President Theodore Roosevelt said “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
In merely four months Donald Trump has turned the United States from a functioning democracy into a country on the edge of a fascist dictatorship.
The following reports I found on the internet from reliable news sources confirm what my beliefs.
The courts including the Supreme Court have given the power for Donald Trump to do as he wishes. The Supreme Court has ruled that President Trump is at least presumptively immune from criminal liability for his official acts, and is absolutely immune for some “core” of them — including his attempts to use the Justice Department to obstruct the results of an election.
Since late February, President Trump has used the power of the presidency to punish law firms that he accuses of weaponizing the justice system and undermining the national interest, part of his promised campaign of vengeance against his perceived political enemies.
Donald Trump expanded on his threats to the media suggesting actions of the press should be deemed illegal and subject to investigation.
“I believe that CNN and MS-DNC, who literally write 97.6% bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat [sic] party and in my opinion, they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal, what do they do is illegal,” the president said during a contentious speech at the Department of Justice.
The Trump administration is seeking to exert extraordinary influence over American universities by withholding the kind of federal financial support that has flowed to campuses for decades. His claim it’s all about anti-semitism. His initial attack is on Harvard, a private university. But it has been expanded.
So far, seven universities have been singled out for punitive funding cuts or have been explicitly notified that their funding is in serious jeopardy. They are:
- Harvard University, which has approximately $9 billion at stake. The government has already canceled more than $2.2 billion in retaliation after Harvard publicly rebuffed the Trump administration’s demands. Harvard quickly sued the administration, and the case is pending. The president has also threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
- Brown University, which the Trump administration said stood to lose $510 million.
- Columbia, which is hoping to regain about $400 million in canceled grants and contracts after it bowed to a list of demands from the federal government.
- Cornell University, the target of a cut of at least $1 billion.
- Northwestern, which Trump administration officials said would be stripped of $790 million.
- The University of Pennsylvania, which saw $175 million in federal funding suspended in response to its approach to a transgender athlete’s sports participation in 2022.
- Princeton University, which said “dozens” of grants had been suspended. The White House indicated that $210 million was at risk.
Now Trump is planning attacks on California universities who chose not to follow his directions.
Now Trump is planning to stop California’s environmental regulations.
What will Trump do next? I do not know. With more than 3 1/2 (three and a half years of his term to go it will be a bumpy ride.
Coast Contact 