He is following the orders of his masters. He doesn’t have the political savvy to instigate any of this by himself because he’s a moronic individual devoid of political know-how. I’d be surprised if he can brush his own teeth.
37
When the US damaged Iran's nuke plans, we intended to hurt that country. When Russia used cyber war against us, they intended to hurt our country.
The Russians have been trying to hurt our nation ever since WWII ended. We gave immense help to them during WWII. Stalin signed a pact with Hitler to get a piece of Poland. Whoops. Then he needed us.
In the show the Americans, Margo Martindale, as a hard core Commie, has deep resentment because Russia lost 20.000.000 people in WWII. Putin has deep resentment of the US. When young, he was a KGB agent for an empire. Now he is angry even though he runs the biggest country in the world. Jealous alpha male. We have one too.
Trump has done nothing to fund more expertise in cyber warfare.For multiple reasons, he attacks his own country's intelligence services, even when Coates and Rosenstein, his appointees, state categorically that Putin gave the orders for the GRU cyber war against our country.
In any sane time, he would be impeached with a unanimous vote for failing to defend the US.
This is madness, when a man commits so many grievous acts, gets caught obstructing justice openly, defends adversaries, deliberately tears down all the things that our country helped Europe with since 1917, and especially since 1941, and still has millions of supporters, and a GOP of lackeys enabling a fool.
Is it not treason to refuse to defend us and snuggle up to enemies? You may hate the word, at least think about whether it is apt.
46
Who says he is not a Russian agent?
43
Another day
Another punchbowl
Another Trump
5
Dear Penningtonia, you make some damning points, but you fail to recall some pertinent facts: there's that little matter of Russian hacking and electoral interference in three strategically important states; there's the little matter of the White House controlled by Republicans for 10 of the last 18 years; and the matter of Obama being obstructed by the disloyal opposition for most of his two terms; and, oh yes, that other little inconvenient fact that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million.
27
I just heard a talk by a man who was born in Germany in 1928.
In 1935 all Jews lost all their rights even though they had been citizens of Germany for over 600 years. He said that his uncle saw what was coming and left the country to come to America. His father and mother did not believe the German people would turn on them. His father had served in the German army in the 1st WW and won a metal. His parents were wrong and they went off to the concentration camps. His father died of starvation and his mother went to the gas chambers. By some miracle he lived and came to America to live with his uncle in 1946. At the end of his talk he got all choked up and said that with Trump he sees how fascism is slowly developing. He is very worried having seen and experienced it. I recommend the book, "The Kindness of the Hangman", by Henry Adolf Oster. Too bad more people don't know history, especially Trump supporters and our corrupt Congress and Senate.
We most vote in November.
54
Adult children knows only how to destroy without knowing any value that has been built. All those institutions are toys to be thrown around.
3
Peopel say that the pig trump is trying to destroy Obama's legacy. Looks more like he has a problem with Truman and Eisenhower.
22
THAT explains the invocation of Article V on September 12th!!
By our Europe allies.
1
Think the Seinfeld episode- The Opposite. Trump knows reflexively what will anger liberals and also what is the right thing to do and then he does the opposite, always, in all things to date. It's nothing more complicated than that- he's a troll. We all know a guy just like him who says outrageous things to get a rise out of people to be the center of attention and upset people. He has no overarching strategy: he's simply a clown.
30
Mr Trump is playing a particular game in which he creates chaos by moving almost simultaneously in opposite directions, throwing everybody off-guard. It's absurd, it's infuriating, sure, but is there any underlying intention more certain in this, a threat more serious beyond self-stroking his own ego, or creating economic advantage for his own future business interests? If there is an endgame in his apparently antic behavior (golly, suddenly I find myself spouting like a conspiracy theorist) it may be to create just enough chaos in the nation and/or among our allies to arrive at the ultimate excuse to hamstring congress, to suspend elections, to dismiss the judiciary, and to rule by executive fiat. Can we suppose he's too stupid for this? I wish it were true. And if so do we depend on such as a Mitch McConnell or a Paul Ryan to block his entry to the capital doorway?
16
Trump rattles liberal allies, causes diplomatic incidents, cannot speak coherently, introduces massive trade barriers on his own, threatens nuclear war...And what does the economy do while all this is going on? It soars. Why? Because the economy is not rational, instead it is a system run by some of the dumbest and greediest people in our society. We have given up our sovereignty to these people. Whenever somebody they don't like (say, a black president) comes around, they start whining how some moderate reform protecting people and nature from exploitation is going to destroy everything.
They don't have Trump on message with foreign policy though. For decades the military-industrial complex has been scaring people, for example, with North Korea's nuclear threat. In one meeting of pure theater Trump demonstrated that there never was a threat to the US in the first place. If there had been, there is no way it would go away in one meeting where nothing was agreed on. This type of behavior might finally convince the GOP to impeach him. The Putin show could well be the last straw. We might see the Mueller report out soon after.
2
Trump, Bannon, and probably extremest conservatives like the Koch boys want carnage and disruption. The hope after the fall they can construct something more in their image and likeness. Bannon in not so many words told us this cycle is over and destroying it will allow Conservatives to build something better out of the ashes of the very successful last 70 years. He like the arrogant Trump seem to believe they will control their new world order. I suspect Heyek's real road to serfdom for the majority of humans runs through Conservatives.
9
Trump isn't happy fomenting anger and partisan hatred in the US. He wants to export it to the rest of the world. It is the one thing he is best at...
14
Trump sees everything in terms of money and "winning." He had to create disruption so he could "win." But a smart leader (neither of which Mr. Trump is) would recognize that it is better for everyone to win something, in this case, perhaps unity against a common enemy.
Make no mistake, Russia is still our enemy. Otherwise they would not have hacked and otherwise interfered in our 2016 election.
I'm not at all convinced that Trump understands this.
8
Sure, but to ignore the dynamics of social change disorientation, leaves out the nature of the fuel that the arsonist found all around him. Let's deconstruct "political correctness" and why using this new norm became such a powerful rallying cry.
If a working class guy knows that the phrase "colored people" will assign him to the "deplorables" while "people of color" will not, he just may welcome someone who liberates him from speaking by rules he couldn't get right even if he tried.
