Friday Insights-May 2, 2025
The President hosts a National Day of Prayer and celebrates the rule of law.
Today concludes another surreal week of the second Trump presidency. A lot happened, including the firing of now-former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his nomination to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. I understand that the President did not communicate the firing and hiring to Mr. Waltz on the Signal App.
Waltz's departure likely reflects Trump’s displeasure with Waltz’s Signal App screw-up, inviting an Atlantic magazine editor onto a highly sensitive text group where Secretary of Defense Hegseth laid out the details of a U.S. military operation. However, the firing is also part of Trump’s effort to keep Hegseth in office. By offering up (sort of) Waltz’s head, Trump hopes the storm over Hegseth will blow over. So far, it hasn’t.
I expect Hegseth’s service at the White House will end before July 4, especially if Hegseth (or, should I say, his wife) commits another blunder.
Waltz’s firing and hiring were not the only news this week. There was also a Trump retreat on tariffs applicable to automobile manufacturers. Trump tacitly admits that his tariffs could have killed one or more U.S. car companies.
It is admirable that Trump admitted his tariff mistake, but I’m not holding my breath for him to back down on the rest of the trade war before long-term damage is done to the U.S. and world economy.
Prayer?
But let’s talk briefly about the National Day of Prayer. This “event” was held at the White House and attended by many religious leaders. I did not watch the event, but read the transcript (now posted on the White House website). The event was mislabeled. It had little to do with prayer. It was a rally in support of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and an opportunity for Trump to talk more about himself, the 2024 election, and to accuse Democrats of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Had Pope Francis not died last month and somehow been persuaded to attend this disgrace of a meeting, I like to think he would have walked out.
Hypocrisy?
Trump also issued a Presidential Proclamation on “Loyalty Day and Law Day, U.S.A. 2025.” The title is not catchy, but the first line of the proclamation reads: “The rule of law is the capstone of our constitutional order and the crown jewel of the American way of life.”
Over 100 lawsuits have been filed challenging the legality, usually the Constitutionality, of Trump's actions, most taken via Executive Orders. Read a list of some of the cases here.
Trump can’t wait.
President Trump has been called “an old man in a hurry.” He will be 79 years old on June 15, and each day, he looks more his age.
One big frustration of the President that cannot be addressed by installing more gold in the Oval Office is the age of Air Force One. During his first term, the president ordered two new 747s to replace the existing jets that entered service when George H.W. Bush was president. Unfortunately, Boeing has had trouble building the planes. They recently told Trump, a man who doesn’t like bad news, that the aircraft would not be delivered until after the end of Trump’s second term as President.
What to do? Someone told Trump there was a lightly used Qatari 747 jet that already looked like a presidential flying palace. In February, Trump looked at it and liked what he saw. A man of action, Trump ordered the government to buy the plane and convert it into a new Air Force One that can meet his high standards for luxury until the two other Air Force Ones are delivered.
How much will this new Air Force One cost? I didn’t see that in the news of the purchase. The plane is now being refitted to serve as Trump’s jet and could enter service this fall. How exciting! It makes me proud to be an American.
Thank you.
Thank you for reading Dean’s Friday Insights. I hope you enjoy your weekend. Please say a prayer for democracy and the rule of law.
I see he does own a black suit. Too bad he did not wear it as requested to Pope Francis’s funeral.