OPINION: 6 Evil Qualities of The Trump Administration, with 43 Examples [Deep Dive]
It's hard to overstate just how far this administration has strayed from the rule of law, but it’s worth the effort of trying; I’m going to make the case that they are evil, and in pretty specific way
Evil is defined as “profoundly immoral and wicked”; it feels important to define that at the outset… then again, like beauty, evil is in the eye of the beholder.
That we wanted change was not surprising. We had long been losing trust in those institutions; years of malcontent and justifiable anger have led to this moment, there's no denying it. I felt that anger myself.
The problem is, the 47th Administration capitalized on, stoked, and fanned the flames of that malcontent simply to win the election… and it appears, after 90 days, that his plans are FAR different than what he campaigned on, and they don’t include helping working Americans.
The situation has changed.
From the moment they took office, the Trump Administration has been focused on power; as moderate-conservative David Brooks stated in The New York Times Opinion: “It [Trumpism] is primarily about the acquisition of power — power for its own sake. It is a multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men, so of course any institutions that might restrain power must be weakened or destroyed.”
It's hard to overstate just how far this administration has strayed from the rule of law, but it’s worth the effort of trying; I’m going to make the case that they are evil, and in pretty specific ways.
What I call “Evil” are things this Administration has done, said, written, shared or ordered since inauguration day that I simply do find profoundly immoral and wicked: they were gathered from an EXCELLENT interactive article that reporters at The New York Times compiled of all the major moves of the Trump administration so far. I strongly encourage you to check it out for yourself, especially for the purely fact-based version of all these events; even if the big picture is overwhelming, it's better than not realizing what we face.
Callous - showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others
These are moves that I find callous, because when you combine them with his economic moves, they feel especially cruel to working Americans.
April 15 - Accelerated its efforts to dismantle a federal agency on homelessness
April 17 - Considered deep cuts to federal housing programs, including an overhaul of aid to low-income families
The potential changes primarily concern federal housing vouchers. Even before the cut, only 1 in 4 families eligible for vouchers got them. Deep cuts would likely result in loss of housing assistance for the poorest Americans in the country.
February 8 - Halted work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
From 2011 to 2024, the U.S. spent $7.5 billion to run the CFPB… and they recovered $21 billion in payments for Americans. It was simply good government. Their whole job was to make sure U.S. consumers had a place to go if they were being scammed or frauded.
March 12 - Implemented major cuts at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, closing offices and reducing staff
2023 estimates indicate about 48 million Americans experience an addiction, while 59 million Americans experience mental illness. The administration has closed both offices and rolled the services into a new department, but with substantial cuts.
Criminal - an act or omission that violates a law
I am no lawyer; that said, our country has a pretty clear set of rules about how you're allowed to treat human beings… UNDOCUMENTED OR NOT.
March 16 - Announced that the administration has sent hundreds of people accused of being Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador
We The People should not be okay with funding the life imprisonment of people who have not been convicted of a crime.
April 16 - Declined to offer any substantive update on how the government was facilitating the return of a man wrongly deported to El Salvador
The scariest part of this whole situation: they know they fucked up. They know that man has not been convicted of a crime. Still, they’re on Fox News absolutely smearing his public name with no proof.
March 15 - Denied refusing to comply with a judge’s order to halt deportations of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act
Several of these acts are about the same subject, but it feels important to say: they’ve had SO MANY chances to correct course and get this guy home, but they’re digging in their heels instead.
March 30 - Deported 17 alleged gang members to El Salvador
In this country, you don’t imprison people for life without a guilty verdict.
February 12 - Held more than 50 migrants at the U.S. military base in Guantánamo Bay, some of whom were guarded by troops rather than civilian immigration officers
10 of the migrants being held as of 3 days ago are staying in the same building where the terrorists are kept; while the other 32 are staying in a barrack-style building. While originally announced that Guantanamo would be used only for dangerous criminals, they have not provided any proof of who these people are. One of the migrants who stayed there provided testimony about the conditions there, and it’s clear they’re being treated like criminals whether they are or not.
March 15 - Invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in an order to remove unauthorized immigrants with little due process
This is a wartime law. We are not at war. We have not been invaded by the Tren de Aragua gang… they invoked this law to suspend due process for these people.
March 17 - Repeatedly refused to answer a federal judge’s questions on deportations to El Salvador
Again, disgusting. It’s evil enough that they did it illegally, and it’s despicable that they are not trying to correct their mistake.
March 31 - Said it was important for the public to see harsh treatment of deportees in El Salvador
Really, TRULY sit with this for a moment; by the time this statement was made, we knew there were at least several people sent there who were completely innocent… and yet, they’re still celebrating. Evil.
Dangerous - able or likely to cause harm or injury
It is my opinion that the following acts are incredibly dangerous, and it's only a matter of time until someone gets hurt.