Those getting by on minimum wage simply cant understand why a person who doesn't work should make close to what he does. The anger that such a person has for liberals is displaced from a boss who subtly reminds him of his station in life on a daily basis.
While we N.Y. Times readers may be perplexed why Trump goes out of his way to tweet at a six grade level, including typos, it function is to connect him with those who couldn't do better as they haven't the skills.
Contempt and disgust towards this man has become an art form, so I have nothing more to add. I do feel it personally, as though my neighborhood has been taken over by thugs, and I can't do a thing about it.
These N.Y. Times comments do provide an illusion of making a difference.
16
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
~Abraham Lincoln
24
Well said, Dr Krugman.
Of course, Trump's "base" will not listen. Even those who are suffering from the tariffs, it has been reported, still support their hero. I can't fathom why they do.
Beyond the damage Trump and his clowns have done to international relations, is the damage that they are doing to the country and to the world in leaving the Paris Climate Agreement, denying climate change, destroying reasonable environmental regulations, privatizing public lands, and on, and on.
I want a President who respects science, and who respects others. This president does neither.
14
This is a very helpful analysis that, among other things, contrasts the mature, long-term, patriotic motivations and actions of heroic American leaders in the post-WWII era with Trump's truncated, short-term, and (most of all) ego-oriented approach to foreign policy and trade, that will eventually lead us down the road to ruin if Congress doesn't somehow stop him. Even if he loses the next election and doesn't secure a 2nd term, it could be too late to avoid catastrophe.
6
Over many decades our two political parties have incrementally rendered our three-branch, check-and-balance government scheme inoperable. The parties stuff all three branches with partisan loyalists whose allegiance is to party rather than country. Our legislative branch no longer serves as a check and balance on our executive or judicial, nor does our judicial check the executive or legislative. The executive branch now reigns supreme. Richard Nixon proposed this meme: "when the president does it, that means it means it is not illegal". Nixon went down in a third-rate burglary, but not too long after we had Dick Cheney promoting his vision of all-powerful "unitary executive" president. Now, with a would-be autocrat in control of the executive and like-minded toadies in the other two branches, the fantasies of Nixon and Cheney are our waking nightmare. One of the lessons of history is that the end, when it came, came much faster than anyone at the time thought possible. Is this how the American experiment ends?
20
Krugman's expertise might be better spent sorting out the inequalities between the states that voted for Trump and those that went for Clinton. The mere location of Amazon's new corporate headquarters – with its 50,000 white collar jobs and the tens of thousands of jobs from the influx of those high earners – is likely to be one of the most consequential political decisions of the next decade. Picking on Trump is easy and meaningless. Attack the conditions that created him.
2
de Gaulle had a saying: "Countries do not have friends, they have common interests." NATO by in large has been succesful because it eliminated the Atlantic Ocean between the US and the USSR. Europe grew complacent knowing that Article 5 was a guarantee. Article 5 was just as much a threat to Moscow as it was a commitment to Europe. Our interest in keeping the Soviets weak coincided with Europe's social program spending and not defense. Now that Putin is ready to invade the Baltics NATO is a lot more needed by Europe than the US. Trump's national security team knows that well and has not been shy to communicate it to the euros. Trump's hand is further strengthened as the Paris-Berlin axis of influence is resented by many. As Brussels slowly relegates and delegates its responsibilities to the Angela-Emmanuel couple, NATO evolves as their sole anchor to national security and independence. The Franco-German 5th generation fighter jet program is sending shivers all over european spines. This will not end well.
2
Read the goals of the Calvin Coolidge Foundation. Trump is adhering to these goals, but at the same time driving government debt through the ceiling. These policies are precisely the policies that led to the Crash of '29 and the Great Depression. I suspect this is intentional. Why, one may ask? Look to see who would profit were the world economy to tank.
19
Worst president every, hands down--already, in just....what?...500 days? It's as though we had been able to exhume Andrew Jackson and drag him kicking and screaming into the 21st century. There have been venal, stupid, crass, know-nothing presidents before, but Donald Trump is just far and away the worst of all time. And he's ours for another 2-1/2 years; having done such damage in so short a time, what disasters lie in our future?
30
It scares me when Mr. Krugman echoes my thoughts in his column, because while I have a basic understanding of the global economy and history, his is much deeper. We are in a horrible situation that may spell the end of this republic as we know it.
33
Long time (former) Trump insider Donnie Deutsch describes Trump as a "lose-lose" guy. That is, the only outcome he can deal with is one where he wins and the other side loses (or better yet, is humiliated). There cannot be a win-win compromise.
Couple that with Richard Branson's (Virgin air etc.) description of a lunch where Trump was obsessed with revenge on a list of people that had wronged him in some way. Branson chided him to relax and forget it--life is too short.
14
This whole scenario is a classic human tragedy.
Two catastrophic world wars chastened the West and allowed the determined building of interdependence and rule of law societies that lasted as long as the memories of those wars were fresh enough or at least echoing strongly. We had collectively worn ourselves out... our blood lust sated and soured, our greed and power lust choked on corpses and utter destruction and we craved a period of building and bonhomie.
Generations forget and the same old human pathologies emerge.
Unhappily, learning from history is for historians.
17
While I very much enjoyed the piece, I find myself taking a modicum of cantankerous umbrage with Krugman’s assertion that “For having won the war, we chose not to behave like a conqueror... instead... [building] the foundations of lasting peace.”
While the success of the Marshall Plan is undeniable, the compelling case has been made that it also succeeded in hastening the divide of Eastern and Western Europe.
As the U.S. State Department said themselves, in May of 1947: “...it would be essential that this [pan-European approach] be done in such a form that the Russian satellite countries would either exclude themselves by unwillingness to accept the proposed conditions or agree to abandon the exclusive orientation of their economies”.
2
"He won't take yes for an answer."
How true. How dangerous.
17
Why Trump wants to tear everything down ?. Usually in science you try first the simplest possible theory . The simplest obvious explanation in this case is that this man have severe personality problems . That is the origen of his anger , continuous lying , need to demean other people and self aggrandizing delusions . We have to accept the terrifying truth that the man at the helm is unhinged .
