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OPINION

Donald Trump isn’t honest…that’s something all who know him or witness his behaviour or hear his countless lies…understand fully. Unfortunately, the only truthful part of that sentence is the fact that Donald Trump is dishonest.

That’s because some people believe Trump…regardless of what he does or what he says…and despite his life-long history of, well, simply fooling and defrauding folks. The result, of course, is that Republican voters by the millions elected this scoundrel…twice.

What are reasonable people - you know those of us who believe in science and facts and decency - to think of these folks? Are they just more gullible? Do they lack some aspect of reasoning ability? Are they willing to accept any flaws simply because they abhor abortions or believe in white supremacy?

Oddly enough, Trump fans - again, read Republicans - seem to accept The Donald’s most outrageous lies without flinching, but seem to dismiss rare examples of honesty. For example, he told all of us - multiple times during the campaign - that he would be his supporters’ “retribution”.

(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

Now, however, those who screamed loudest in support of his promised revenge during rallies…seem shocked at what he’s doing. It is a head scratcher to be sure. And while it’s one thing to discount his obvious “harmless” lies about “being too busy to play golf when I’m in the White House”…it’s something entirely different when he forces the Department of Justice to go after those he doesn’t like…for whatever slight he perceives. By the way, Trump has played more golf than any other three presidents combined.

Just over a week ago, Trump signed executive orders targeting two former aides who criticized him. Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official, and Christopher Krebs, a top cybersecurity official - both were appointees in Trump’s first term. They did their jobs.

Trump targeted Krebs for telling the truth about the 2020 election…that there was no massive fraud. The president says Taylor disclosed sensitive classified information in a piece for The New York Times criticizing Trump.

There’s no evidence to support either assertion…but Trump always seeks revenge when someone says something negative about him. Trump says Taylor committed treason…something no American has been tried and convicted for since the Second World War.

The executive orders targeting Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor rescind their security clearances…as well as the clearances for anyone they work with. That means co-workers at the University of Pennsylvania for Taylor, and anyone at SentinelOne, the company where Krebs works, lose or disrupt their careers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice can take years to conduct an unjustified probe of the two former Republican officials’ stint in the Trump Administration. It’s all about revenge…it’s been a part of Trump’s DNA his entire life. He told me that, “getting even” was his favourite aspect of business back in 1980. In case you’re curious, revenge isn’t in a single lesson plan in any business course at any university.

Going after perceived enemies is what Trump does best. He makes Richard Nixon look like a slacker…a nice guy, even. President Trump has used his office - contrary to the U.S. Constitution - to target law firms that legally challenged his policies, represented political opponents or cooperated with prosecutions against him.

Whenever possible, Trump takes away security clearances from lawyers, too…effectively killing business with clients who interact with the government. Like I said…a lifetime of vengeful retaliation has made Trump a retribution virtuoso.

Trump’s Department of Justice now resembles more Gestapo than pinnacle of law. Trump uses the DOJ - in concert with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) - to target legal immigrants…as they did Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 14-year resident of Maryland, who they abducted and sent to a prison in El Salvador.

Another aspect of Trump’s sociopathic personality is his overwhelming need for everyone to genuflect in his presence. Whether you’re a real billionaire businessman, leader of another country, a Senator…anyone, really.

His reliance on tariffs stems from both this need…and his somewhat perverse transactional sense of business…you do this and I do that. There’s a place of tariffs…but Trump doesn’t know what or where that is. Still, most of his supporters believe the offending nations pay the price rather than American consumers.

Trump’s love of tariffs comes from the so-called leading economist his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, found…Ron Varra. Of course, move a few letters around and you have…Navarro…as in Peter Navarro.

Navarro is famous for excessive hand motions and his love of the “Green Bay Sweep”…a running play used 60+ years ago by the Green Bay Packers…that’s how out of touch with the times Navarro is.

So, the on-again, off-again, delayed, re-instated, 20 percent…make-that-10-percent tariffs of a made-up expert will determine whether America and the rest of the world suffer a recession or worse.

Still - back to my initial point - Republicans support Trump. Farmers from Iowa to North Carolina overwhelmingly believe Trump. Maybe they think those episodes of “The Apprentice” were real…that Trump is a successful businessman rather than a fraud.

By the way, in case like most Trump fans you were out to lunch and missed it…Trump’s tariff on China during his first term cost soybean and other farmers considerably. How much? Taxpayers paid farmers $28 billion to make up for lost sales. So much for how tariffs are good for America.

I believe Americans are going to suffer a lot more than they have before those who worship King Trump see him for what he is. I don’t know what to call their misplaced adoration…their lemming-like willingness to follow America’s most incompetent president.

Regardless, it must be a really empty feeling when you discover you’re among the last to know something that is so obvious.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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