This is the sixth in a series of articles on Trump’s upcoming second presidential term; see the first post in this series, Concerns About Trump Presidency Part 1: Important Intro
This is the final article in this series. The concern here is in regards to a well functioning, free, democratic government. The idea in the U.S. is that the population has a say in the government, indirectly through voting for representatives. This series regards Trump who will occupy the office of president. However, there are of course many, many people working for the government as part of numerous agencies. The expectation is that all of these government agencies will do their job, perhaps not efficiently, but at least reasonably fairly.
Of course no government is perfect. It not a black and white case in which either a government is corrupt or it is not. There will always be people who get into positions of power who abuse this power. The concern has to do with scale. In countries where there is significant corruption, the country as a whole usually doesn’t do well despite resources which ought to have led to greater prosperity. I think of examples like South Africa and their failing electrical grid1 and Venezuela with their oil wealth.2
Returning to the U.S., we have generally been the beneficiaries of having a relatively well functioning government with relatively low corruption. Yes, the government is known for bureaucracy and inefficiency. And those companies, organizations, and people with the most money exercise too great an influence on the government through lobbying. Yet generally as a whole it has functioned.
What I am thinking of is this: say you want to hunt and fish. You should be able to learn what government agency handles this, where the local office is, how to apply for a license, and the cost. You can expect to fill out a form, pay a fee, and then receive your license. You don’t expect to have to know or be related to someone in the agency in order to get your license. You also don’t expect to have bribe someone in the agency in order to be granted your license.
To give another example, I expect the National Park Service to understand the needs and issues related to maintaining and operating the National Parks. I expect them to try and keep our parks in good working order and to serve all those who visit.
My concern with Trump is twofold. First, I am concerned about how he seems to lean toward corruption. He seems to view government positions as way to reward allies while removing anyone who doesn’t do what he likes.3 In other words, it has little to do with their qualifications for the position, and they may not even been interested in it perhaps except for the title and pay. If this continues to happen, this will erode the ability for these government agencies to function.
Using the example above of the NPS, imagine a person is appointed the head of this department with no qualification or care for the position. Perhaps they end up funneling significant money into projects which aren’t beneficial but which happen to be owned by one of their friends. The friend makes a lot of money, but meanwhile, the National Parks fall into greater disrepair. Now perhaps this couldn’t get too bad within four years. But even this could hurt, and it is also possible to lead to further corruption or other long-term consequences.
Along with this, I have significant concerns regarding how Trump seems to have taken people out certain positions which could have checked him. There were numerous investigations opened into the actions of Trump. But he in some cases fired the person leading the investigation.45
The other, second major concern is how Trump leans toward autocracy and authoritarianism. He seems to admire other dictators. He clearer laid the groundwork to bring the 2020 presidential election into question well before it even took place.6 And it is unquestionable that he did not accept the results of the democratic election and instead tried every means to overturn it. This was the first time in U.S. history that the change of power had not been peacefully accepted.
Again, this makes a real difference. The U.S. has experienced its great prosperity in significant part to our stability and lack of corruption. Our systems have generally functioned under rule of law. Trump seemingly threatens these will real potential consequences. I will be at least slightly surprised if Trump does not attempt to remove presidential term limits before the next election in attempt to remain in power.
In summary, Trump appears to threaten the U.S.’ rule of law and democracy.
Before I conclude this series, I do want o mention that since I started it, Trump has made more bizarre threats including annexing Canada, buying and/or invading Greenland, sending U.S. troops into Mexico, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. I hope that he does not actually do anything which significantly hurts the U.S. in the long-term. But these statements make me wonder if he plans to be more unhinged in his second term in office.
- https://youtu.be/ZxKzIdBTmPE?si=w5Wn9gX_S4UGlyIe ↩︎
- https://youtu.be/-tmixPEOMIA?si=4bsFZuUKEGiqTcBg ↩︎
- “Trump fired impeachment witnesses and other political appointees and career officials he deemed insufficiently loyal.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump#First_impeachment ↩︎
- “Trump’s use of the pardon power was marked by an unprecedented degree of favoritism.[12] He frequently granted executive clemency to his supporters or political allies” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_granted_executive_clemency_by_Donald_Trump#Supporters_and_political_allies ↩︎
- I would have liked to have been able to do further investigation for this article, but I ran out of time. ↩︎
- “He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results if he lost and commit to a peaceful transition of power.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump#2020_presidential_election ↩︎