32
"Thus the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, signed in 1947 — at a time of overwhelming U.S. economic dominance — didn’t seek a privileged position for American products, but instead created rules of the game to promote prosperity around the world. Similarly, NATO, created in 1949 — at a time of overwhelming U.S. military dominance — didn’t seek to lock in our hegemony. "
Can anyone imagine Imperial Rome doing this? How about the British Empire? Nope, didn't think so. In fifty years time, historians will also wonder why our brilliant American strategic thinkers and politicians thought that allowing Red China into the WTO would be a smart move.
3
Trump is bought and paid for at Putin's direction. His resolute weakening of America via the destruction of values and institutions, at home and abroad are built on lies designed and delivered from Russia are his only strategy and action plan.
Let us not forget that Russian agents, on the internet, at Fox, in comments sections and in the Republican caucus in the Congress feed the lies, cloaked as "anti-Democrat" propaganda. In actually, they are anti-democracy and anti-American.
23
My bet is that Trump has a YUGE debt to the Russian Mob (Putin is the godfather), where Manafort, Cohen, Flynn, and Rick Gates used to play. Trump will do just about anything to stay alive and promote himself, including wrecking the country. Mr. Mueller will present an astounding collection of evidence, including phone recordings, and god knows what else. He won't even need Trump to testify. Maybe Trump can "make a deal" for a cell with Flynn, or other buddies.
7
And, to think that he will be meeting with Putin alone, no one else.
One can only surmise that he will be getting a pat on head at how well he has diminished US standing in the world and new instructions on how to continue destroying the USA without Putin getting his hands dirty.
8
Mr. Krugan,
You focused on the wrong thing.
Trump got into the White House because Chris Kobach, and Interstate Crosscheck illegally "caged" or purged millions of Democrats, mostly of color, from the voter rolls.
Very little is being done to stop it and it will happen again. Plan on another four years of Trump, and another Republican coup d'état.
http://www.gregpalast.com/election-stolen-heres/
6
Mr. Trump leads his party in what seems to be a grand effort at vandalism of our government. Healthcare insurance, the US tax structure, State Department resources, EPA staffing & environmental protections, national parks management, international relations, the FBI, intelligence community operations & production, immigration management & legislation - all & more have been shredded, dismantled, undermined, & damaged by the Republicans. We are hard pressed to itemize the accomplishments of Republicans, but encouraged by their vandalism to list the failures. This is not only Mr. Trump at work.
19
President Obama honorably completed EIGHT YEARS without ONE scandal in his administration. Now with trump, we count scandals PER DAY...!!!
18
The Constitution, Article II, Section 4: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
12
Thank you for another incisive and insightful Opinion piece clearly pointing to the fact that the leader of the free world is a malevolent fool and a traitor to the democratic process and to our country.
9
Look at what just happened. Trump degrades the PM and then denies it, and instead of outrage at a blatent attempt to topple the May government, the polite PM and the Queen ignore his lies and behave civilly.
What a gutless performance by the Brits. Trump won the political battle exactly by proving they would not dare oppose him right now. It is a diplomatic disaster, but he and his fanboys will only see how it made him look strong, not how he hurt a weakened ally.
8
No need to stoop to his level. But you should see the news coverage and the demonstrations here. All of the main TV channels are incredulous at his lies after seeing them in real life. Not our fault if your media do not cover it. We are in no doubt what we think of him.
11
Trump may fail but the real failure will be the United States.
9
I think that so-called experts and pundits, along with the media, greatly undervalue Europe's contribution to NATO. They may not meet their defense targets like the US, which is good at smashing things. Instead, they spend heavily on maintaining the peace. The EU collectively gives far more to the UN, WHO, foreign aid to poorer nations, and also huge sums to anchor peace in Eastern Europe through development and economic aid to Eastern Europe. Their success in helping modernize poorer nations (Spain and Portugal in the 1980s), Ireland (1970s), and Eastern Europe (since 2004) has done more to promote stability than hard military gear. The US has been the opposite, meeting NATO targets to smash countries, but doing nothing to win peace or stability.
12
A perennial way to rally the troops and the country is to go to war even on phony grounds. Iraq is a good example as is Vietnam and both came back to bite us and hard. In the digital age, this one is doing it virtually (at least at the moment) to rally his troops with a -Make America Great Again- Tariff War on equally unsound and phony grounds as before and it will come back to bite us. His troops will suffer along with the rest of us.
7
So what is the motivation for all the skullduggery? Simple distraction. Any day that he can change the subject (border outrages, diplomacy fiascos, sex scandals...) is a day he isn't required to address Russian collusion claims. Every time there is progress in the Meuller investigation, as in indicting twelve Russian diplomats, he gives us something else to talk about... anything will do.
8
Stephen Greenblatt's "Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics"meditates on the commonalities between England's Richard III and our Trump.
Our tyrant bully is taking the nation and all he can to the Biblical Pit. Only one way of eliminating this marauder-at-will and his enablers. Not too much time left before all institutions lose all credibility - never to be regained.He will have wrecked the state.T
he poster declares: "You Know What To Do."
4
Finally someone is telling it like it is: the emperor is wearing no clothes. Everything Trump does is right off of Putin's wish list.
13
International “institutions” are institutions that need to be changed and Trump is doing the changing. Hurrah.
4
But changed to what? Do you have any idea what you're talking about? Please explain.
19
I thought the author was a "progressive" but he seems to yearn for the glorious era of post world war II "epic statesmanship". Times have changed. We need to keep making progress.
1
Trump is the collection of republican ills in man form and he's taken us where they always want to go. Where to win elections is the point. Where no partners are needed. Where institutions are to be suspect. Where insult is inquiry. Where injury is always looking for a cause. Where ego matters more than economics, or environment, or equality. Where might makes right. Where history is revisionist. Where news is biased and worthless.
Trump is everything that is wrong with conservatism and conservatism is everything that is wrong with us.
12
"If Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion." Trump appears to be a Russian agent and why did 8 Republicans go to Moscow for the 4th of July? Are Republican members in Congress colluding with Russia as well by trying to end the Mueller investigation, attacking the FBI and the Justice Department?
11
Trump seems erratic but so did Mussolini in his early days. There was no clear vision of where to go, just the bullying to grasp and keep the power. If there are no enemies around, create them. Keep the drama going.
Mussolini was not stopped by a parliament - seems there is no functional parliament in the US that can muster the courage to stop Trump.