April 16 - Decided not to label an arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor's resident as domestic terrorism
It's difficult to see any justification for this; if setting fire to a group of Tesla chargers is domestic terrorism, SURELY setting fire to a Governor’s mansion, with this family inside, would also fit the definition? It sets a dangerous precedent, and sends an implicit message that violence against Trump's opponents is okay.
January 24 - Ended government security protection for Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.
There's no other way to read this than “I don't care whether you live or die.” It's sick.
January 20 - Granted clemency to everyone charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
Yet another example of criminals getting special treatment because their crimes were for Trump; it sets a very dangerous precedent.
March 17 - Pulled Secret Service protection from former President Biden’s son and daughter
There's no other way to read this than “I don't care whether you live or die.” It's sick.
January 28 - Removed Gen. Mark Milley’s security detail and revoked his clearance
There's no other way to read this than “I don't care whether you live or die.” It's sick.
March 21 - Revoked security clearances for a slew of opponents including Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and Joseph R. Biden Jr.
There's no other way to read this than “I don't care whether you live or die.” It's sick.
February 5 - Revoked security protection for Mark T. Esper, former defense secretary
There's no other way to read this than “I don't care whether you live or die.” It's sick.
March 10 - Revoked the security clearances of several Biden administration officials and law enforcement figures
There's no other way to read this than “I don't care whether you live or die.” It's sick.
January 20 - Revoked U.S. Secret Service protection for John R. Bolton
There's no other way to read this than “I don't care whether you live or die.” It's sick.
Destructive - causing great and irreparable harm or damage
Perhaps one of the most fascinating (and horrifying) aspects of the administration is its determination to enact its policies with all the care and consideration of a bull in a China shop. The policies themselves were one thing; the abrupt changes cost lives and livelihoods.
March 26 - Abruptly canceled more than $12 billion in federal health grants to states
This was on March 26, so the administration would have already seen the damage caused by USAID; when you abruptly halt everything like that without warning, it causes more harm. Why would they do that to the people they serve? Jobs evaporated by doing it this way, and American citizens had no time to prepare. Why?
March 4 - Dismissed outside committees that advise federal statistics agencies such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis
As a nerd, I personally find this reprehensible because I like having free access to data about my country. It’s available to all of us as well; on a bigger note, however, these agencies create reports that states, people and markets use to make decisions. It’s not just harming the sovereign access to information I believe in, it’s the damage to our long-term credibility that warrants concern to us all.
January 20 - Froze foreign aid
Whether you think we should be spending money in other countries or not, cutting USAID without notice has caused deaths already. They had no time to prepare, no time to find an alternative; 12 babies in Khartoum, Sudan starved to death so far, because 80% of the emergency food kitchens closed. Nevermind the rising spread of tuberculosis, malaria and mpox; the impact of this one decision is ALREADY killing an estimated 103 people per day.
March 19 - Held $500 million in funding for food banks across the country
It’s a double whammy; at the same time they cut a boatload of funding to food banks, they also slapped tariffs on everything... Add that to the changes being floated to the SNAP programs, which would likely increase the number of hungry people… this could get ugly fast.
April 10 - Pressured migrants to 'self-deport' by effectively canceling lawfully obtained Social Security numbers
They marked all of them as dead. They were added to the death master file. They woke up and had no more access to their credit cards or bank accounts. Once again… these would have been the law abiding, taxpaying undocumented immigrants that Americans overwhelmingly do not want to deport. How does this loss of tax revenue and fucking cruelty help We The People?
April 7 - Terminated US funding for the World Food Program
Some of the foreign aid programs have been restored, at least according to the Trump administration; that said, it’s disgusting that any American president would make such a decision so catastrophic in the first place. That decision directly put millions of lives in danger; even if you reverse the policies, you’ve shattered the trust. Why?
Selfish - lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure
This doesn't even include his business dealings, which likely need their own deep dive; I do hope that, someday, we're able to put a dollar figure on what the American people spent so Donald Trump could use the government to attack his perceived enemies.
March 25 - Added another law firm, Jenner & Block, to the list of those he targeted with executive orders
Names Andrew Weissman, who worked at the firm years ago and worked on the Mueller investigation. It's nothing but retribution, with not even a semblance of providing some type of benefit for taxpayers. In fact, it weakens our right to a free trial, and the judge called it “an unconstitutional executive order holding no legal weight.”
April 8 - Agreed to hand over sensitive taxpayer information to immigration enforcement authorities
The VAST majority of Americans are opposed to deporting illegal immigrants who have lived here a long time and established themselves. By targeting the illegals who ACTUALLY pay taxes (nevermind that the IRS promised this information would never be shared… that's how they got undocumented workers to pay taxes in the first place), it's almost guaranteed we'll never have that tax revenue again.
April 8 - Froze more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern
Jewish organizations & Israeli academics have stated several times that they do not think this is the way to combat antisemitism; it's about control and limiting free speech.
