Sunday Issues-February 23, 2025
Trump doubles down on Musk, MAGA, and himself
Predictions that Trump would tire quickly of Elon Musk are proving wrong. Musk, if anything, is no longer treading lightly. He may be controlled enough not to claim he is the “real president,” but he thinks he is. And Trump, who enjoys the attention and perks of the presidency, seems comfortable letting Musk do whatever he wants.
Trump has been president for over a month. His honeymoon appears to be ending (cross your fingers), and poll numbers are declining.
Friday night massacre at the Pentagon.
As expected, President Trump dismissed Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Replacing him is generally unknown Dan “Razin” Caine, a retired three-star general.
Why did Trump choose him? Trump that during his first term, Caine told him ISIS could be defeated in one week when other generals said success could take years.
Is Trump trying to politicize the military? Is the goal of having a military more loyal to Trump than the Constitution? Here is what Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a West Point graduate, said about the massacre:
The implications for our national security cannot be overstated. A clear message is being sent to military leaders: Failure to demonstrate personal and political loyalty to Trump could result in retribution, even after decades of honorable service. In particular, firing the military’s most senior legal advisers is an unprecedented and explicit move to install officers who will yield to the president’s interpretation of the law, with the expectation they will be little more than yes men on the most consequential questions of military law.
Well said, Senator Reed. Thank you.
Is Germany entering the Danger Zone?
National parliamentary elections are being held today in Germany, and the world is worried. The far-right Alternatives for Germany (AfD) party is expected to gain significant support in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament.
Polls indicate that current Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party, the Social Democrats, enjoys the support of only 16 percent of voters. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Bavaria’s Christian Socialist Union (CSU) enjoy 29 percent. The AfD is supported by 20 percent of Germans, a record high.
The Social Democrats, CSU, and CDU have historically declined to include the AfD in coalition governments due to AfD’s far-right positions, including fierce opposition to “mass migration” and promotion of German nationalism. The party is also seen as anti-Semitic by many.
Elon Musk has expressed support for the AfD, describing it as the only party that can “save Germany.” Vice President J.D. Vance met with Alice Weidel, the head of the AfD, while in Munich for a security conference. Weidel supports Germany leaving the European Union and is strongly anti-immigrant. She studied economics in China, worked for Goldman Sachs before entering politics, and is fluent in English and Chinese.
The AfD is described as “neo-Nazi.” The Trump administration is understood to support the AfD, considering it better aligned with today’s Republican party.
The election and efforts to form a new coalition government, which could take weeks, are worth watching. Europe is changing.
Haste makes waste- Trump's personnel actions are backfiring.
Despite continuing to praise himself for quickly dismantling the federal government, President Trump—or, more likely, some of the remaining federal employees—is realizing that mistakes have been made.
To the administration's credit, some of the firings are being reversed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement reported by NBC News on Tuesday it mistakenly fired “several” employees assigned to the federal response against the H5N1 bird flu virus, noting it will be “working to swiftly rectify” the firings of the frontline public safety positions monitoring the spreading illness.
Last week, officials reportedly tried to reinstate some fired employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees nuclear weapons—but NBC News reports the agency’s leaders had no good way to contact and inform some of them of their rehiring.
There are, of course, many other examples, including at the National Park Service. One wonders how much damage has been done—and how much is yet to come as the head-rolling continues.
Trump announces an end to independent federal agencies, including the SEC, FTC, and FCC.
In between rounds of golf, Donald Trump continues his campaign to assert complete, unquestioned control of the entire federal government. DOGE, the firing of thousands of federal employees, and the unauthorized closing of U.S. AID were the start of Trump’s campaign. On Wednesday, Trump took another ominous step—he wants to strip the status of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), by eliminating their status as independent agencies.
The Executive Order is a major part of Trump’s effort to control ALL the federal government.
The Trump announcement reads, in part:
The Order notes that Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests all executive power in the President, meaning that all executive branch officials and employees are subject to his supervision.
Therefore, because all executive power is vested in the President, all agencies must: (1) submit draft regulations for White House review—with no carve-out for so-called independent agencies, except for the monetary policy functions of the Federal Reserve; and (2) consult with the White House on their priorities and strategic plans, and the White House will set their performance standards.
The Office of Management and Budget will adjust so-called independent agencies’ apportionments to ensure tax dollars are spent wisely.
The President and the Attorney General (subject to the President’s supervision and control) will interpret the law for the executive branch instead of having separate agencies adopt conflicting interpretations.
The Federal Communications Commission is one of three independent agencies mentioned explicitly in the president’s announcement. Trump has repeatedly threatened CBS and NBC with revocation of their broadcast licenses. If his Executive Order stands, it will be much easier for him to kill both networks.
Destroying American higher education.
Last Wednesday, I posted my weekly Spy editorial on Dean’s Issues & Insights. I appreciate the response to the piece on Substack. However, the piece has been much less popular among Spy readers, many of whom informed me I did not know what I was writing about, that I “drank the Kool-Aid,” and that I must be a graduate of Trump University (an amusing criticism given that the writer agrees with President Trump’s efforts to rid colleges of DEI initiatives and raise the cost of going to college).
In responding to the “fan” that referenced now-defunct Trump University, I remembered reading that Trump attended the University of Pennsylvania only after cheating on his SATs. Mary Trump made the allegation.
The J. Edgar Hoover Building may soon be empty.
Newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel is hitting the road running—and sending more than a thousand FBI agents and other employees scurrying with an order to relocate out of Washington, D.C. Five hundred employees are going to Alabama. They should be settled into their new homes and offices when hurricane season begins on June 1. Others are being sent to FBI field offices, assuming they will be better deployed to fight crime than to push paper.
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Before being nominated by Trump to head the FBI, Patel called for “retribution” against Trump’s perceived enemies and the press. He also proposed “emptying” the Hoover Building and turning it into a Museum of the Deep State.
Patel will be a disaster for the FBI, Justice, and America.
Thank you.
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Trump’s executive orders have all the force and effect of soiled diapers when they seek to make new law and over ride existing Acts of Congress.
The real goal is to break Congress and bend it into mute submission.
Democrats know what their duty is (except for Federman). The only thing in play is Republican integrity and commitment to the Constitution. Both look very shaky right now.