As a European that same behavior is sad to experience in a US president, since it destroys 70 years of transatlantic confidence.
I am not surprised that the polls in Germany now begin to show that US troops in Europe are no longer wanted. A large part are not here for NATO reasons anyway but to support US operations in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
8
Both my father and uncle delayed leaving military service so they could work on the Berlin Air Lift. It's abhorrent that Trump doesn't understand the sacrifice that Americans and our allies made to create a stable and last democratic peace after the overthrow of tyranny. Tyranny is what he understands, democracy not so much.
8
"What’s his motivation? Part of the answer is that anything that weakens the Western alliance helps Vladimir Putin; if Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion."
I like to offer some modification to the above statement, in all cap letters.
What’s his motivation? Part of the answer is that anything that weakens the Western alliance helps Vladimir Putin, HIS PUPPET MASTER THAT HAS AT LEAST A FINANCIAL HOLD ON HIM; WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD BELIEVER if Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion?
11
This is an excellent article and timely.
But let's also include some relevant history. China had been violating international norms regarding intellectual property since back in the 20th Century. One of its most effective techniques was offering a "special deal" to one company or nation that let China get what China wanted. George W Bush gathered allies to form a Trans Pacific Partnership, a united front against Chinese encroachment. Obama continued that major work and in 2016 signed the agreement and sent it to the Senate for ratification. As Krugman wrote at the time, this was primarily an intellectual property agreement, and it was very much in our favor against China. In January 2017 Trump unsigned the agreement. Krugman and others noted that this was great for China but not for us. So from the beginning of the Trump administration, failure was the only option.
9
Trump's family came from pre-WWII Germany and participated in the pro-German voice in the US. There were many other similar families. The Western Alliance that defeated Germany in WWII, is the enemy of Trump. That is why he and the rest of the authoritarian Republican Party are intent on tearing down these institutions. They are pushing for Teutonic rule and are well on their way.
Vote American in November. Throw the Republicans out of office.
12
Of course it has not occurred to the paid millions to act as a propaganda shill for the 1% Paul Krugman (and the rest of his organized crime priesthood of economists) that the "international institutions" we now have may be so corrupt and rigged in the favor of the global 1% who have created them - that they probably deserve and need to be destroyed before they destroy what is left of the world's liberal democracies and the human species itself!
2
Before we worry about your so called global 1% maybe you should look closer to home. Our 1% has just given themselves another huge tax cut and is riding roughshod over the 99% of us. Where is your outrage at the inequality in our country driven by the agenda of our billionaire commander in chief, aided by his feckless Republican Congress. Far from ignoring this situation Krugman has addressed it time and again. He understands very well the damage being done here. Do you?
15
I think there is no motivation. He is an severly vicious character. And nobody stops him. Unbelievable
10
More and more, I am left with the fundamental question, Why? What can he possibly hope to gain by fomenting the collapse of institutions, foreign and domestic? I've read countless columns about, and analyses of, Trump. Nothing makes sense.
Is that, perhaps, his point? To render all into nonsense, while he sits atop the steaming mess? It all seems too crazy. Someone in the comments compared him the the Joker in The Dark Knight. I'm also drawn to Trump as Iago, with one classic critic's description as "motiveless malevolence." That seems to nail it. But is western civilization Trump's Othello? Worrisome, that.
7
If you had been punditing in the 1940s, you would’ve criticized U.S. actions—and you know it.
1
I can't help but wonder if Mr. Trump has horns on his head, cleverly covered by his sweeping hair style, along with cloven hooves. I feel we are closer to the Apocalypse than we realize. I fear there is no going back from the Trump effect. He seems to bring out the worst in most of us.
8
Tony's comment is not factually based. Krugman was never guilty of "Pushing Hillary onto the electorate".
The Republican Party did not vote for Trump because they did not like Hillary. Trump swept the GOP primaries and caucuses, in which Hillary was not running. There were other Republican candidates running, of numerous stripes (even one or two honest and honorable) from which to choose. In the general election very few voters did not have other choices - Libertarian Party, Green Party, usually even smaller parties as well - AND MOST VOTERS COUILD WRITE IN A CANDIDATE.
8
Frankly, I didn't know or had forgotten that America, post WWII, was dominant economically and militarily and choose, as Dr. Krugman movingly writes, "not to behave like a conqueror, but instead to build the foundations of lasting peace." And why, Dr. Krugman answers, because America's interest in the long term depended upon the peace and prosperity of Europe and other emerging democracies.
Much of the discussion in these pages has focused on the short term - dues paying by NATO members, whether NATO is relevant beyond deterring Russia - so I am very thankful for this article by Dr. Krugman that reminds me of the overriding need for institutions that stand for the rule of law and of the values of liberal democracy shared through trust and mutual respect.
8
"And why, Dr. Krugman answers, because America's interest in the long term depended upon the peace and prosperity of Europe and other emerging democracies."
Yeah, exactly. It wasn't out of the goodness of America's heart: the people in charge just happened to be smart enough to realize that a prosperous Europe and a stable international system with at least some ground rules was better for everyone in the long term.
A good analogy here is the emergence of the Mafia Commission in the 1930s. This was right after a decade of bloody gang wars during Prohibition that had cost everybody a lot. The new bosses were smart enough to realize that everyone in the underworld would be better off if they got organized and concentrated on making money in their own territories, instead of throwing it away on wars that got in the way of business. No one ever accused the mob of being altruists, but they knew when to be practical.
Trump (and Putin), in this analogy, would rather go back to the way things were when everybody was shooting each other in the streets over every last barrel of whisky (or every bag of cocaine, as happened eventually when the underworld broke down again). They're not in it for the money. They *like* to watch blood running in the streets.
3
Among several authors on July 13, 2018, Friday the Firkinteenth, about Trump, May, Brexit, Johnson and those sorts I found a link to Krugman. One considers Krugman among Times’ first-reads, so I read it. Among articles about Trumpet Diplomacy, Krugman’s was the only one in plain English without ambiguities. Indeed, resuming from interruption a page having forgotten it was a Krugman article, it hit that the writer had exceeded ambiguity. I am not saying, I agreed. I am saying, the author was clear. A pleasant, rare accomplishment; more than that, valuable and not wasting readers’ time. That is why Krugman is a first-read. If one has read it, one knows its bravuro merits. One treasures absence of ambiguity. One is obliged.