March 27 - Issued an executive order to punish WilmerHale, the law firm where Robert S. Mueller III worked before and after he served as special counsel in the Trump-Russia investigation
Again, this does We The People no favors at all; it's just the President of the United States using our tax dollars to settle his personal grievances.
April 1 - Paused dozens of federal grants to Princeton University, the fourth Ivy League school that has seen its federal funding reduced or threatened
See above.
March 2 - Placed on leave an acting assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development who warned that dismantling the agency would cause suffering
For the record, the courts did confirm that the dismantling of USAID was unconstitutional. So, essentially, he was fired for saying something true about an illegal act of the president.
April 11 - Reached deals with five additional prominent law firms to provide a total of $600 million in free legal services to causes supported by President Trump
That is extortion. He banned them from federal buildings (lawyers!) and started cancelling all their contracts. They have now promised him a boatload of free services. Are we sure he's going to use it for us?
April 9 - Signed executive orders punishing two officials from his first administration for opposing his 2020 election lies
Imagine being a human being, and having the full weight of the Executive branch bear down upon you. Why? Because they told the truth. It's disgusting.
April 9 - Suspended the security clearances of lawyers at Susman Godfrey after it took on a case President Trump did not like
See above.
Un-American - not agreeing with or characteristic of American values, principles, or traditions
In my opinion, these are evil because they are against everything The United States of America is supposed to stand for: free speech, due process, habeas corpus, innocent until proven guilty… and make no mistake; if the administration can do it to illegal immigrants, they can do it to you.
April 14 - Arrested a legal permanent resident when he arrived at a federal court for what he thought was an appointment to become a U.S. citizen
Mohsen Mahdawi is a permanent U.S. resident with a green card, and he’s still not been charged with a crime; he gave an interview for 60 Minutes which accuses Israel of genocide. In this country, we have free speech.
February 12 - Deported Asian migrants to Panama
They dropped migrants from China, Russia, Afghanistan, and others in Panama, and left them there in a country whose language they couldn’t understand.. Because Panama didn’t know what to do with them either, they forced the migrants to a remote camp, finally releasing them after weeks of pressure and given 30 days to leave. Where? Nobody knows.
March 21 - Halted funding for legal representation of migrant children
Some children as young as 5 are facing judges alone in court. Some are victims of sexual abuse and trafficking. Despite a judge’s order to restore the funding, the Trump administration hasn’t done it. I would like to think that We The People insist on children having lawyers?
April 5 - Revoked the visas held by South Sudanese passport holders
Where are they supposed to go? In South Sudan, 3 adults and 5 children died this month trying to walk to a hospital to get treatment for cholera. The walk was 3 hours long, but they had no choice after the USAID cuts closed 27 local clinics. And now you’re going to force people to go back there?
January 23 - Said California should not get federal aid for wildfires.
YOU DO NOT FUCK WITH PEOPLE WHEN THEY ARE IN CRISIS, DO. YOUR. JOB.
March 7 - Suspended Ukraine’s access to U.S. satellite imagery
On March 12, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, who served 38 years in the U.S. Army and commander of U.S. Army Europe from 2011-2012 said this on an episode of The Bulwark: “...We can’t ignore the fact that there were moral implications to this… I would even go to the point, Tim, where we are complicit and maybe even accessory to war crimes over these couple of days where we just kind of unplugged the intelligence servers within Kyiv and in the front lines, not just for the tactical fight, but for the defense of Ukraine infrastructure and citizens."
April 6 - Wished Trump could be president for 20 years
Americans do not bow. We have no kings. It's a root value of the very founding of our country; yet, the U.S. Attorney General wished for something that sounds a lot like a king on live television. Scarier still, she ended her comment with; “But I think he's going to be finished probably after this” (NO, period: this is the shameful part, her job is to confirm what's legal and what's not, and using probably is a calculated way to hint at violating the Constitution imho) I'm no expert, but I'd guess there's an argument to be made that she violated her oath by saying that… she certainly violated the spirit of her oath, to me at least.
It's hard to overstate the weight of the moment; I want to quote David Brooks again, who’s never been known as a liberal, and whose writing put it so well;
“What is happening now is not normal politics. We’re seeing an assault on the fundamental institutions of our civic life, things we should all swear loyalty to — Democrat, independent or Republican.
It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement. Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power.”
We're heading for national strikes at this point; in the meantime, the protests seem to be growing. From the big cities you'd expect like Chicago, New York City, Miami and San Diego; to smaller cities in states that Trump won, like Little Rock, Pierre and Twin Falls.
Some of the most heartening protests are the ones that occur in towns I've never heard of, until gathering all the photos: Driggs, Idaho… Ellsworth, Maine… Crossville, Tennessee… Livingston, Montana… Talkeetna, Alaska… Urbana, Illinois… Pennington, New Jersey… Sitka, Alaska… if the circumstances bringing us here weren't so bad, I'd be struck by the beauty of a nation standing together. Perhaps I still am.
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