Sunday Issues-April 27, 2025

Trump wears blue to the Pope's funeral

Can someone tell me what President Trump was doing at Pope Francis’ funeral? Francis disapproved of Trump and most likely would not have wanted an unrepentant serial sexual offender at the service. Was it to be part of the story? Or something else. We will never know.

But we know that the Vatican asked attendees to wear black. The President wore blue. Was this also his way of making a statement? Something like, “I’m the President of the United States and the rules don’t apply to me."

President Biden attended the service, but Trump did not offer “Sleepy Joe” a lift on Air Force One. President Trump also appeared visibly irritated by not getting a better seat at the service.

If all of this sounds like a light-duty appendix to The Ugly American, you’re right. America would have been better off had Trump flown directly to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, without taking a detour to Rome.

Something nice to say about Trump.

I have sometimes been accused of never writing a nice word about Trump. That is not true. I’ve written many nice things about him in the past, including wishing him a nice retirement on January 20, 2021, the day I wishfully thought marked the end of Trumpism.

Here’s something nice about Trump that I’m saying now: This morning I checked on Truth Social to see if Trump made a disparaging comment at the size of the crowd at Pope Francis’ funeral, which was smaller than that of Pope John Paul II. He didn’t.

I also checked Truth Social to see if Trump said something nasty about Pope Francis, like hoping that the next Pope would not be someone who suffered from TDS. I am happy to say I found nothing, but Trump did post six pictures of himself arriving at St. Peter’s, pausing in front of Pope Francis’ coffin, and holding a meeting with President Zelenskyy in the church. President Trump also posted two pictures of himself flying to Rome.

As I write this, President Trump may still be in bed, psychologically preparing for 18 holes before he flies back to Washington tonight.

Hegseth.

The death and funeral of Pope Francis eclipsed reporting on the growing number of calls for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign or be fired. So far, Trump is sticking with him, despite signs that Hegseth is failing miserably in the job.

Hegseth will be gone before the end of May. If he left today, the national security of the United States would benefit.

Tariffs.

What is going on with Trump’s tariffs? Is China about to agree to a trade deal, as Trump suggests? I don’t know, but Trump’s optimistic comments seem to be calming down markets, at least in the short term.

Somehow, I don’t see China acquiescing in Trump’s demands. Trump, of course, will claim victory even if he fails.

Remember that the bulk of the Trump tariffs are on pause. That means another crisis looms unless deals are struck.

Russia and Ukraine.

Trump made the news last week by commanding Putin to “STOP!” after Putin launched a massive rocket and drone attack on Kyiv. The rare instance of Trump pushing back on Putin prompts us to wonder what Putin thinks about Trump.

I guess that Putin sees Trump as a useful idiot. Trump has put forward a peace plan that rewards Russia for invading Ukraine. Trump has called the non-negotiables once put forward by Zelenskyy—things like not ceding territory to Russia—as “absurd.”

Sadly, Zelenskyy does not have the option to tell Trump where to go.

Trump is now predicting that the Ukraine war will end soon. If it does, Trump will step up efforts to be recognized as the world’s peacemaker . . . . But Ukraine, as we know it, will most likely be history. It will be more than 20 percent smaller than before the war, mainly in ruins, and susceptible to future Russian demands for more territory.

The whole situation is shameful.

The only reason Trump has been able to get away with abandoning Ukraine is the sad reality that most Americans don’t know or care much about the war. Nobody fears a direct attack on the US by Russia these days, and the vast majority of Americans could not point to Ukraine on a map. Sad.

Thank you.

That’s it for today. Thank you for reading Sunday Issues. And if you are a Dean’s Issues & Insights subscriber, thank you for that as well.

I look forward to the day when I can write about something other than how the President of the United States is destroying the United States.