5
This article, good as it is, doesn’t get at all of the problem.
I’ll go back to a quote from Jimmy Kimmel about Trump’s treatment of immigrant children: “Thank you, Mr. President, for lighting the house on fire and now taking credit for putting the fire out.” There never was a legitimate issue with NATO, just a chance to light the fire (“he’s going to pull out of NATO!”) and be a hero for putting it out.
North Korea was another example. Trump started the fire with visions of an imminent attack and then whipped it up as an out-of-control lunatic preparing a preemptive strike. He kept it going for months of ups and downs (no surprise that the meeting was "almost cancelled"). And the final act got us no more than putting out his own fire.
However worst of all is the trade war with China. The $200B tariffs are not going to happen. We’ll stay in our current $34 B limbo for about another month or so, and then a miracle is going to happen. Trump’s “toughness on trade” (it’s been talked about for months) will yield a fantastic agreement much like the nothing we got from North Korean. Market access can be as murky as denuclearization. And he’ll be a champion of labor for the mid-term elections.
We gave up the leverage of working with the EU on China to get an exclusive deal (no fun to win unless everyone else loses!), and Trump’s planned-on election deal weakens us even more.
And in place of a legitimately-negotiated deal with China we’ll get a firebug’s triumph.
10
"There were at least some responsible, patriotic Republican lawmakers left. But there aren’t." When are Republicans going to honor their oath of office or are they only interested in tax cuts for the 1% and destroying the ACA? It should be obvious that the fat man-child Trump is unhinged! Apologize to Queen Elizabeth II for having to be in the same room with such a slob as Trump!
6
Trump is like the arsonist who sets the fire and then returns to the fire only to put it out and be declared a hero. What a waste. He tweets and blusters about issues that haven't been addressed and then uses them for his own aggrandizement instead of seeking solutions.
3
Trump enjoys flashing his power regardless of the poor results. He is the bullied, disrepected kid of his youth who can and will strike back for perceived wrongs. In the long term, he will destroy our Nation. Who can or will stand up to this iconoclast and crush him and his inadvisable tantrums? Certainly not our weak kneed Congress.
3
Everything that could be said about this gangster has already been said. I feel sorry for opinion writers that have to come up with something new. Because there isn't any.
And I feel sorry for us Americans that have to read this every day. That goon in our beautiful White House may abuse people around the World every day. But the people he abuses the most are the 70% of us that despise him and everything that spews out of that vulgar mouth.
14
you give tRump much too much credit.
he is not upset that Germany is buying Russian gas. this is an excuse. an excuse to disrupt democratic world order.
my question is: Is this a kleptocratic/autocratic world order on the rise? was tRump bought by russia or someone else (or a conglomeration) to destroy what has been worked for over the last 70 years so that they can swoop in and "restore" order in their own manner? because the united states has been a democratic leader for the last 70 years, the act of undermining democracy and world order by the US (at least POTUS tRump) would be felt far more exquisitely than if it came from another country.
maybe something to think about...
2
"Those were years of epic statesmanship — the years of the Berlin airlift and the Marshall Plan, in which America showed its true greatness. "
America is only great on a day-by-day basis. America is only great when it does great things.
Thanks, Paul, for letting me know that I'm not the only one saying these things.
6
By doing this, he is failing us as well. I don't think that his supporters elected him to create failures, to create and propagate instability. But his instability, his tendency to bully, to accuse without any basis in reality, all of it was on display during the entire campaign. He's been this way the entire time he's been in the public eye. There was no reason to expect him to become more presidential or stop the shenanigans once he was elected or once he was inaugurated. His refusal to be satisfied is going to damage the country more than any recession could. Then again, his actions have the potential to bring on a recession.
8
Thank you for telling it like it is in such a clear way! How can we get Republicans in Congress and Republican voters to get it?
6
Mask how was interviewed on PBS Newhour last night. He told Judy Woodruff that what Republicans in Congress say in public so much different than the opinions they express to Kasich in private.
They just aren't willing to take him on and experience his ridicule and wrath. Shame I. Them.
2
The way to say this is that Trump has a compulsive need to destroy everything that he cannot take credit for, which of course means everything that has been accomplished by his predecessors. That is why he says such things as, "My administration has accomplished more than any other in history." What he means is, Nothing good has been done before me, therefore everything that SEEMS to have been done, SEEMS to be good, is just an illusion; it can't be any good and must be eliminated or ruined." What does a rudimentary Freudian analysis say about a man who acts this way, who must dismiss, attack, and destroy the work of his seniors, ancestors, and betters? It says that he has a serious grudge against Dad. He had to go to his father to borrow millions to start his business -- he has probably never forgiven him for that, and needs to prove that he is ten times the man his father was.
8
Well, after reading your fine column Mr. Krugman, I'll go with Trump is nothing more than a Russian agent in one form or another, either by ignorance or by design.
In any case, Trump is not fit to be president of the USA. Other countries express a vote of confidence. Here we have impeachment. I believe that Trump should be impeached because he is mentally and morally unfit to serve as president of the United States.
10
The question is: how much does a significant portion of the US business and political elite share Trump’s disdain for the post-WWII world?
After all, if the US has a big military and still has a relatively big economy, there must be a portion of our elite that wants to use those assets to maximum advantage. Maybe the gloves are coming off and the iron fist is now more in fashion.
Trump is a clown, but he would be stopped if there wasn’t at least a core of supporters of his policies. He’s not acting alone.
6
The United States has never been as benign and generous as PK has envisioned- sorry about that- but certainly WW-2 was no picnic for anyone- 60 million estimated dead and a gazillion dollars of material wealth destroyed. As for our "president" (is he really?! I still can't accept the concept). But there is a glimmer of light at the end of our dark rat-infested tunnel. The US Senate has voted 91 to 2 in support of NATO, and are now raising serious legal challenges to DT's authority to raise tariffs. He can ONLY do this for national security interests- otherwise only Congress is allowed. China needs to stop stealing intellectual property-everybody understands this. But whether agriculture or Harley's or bourbon exports are at stake, this disaster must be averted and quickly. The speech about "you lost your factory 40 years ago, and NOW we're going to do something about it!" is only going to get the GOP so many votes. Abortion fanatics may show up for a few more, only some of them can see the massive abuse of innocent children on TV every night and wonder if they can stomach much more of this deliberate cruelty. PLUS if you have a child in school, you are starting to wonder if an emotionally disturbed kid decides "everyone is against him", shows up in math class where the teacher gave him an "F" last semester, and with gun in hand has his "glorious moment of triumph" over his oppressors. Who knows, maybe the next big "rally" might just fall flat...
