected by his threat but that just means the Colombians and Latin America just see America as to be feared rather than respected, unless as Machiavelli thought, there is nothing to respect except fear. Latin America will be wary of braggadocio. To cover up a botched deportation.
The rhetorical obfuscation came next concerning those rounded up illegal aliens in the United States. The ICE leader, Tom Homan, said that the first to be deported were criminals, people who had raped and killed and assaulted people. But some of those rounded up were only illegals, those without documents, but Homan said it was alright to deport those people because they were illegally in the country. But that makes them violative of a misdemeanor rather than a felony, which is what people understand as deporting criminals first. It was perhaps inevitable that rounding up the truly criminal would include otherwise illegals, but Homan tries to confuse the two. Deporting law abiding aliens will raise lawsuits including habeas corpus ones, and would cost money and time, and sufficient funds have not been allocated by Congress for that purpose and so there will probably be illegal deportations that violate the constitution but we are all wary of fruitless trials never convened and constitutional suits and so the deportations will go on, found illegitimate after the fact, as happened when the internment of Japanese Americans was found unconstitutional long after it happened, however much those internments were decried in retrospect.
Then Trump’s White House declared he would not spend money allocated by Congress for a variety of new programs they White House does not approve, but that violates the impoundment act whereby there has to be a sixty day notice for consultation before proceeding with that and whether the Executive has the Constitutional right for what is in effect a retrospective line item veto. Constitutional issues of the highest order are at stake and the American people, who don’t trust the Supreme Court anyway, may chaff at the Supreme Court siding with Trump, which they are likely to do. But Trump is used to being in court and wearing out the judicial system and so may prevail, however it strains American legality
Then the White House fired a number of people who had civil service standing so that they could be replaced by political appointments, also a promise made by Trump on the campaign trail, but violated the statute that there had to be a thirty day notice for such severances, an easy enough procedure except for undue haste and lousy staff work to go through laws and regulations that apply, the new White House not terribly preoccupied with legality.
And then, most recently, a freeze on programs to bar money to groups such as Meals on Wheels because it is not a disbursement to a person, as is Social Security, but granted to an organization. Whatever the legalities, it was an attack on a charitable organization and so cruel. But the new White House Press Secretary was not able to see which organizations were barred or not, such as Medicaid, which is bloc granted to the states, and so yesterday the freeze was dropped, though defended the previous day, and we will see what happens. Vague declarations in the spirit of Trump but never developed with precision because, I think, they do not think with precision but only with their anger. It is to be seen if the American Republic or Republicans become tired of such gestures, but the public and that party are so used to being sloppy in thought and execution that they will treat that as the way things are done. Who will stand up and says the king has no clothes?