It started just about as soon as he took office. The false claims about the crowd size at his inauguration really didn’t matter, but the Trump staff insisted on telling the lie. When the truth started to get in the way, they tried “alternative facts”. it wasn’t long before people in the Trump Administration started to lose credibility and trust, and started to lose it fast.
The issue isn’t whether Trump makes bold claims and big promises, a lot of politicians do. The issue isn’t that he makes generalized, ambiguous statements like “it will be great”, “everybody will be better off”, “it’s going to be fantastic, the best ever”. Most people understand that those are boasts and don’t carry much weight.
President Trump’s trust issues come down to far more serious matters. Matters that affect lives. Matters that affect relationships with our long-standing allies. Matters that determine America’s standing in the world, and how the rest of the world is shaped.
US courts and judges think Trump is a liar. President Trump’s immigration ban was recently turned down by the courts for the third time (Third time not a charm). In its first draft, the Executive Order was rejected by the courts because of an implied bias to discriminate against Muslims. The second version was cleaner and may have passed the courts had it not been for Trump’s previous rhetoric of calling for “a total ban on all Muslims from entering the United States” (Trump calls for Muslim ban). Even though the Trump Administration claimed that the ban had nothing to do with Muslims, the judges didn’t believe it, specifically citing Trump’s call to ban Muslims. The judges don’t believe Trump, and the result is a failed attempt to reign in immigration and to strengthen US security.
NATO can no longer trust Trump. On his recent trip to Europe, Trump admonished the members of NATO for not pulling their weight and refused to state that he supports Article 5. Article 5 is the soul of NATO. It states that an attack against one member is to be considered an attack against all members, and all members will fight for any one member. It is Article 5 that has stopped Russia from colonizing Europe country by country, it has stopped the spread of communism in Europe. For almost 70 years, America has been a steadfast member of NATO, and now Trump waivers in support. For almost 70 years America has fought to protect our allies from Communist aggression, and now Trump is willing to throw all the effort and dedication down the drain. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany was so disappointed in the lack of support from Trump she declared Europe’s ability to rely on the US was “over, to a certain extent. This is what I have experienced in the last few days.” Europe “really must take our fate into our own hands”. NATO and Europe can no longer trust Trump as an ally in the continuous struggle against Russian interference and aggression.
Britain can’t Trust Trump. For two acts of blatant incompetence, Britain has had to admonish the Trump administration. The first being the Administrations claim that Obama may have used British resources to wiretap the Trump Tower (a claim so absurd Sean Spicer had to make a public apology). The second was the Administration’s leak of intelligence information the British offered regarding the terrorist attack in Manchester.
Israel can’t trust Trump. Earlier this month, Trump invited Russian diplomats to the Oval Office, where he divulged top secret information provided by an Israeli operative. While Trump did not specifically name the operative or Israel, the divulged information reportedly revealed enough information for the Russians to easily make the determination.
The Intelligence community can’t trust Trump. Shortly after the election, Trump criticized the US intelligence agencies for leaks and other alleged misdeeds. He then fired FBI Director James Comey, for reasons that still are not clear. His termination letter stated it was due to advice offered by the Department of Justice, but later Trump stated he had already decided to fire Comey for other reasons. Trump stated that the FBI is in disarray, is poorly led, and that FBI employees do not have confidence in leadership. These statements were refuted by both Director James Comey, and later by acting Director Andrew McCabe. Add Trump’s statement that it is his right to divulge secrets to anybody he wants to, and the sad truth is that people in the Intelligence agencies can’t trust what Trump says or does.
The military can’t trust Trump. During a telephone conversation with Philippine President Duterte on April 29th, Trump disclosed the location of two US nuclear submarines which were on patrol at the time. The whole point of submarines is to hide their location, a fact that Trump apparently didn’t understand. This obviously put American servicemen and women at great risk.
The Trump Administration can’t trust Trump. On any given issue, most administrations form a narrative that staff are instructed to adhere. The story is the story, and that’s what they stick to. Unfortunately, in this administration, Trump can’t stick to the story. He can’t be trusted. Time after time, his administration, (including Vice President Pence) will offer a position on an issue, only to have Trump sabotage what they have said. It destroys the credibility of the staff to have Trump contradict what they have stated. Sean Spicer can also not trust Trump. An avid Catholic, Spicer was scheduled to join Trump when he met the Pope, a thrill of a lifetime for any devout Catholic. At the last minute, Spicer was not allowed to attend, and Trump’s Jewish daughter, Jewish son-in-law, a former bodyguard, and social media adviser met the Pope instead.
Trump supporters can’t trust Trump. Trump’s promise for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton? He changed his mind. Build a wall and have Mexico pay for it? Mexico isn’t going to pay for a wall. His promise of a Foolproof plan to defeat ISIS in a short amount of time? We’re still waiting. Even Trump supporters with blinders are slowly realizing that a lot of those big promises will never happen, but they were fun to talk about!
Seniors and the poor can’t trust Trump. After promising that his healthcare plan will be better for everyone, Trump’s proposed plan will cause 23 million Americans to lose their health coverage. Seniors who are able to keep it may not be able to afford it as their rates will skyrocket up to 700%. Trump’s budget also proposes cutting Medicaid coverage for the poor by $860 billion dollars after he stated repeatedly that he would not touch Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. By the way, his budget also cuts Social Security disability benefits.
The sad truth is that Trump can’t be trusted. Our allies can’t trust him. Our own government can’t trust him. Our citizens can’t trust him and sadly, the people most loyal to him, his staff, can’t even trust him. Sad.
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