TRUMP’S FIRST HUNDRED DAYS

 

Those of us who are not recent immigrants, seeking help from federal agencies, supportive of Ukraine, investors, employed by a university, retail shoppers, small business owners who rely on imports, or someone who cares about the future of traditional American values, may not have yet been directly affected by Trump’s first hundred days in office.

Congratulations if you have remained calm and not lost any sleep since Trump’s inauguration. For the rest of us, the beginning of Trump’s second term as president has been a nightmare brought to life. Going forward, I would advise even the most dedicated of Trump supporters to pay attention. Before the year is up, every American will know individuals close to them who have been adversely impacted by one or more of Trump’s executive orders.

Trump’s first hundred days will go down in history as the second most impactful beginning of a presidential administration. The first was the period after Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in March of 1933. The Great Depression had caused a total national breakdown. Millions of Americans lost everything. In what many historians have called the perfect match of man and moment, Roosevelt’s political instincts and exuberant temperament cobbled together the nation’s new social contract, including social security. Roosevelt lifted the country, rebuilt lives, and later saved the world from fascism.

Trump’s first hundred days will be remembered by historians for the unrelenting attempt of one man, surrounded by loyal yes-men, to dismantle much of the public good that Roosevelt accomplished. Trump is determined to create an authoritarian nation in his image. In addition, his actions would return America to the 1900 tariff, protectionist, isolationist world of President William McKinley.

To illustrate the damage in Trump’s first one hundred days, commentators often prepare a long list of each illiberal action Trump has taken. The problem with this approach is that if the reader is consumed by the next outrage, you cannot look closely at the last one. Instead, I will focus on only two debacles that have developed since Trump took office.

Abuse of the National Emergencies Act. In 1976, Congress enacted the National Emergencies Act to limit the circumstances under which a president could declare a national emergency. The three Congressional safeguards included (1) expiration of an emergency after one year, (2) the ability to pass a concurrent resolution to terminate the emergency by legislative veto, and (3) a Congressional review of any declared national emergencies every six months. Congress has not shown a willingness to exercise any of these powers to limit Trump.

In his first 100 days, the President has declared more national emergencies (nine) — more aggressively — than any president in American history.  Trump has invoked national emergencies to impose world-wide exorbitant tariffs on trade, to accelerate energy and mineral production, and to militarize federal lands at the southern border. He has also invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798, to deport Venezuelan migrants who the administration claims are participating in an “invasion” of the United States.

While the courts may eventually have the last word, much damage has already been done. For the time being, the supposed supremacy of the rule of law has been replaced by an authoritarian bully who has abused his executive powers by declaring multiple “state of emergencies” as “exceptions” that overrule established law. What we are witnessing is an out-of-control ruler who decides what constitutes each legal exception, based on ideology, not crises, and who then declares an unjustifiable emergency. More troubling, the ACLU has warned that Trump is also considering invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, in order to deploy National Guard troops on domestic soil without state consent.

Termination of Arts & Cultural Organizations. Under the false pretense of “waste, fraud, and abuse,” the Trump administration is reorganizing or terminating many of the most important federally funded arts and cultural organizations in America. First, in what appeared to be a petty matter, but was far more sinister, Trump installed himself as chair of the John F. Kennedy Center. Thirteen bipartisan board members were fired and replaced by compliant ones.

This was followed by Trump executive orders against Smithsonian Museums, designed to control the historical narrative of the United States.

Next were budget proposals to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump wants to cancel most of their existing grants and layoff a large portion of their staffs. The budget cuts came after both organizations acquiesced to Trump’s demands to restrict federal funding for “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or “gender ideology.” As history has demonstrated, such institutional obedience only leads to worse authoritarianism.

Trump is following the well-worn path of autocratic actors around the world who censor cultural endeavors that promote ethnic diversity and freedoms. In his mind, there can be only one cultural message of a nationalistic creative expression that is both white and Christian. These actions have had a chilling effect on local cultural organizations that traditionally receive federal funding.

Most recently, on May 2, Trump took the next step and announced he was ending federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System.

Underneath Trump’s inflammatory politics in skirting the law on national emergencies and his attack on our cultural and arts organizations, real people are being economically and emotionally damaged. We must help them recover and then join them to fight back.