4
Yes, but Hillary had an email server.
9
Trump is a traitor to the United States and if the Mueller investigation confirms the obvious, he should be tried and given the same sentence as Benedict Arnold. The Republicans and the GOP base are complacent in this but perhaps if they have any sense of love of America and patriotism their punishment will be the shame they have brought to America.
11
Trump isn't using the bully pulpit for the health & wellbeing of America. He's using it to be the bully at the pulpit, just as preachers do when using fiery speech to frighten. He's a change agent for sure, but who really wants backward thought & behavior. He is systematically destroying the confidence of allies in the benevolence of USA. He is inspiring hatred & fearmongering among his followers (supporters is to kind of a word) & using their ignorance of history and geography to gin up bigotry. Witness the man who told the woman to be ashamed to wear the Puerto Rican flag. Obviously, that person doesn't understand that PR is part of the US. If I hadn't lived in the south most of my adult life, I would think that an oddity. But, one thing I've learned is that the south is full of hate, violence and bigotry. Most would like to return to the 19th century, even (especially) the well-healed that ought to know better. I have some small hope that the mid-terms will make a difference. That can happen
6
Failure is the way to preserve his victim status.
3
Read the Steele Dossier again (timely since he's visiting the Queen in Steele's homeland today). More and more of the Dossier is being proved true every day. None of it has been proved false.
Krugman agrees that if Trump isn't an actual Russian agent, he certainly acts like one, time after time. Destabilizing NATO and attacking Germany for being a puppet of Russia (!!) is this week's agenda. Caving to his handler Putin over Syria, North Korea (cancelled the military exercises at Putin's request/demand), and who knows what else is on Monday.
Democrats need to run an anti-treason campaign for November, but they won't. Leadership is far too fair-minded to accuse Hair Twitler of openly, shamelessly colluding with Putin and Russia, even while he's doing it on worldwide tv.
Our only hope is that a groundswell of disgust is forming throughout the land, capable of overcoming the blatant, court-approved gerrymandering, court-approved removal of infrequent voters (despite explicit language forbidding that practice in 1993 legislation), voter suppression through voter ID requirements, unaccountable vote totals on opague, easily hackable electronic voting machines, and constant pro-Trump propaganda of Fox News and their slimy ilk.
Maybe, just maybe, the Russian Mafia Don and his McCarthyite band of Rethuglicon henchmen will get their overdue comeuppance. Let's all volunteer at our local Democratic headquarters during the next 4 months to make that happen.
9
One of the major criticism about USA, the system we created after WWII served us well than any others. Therefore their conclusion is America created a world system , it is for only our benefit.
Let assume thsi is true
then some body shoudl answer thsi question too.
Since cold war ended why the world affirs between states , refugee status, human right violations succumbed the lowest ?
Is it good without big brother.
The only way to make sense of Trump is to keep in mind that regardless of where he is, be it NATO breakfast or interview with the Sun newspaper, he's performing for his base - no one else - just his base and his base, which is generally as ignorant as he is, sees his stupid behavior as "putting snooty elites in their place".
9
I know everyone recoils when we compare Trump to Hitler, and I do not think Trump is Hitler. Still, many of the early days of the Nazis looked similar to today. Make Germany Great Again....Make America Great Again,... Act in egregious manor on the international stage, and let every one politely assume this will pass. Build your military up,... demonize a selected group,... forcefully work for one party rule,... put on Military parades,... quit honoring earlier agreements,... lie repeatedly and blatantly,... use press for propaganda,... discredit existing law enforcement in favor of your own law enforcement. If you don't see the parallels you either have your head in the sand or you don't know your history.
Do I think we will end up with concentration camps. No, of course not. But I do think there are way too many similarities for anyone to be comfortable with this situation.
So, Vote against the Republicans. At least until Trump is in check, there is no other option.
10
Trump is like the chaos character in a popular commercial, destroying everything he touches. But far worse than that, he is being willingly played like a violin by Putin, a master manipulator who wants to control the world. Have you noticed how often they talk 1-on-1?
I would bet big time that Putin has promised him a hefty cut of the billions to be made from the stalled Exxon/Rozneft oil development deal when the sanctions are lifted!!! (Mueller, are you investigating this strong possibility??)
What's at stake is not just the USA and western democracies but also the ability of human life to continue to exist on planet Earth as Trump/GOP and Putin exacerbate climate destabilization and related disasters that are likely ahead.
Anyone with any power to help turn this disaster around yet do nothing --the GOP, CEOS of major corporations, Tech leaders who naively think their products won't be used against us, disengaged Dems and Independents, etc -- are beyond despicable. Their cowardice, willful ignorance, and inaction are effectively killing us all.
4
The problem is that even his failure confronts us with an unbelievable mess. Why has his ridiculous behavior not resulted in failure long ago? The longer we have to wait, the worse it could be, although the mess was quite enough for me the day of his (fraudulent, because of the electoral college system) election. There is more than enough error right now to warrant impeachment.
4
What is obvious to Dr, Krugman is obvious to me and to any person who is open to the facts. "If Trump isn't literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion." And his inner circle should go down with him, no matter how rich they are.
15
so. 71 years after WW II. The world is sometimes shaky. Nation leaders get quirky. We have had a fairly stable global world. Then trump gets elected and everything, from the White House, "what a dump", to the Departments of our government to, oh name it! All these are a "mess'. All the most interested minds of the EU or political applicants or journalists or average Americans did not notice that America et al. was in such terrible shape. Only with the arrival of trump did the "mess" really begin. Since he cannot sustain a coherent, balanced, nuanced debate or conference or discussion, he blows in , rants, blows out and then, holds his own speakfest. No one to talk to him, no one to talk him down. This is what we got, with the vote of some, and a little help from elsewhere. Then for the temporary happiness of some pocket change from a tax scam, people think this is grand. America is on top again and in the strong hands of a ... what? The trump base sees and hears the tough guy celebrity, powdered and combed for tv, and misses the unnecessary hooliganism of his attitudes and behaviors with people and institutions that were created, by America and other countries after WW II, to maintain stability throughout the world. History, brother, history. Read it. Better yet, talk to the career professionals of the government. Oh. Too bad. Most of them have been dispersed.
4
ll Trump cares about is getting headlines and making his base happy. Destroying alliances serves those purposes. And then, of course, there's making Putin happy.
7
I first traveled in Europe in 1960. I was 17. Everywhere one went at border crossings passports were checked, even luggage. There were many different currencies. The dollar was set at 4 German Marks. Fixed. No variation. It made U.S. goods very expensive for Europeans to purchase. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade had been signed in 1947 as a means to shore up Europe's postwar struggling economies and also enable U.S. trade and help to be distributed among Western European nations. The Soviet Union controlled the Central and Eastern European nations and milked them of whatever they could extract from their factories and resources.
Things began to change in 1968 when the U.S. dollar was allowed to "float' on currency exchange markets. New economic relationships were established opening trade among European nations and the U.S. The European Common Market was expanded. Eventually, in the 1990s, individual national currencies were shelved in favor of the Euro. Many Europeans complained but with a common currency trade and accounting became much easier and cheaper. So EU member states had to give up some of their long-held national policies to embrace a new more global system.
Does Trump want to sabotage this and throw us back to the days when passports were checked at every border crossing? Does he want to limit trade and boost Russia's expansive grip on Europe? He brags a lot about what he can do but Europeans are not impressed. He does our trade a disservice.
7
Trump's purpose is to make noise. As so many people have pointed out, the goal of his noise is to distract everyone from the fact that in actuality, he is accomplishing absolutely nothing that he was elected to do. Many Trump voters, like most Americans, were not overly concerned about North Korea or NATO or the Iran nuclear deal or giving more money to the Koch brothers. Like most Americans, many of the people who voted for Trump were very very concerned about affordable & accessible health care, bringing good jobs back to this country, fixing our broken bridges so they don't collapse while we're driving across them, protecting Social Security, being able to afford college, growing & strengthening the middle class. Those are truly populist concerns that most of the population shares. Trump has done nothing to usefully address these populist concerns. All Trump does is emote loudly & prance about on the world stage, stealing the spotlight & emphasizing issues that were barely on the radar of most Americans. I don't argue that those issues are also important; problem is, Trump makes everything he meddles with worse. And he is not, I repeat not, dealing with the issues that prompted many to vote for him.
9
Dear foreign allies,
Please - HANG TOUGH. Trump won't be around forever, and we are doing everything we can to both get rid of him as soon as possible, and to repair any and all damage that he has done.
Sincerely,
The People of the United States of America
12
, it is becoming clear that Trump's assertions that "trade wars are easy to win" were fallacious. No one ever wins a trade war, just some lose more than others. The retaliating nations have a tremendous advantage of those instigating protectionism.
This can be seen with tariffs on steel and aluminum that increases the costs of every product made in the USA that uses those metals. Thus, American consumers and producers are already net losers from these ill-advised protectionist tariffs, even before any retaliation. These tariffs increase consumer prices and make products produced in the USA less competitive relative to those made outside the USA using steel and aluminum priced at the world market rather than the artificially propped-up, protected US steel market.
As Trump discovered when a retaliatory tariff was put on US motorcycles (Harley-Davidson(HOG)) that will not raise any costs on any EU producers or raise prices for anyone in the EU, except for buyers of motorcycles, the cost to the retaliating nations is miniscule. HOG has announced it will have to shift production outside of the USA as a result of the tariffs. Thus, on top of the costs to American consumers, producers and exporters of the steel and aluminum tariffs, before any retaliation, American workers at HOG lose jobs and shareholders of HOG suffer as well..."
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4184866
3
We are worried about a "trade war"? Just wait until the shooting war Trump starts, possibly to deflect from the criminal investigation into his obvious collaboration with an enemy. The geopolitical tumblers are turning rapidly, and all we need is more insults, continued incompetence, and even more dramatic political realignments, and the missiles might start to fly. Thank you Trump and your GOP enablers for destroying what my grandfather, uncle and father (WWI, WWII, Korea) fought to build and defend. From Lincoln's saving the union to Reagan and Bush I being there when the "wall came tumbling down," despite their ups and downs, you could say the Republicans were small "d" democrats who loved their country. No longer. My question: GOP -- exactly what and who do you love? It surely is not freedom, democracy, or the USA.
9
The best quite of all is this. Particularly, the last sentence. Indeed, what doe the GOP stand for today?
Definitely not democracy, nor one man - one vote.
2
Pushing Hillary onto the electorate was Krugman's biggest failure, and cost the country big time. Krugman's biggest failure gave us Trump.
2
Blaming those who tried to prevent this from happening for making this happen? Please. Dislike of the Democratic candidate was no reason to choose a stupid, destructive, dishonest clown for POTUS.
7
What? Krugman single-handedly made the most qualified person in US history the candidate for the Democratic party? With a wave of his pen he presented us with the person who was voted in by the popular vote? He was the one who set us on course to leap into the 21st century? He is so all powerful? Wow. If only he were.
3
What is really frightening right now is that the entire Republican Party appears to turned pro-Russian and explicitly anti-American. At least that's all one can conclude from the behavior of Republican leadership in the House.
8
Since Trump simply wants things to fail, isn't it quite likely that he will 'press the button '?
3
But Trump is "a stable genius."
3
Trump is furious that he got elected POTUS. He never thought his plan to negotiate a etter Apprentice deal would ever have him end-up in the Oval office. His life has been ruined. Previously he could go out to dinner when and where he wanted. He could fly at a moments notice to wherever he wanted. He was a Hollywood semi-celebrity, some people may have loved him, some not, but no one really hated him. Now his life is scrutinized and he has little, if any, of his former freedom. His associates and business are under investigation, things that would have remained hidden are on the front page. He is furious at what the American people have done to his life. Is it any wonder that he wants to pay them back, big time.
3
Trump is a failure. It's just him and his base whom don't realize that fact.
He was appalling during today's presser with Prime Minister May, calling CNN fake news. His childish remarks warranted the baby blimp and profane protest signs. Whaaa!
8
Maybe the tariffs are all about raising revenues and not about protecting jobs – the protecting jobs story is then just a cover. This means that the trade war is actually a scheme for recovering revenues lost by tax cuts to the well-to-do crowd. Also the trade wars will create inflation and justify higher interest rates. And both are costs to the NOT well-to-do. So the GOP base is unlikely to see any growth in livable-wage jobs because of the trade war but they will certainly pay high prices because of it.
2
He desperately wants to be a war president. The Generals won't let him, so he starts a trade war and creates as much instability as he can, anywhere and everywhere, hoping he'll eventually get us into the real thing.
2
All badly managed countries finally, one day, maybe after a long time, end up in the same situation: hyper inflation.
1
Hello? Anyone who has watched a loved one slip like this will tell you Adult Dementia and the need for the 25th Amendment.
But then anyone watching the elected Republicans in Congress who can only silently wring their hands and do nothing would have to say this has nothing to do with democracy but instead is the willful hijacking of our country by a party determined to retain, maintain, and fully implement control they would lose.
This year, vote, because our lives depend on it!
11
The DOJ just indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for computer hacking and internet espionage as well as money laundering--all aimed at affecting the Presidential election in 2016 in Trump's favor.
Trump meets with Putin 1 on 1 with no one else present in two days except interpreters.
We will never know whether Trump even mentions this extremely serious matter to his buddy Vladimir.
My guess: he will absolutely not.
No collusion? There' the answer.
10
I just hope to god that one of his secret service people manages to plant a bug on him without his knowledge. He simply cannot be allowed to meet with Putin with no oversight. Heaven knows what vital classified information he might pass along. To say the man is a clear & present danger to the republic is an understatement.
1
I keep wondering why trump is so determined to hang Obama's scalp in his tepee … the thoroughly debunked birther issue, the on-going unwarranted trashing of Obamacare, the baseless assertion that he inherited a "mess" from Obama, the spiteful reckless reversal of Obama’s climate control measures, the incredible claim that Obama actually committed a felony wire tapping trump's offices, deliberately blocking a perfectly legitimate supreme court Obama appointee while jamming through a totally inappropriate alternative, wrecking the long and arduously sought for Obama Iranian deal, and now recklessly dismantling carefully negotiated trade agreements. I’m like Cummings’s blond Olaf: “there is some guff I will not eat.”
7
Trump even contrives gangster gruffness. The guy hides nothing.
4
“Incompetence” is such an inadequate word for Trump’s approach to just about anything having to do with governance. “Galactic incompetence” doesn’t suffice either. His level of incompetence is so huge it could create a singularity. “Black Hole Incompetence” might just capture it.
7
Dear ALB. "He just wants to tear things down."
Yes, this is how Trump trumps everyone.
It is Trump's power of NO, that turns ON the media and supporters.
------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope that the Democrats will finally wise up to Trump's NO how.
Can Democrats wake up in time to win the House in NOvember?
Time will tell...
Amen!
2
It's difficult to imagine someone less reasonable than your self. It's impossible to imagine what it's like to know less than oneself. That's why so many rreasonable and knowledgeable people believe that Mr Trump is merely blustering and grandstanding, and that he will shift from his attacks on NATO, NAFTA, WTO, etc to some positive deal-making, or that cooler heads will prevail and delay or prevent the worst effects of his actions.
But you can figure out a man's probable future actions based on what you know about his past. That's enough data to prepare ways of defeating him. "If you cannot imagine how the enemy can defeat you, you have already lost the battle," said Sun Tzu. I hope it's not too late to take Sun Tzu's advice.
3
Can’t we just agree that Mr. Trump is narcicist and as such he has no concern for truth, logic or character, so long as he is the center of attention?
6
I am embarrassed and ashamed of our president. He could not be elected in the Parliamentary system, which can elect an experienced Prime Minister in a few weeks, with very little Lobby money required.
Mr, Krugman, please talk more about Automation replacing well-paid jobs with low-paid jobs. Our Lobbyocracy seems poorly equipped to deal with the big challenges. We can't even fix healthcare or infrastructure.
3
As Trump said, the GDP has doubled and tripled since he became President. I guess the broadway play title "Stop the world, I want to get off." seems appropriate here.
1
It's so unfortunate that these types of smart, honest assessments of the situation are preaching to the choir (at least for the most part, I imagine). This would never fly on Fox News, I'm sure. Thanks, Paul for another well-thought-out article.
10
That the GOP apparatchiks in the Republican politburo won't oppose Trump is no longer a surprise, it's SOP.
That the business community seems so lethargic and cowardly is stunning.
The current system was built by and for them.
As PK points out, they have actual dollars and factories invested in the whole operation.
That they seem willing to risk it all begs the question; What is going on here?
Perhaps they have decided to bottom-line fascism.
The so called 'Freedom Caucus' resembles more and more a 'shadow' government; A legislature in waiting a'la Weimar in the early 30s.
Waiting for what? Perhaps the opportunity to step in as Trump's personal legislature.
Outlandish?
We live in outlandish times, no?
1
"If Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion."
Yeah. I hate to say this but where is Joe McCarthy when you need him? I'm reminded of "Dr. Strangelove" when George C. Scott explodes over the idea of allowing a Russian into the war room. The President assures him everything is fine. At the end of the movie though, the ambassador is taking pictures.
Well, we've let a Russian into the war room. He's doing more damage than just taking pictures too.
4
Paul, I'm happy to see you have reached my conclusion about Trump. I hope the rest of the NYT columnists and readers also stop wasting time pretending that Trump actually has policy goals outside of making the world safe for his oligarch masters.
One quibble. The post WWII statesmanship that you so rightly laud was, unfortunately, voluntarily allowed to wither away after the West "won" the Cold War. We allowed amoral corporations invent "engagement" that was all carrot and zero stick that saw all countries, regardless of type of government, as markets. We dropped any pretense of promoting "shared values." This pre-dates Trump and especially benefitted one country in particular, China.
4
Reading the piece from P. Krugman made me think alternatively of Attila the Hun (a cruel passion for destruction) and Nero the Roman emperor (cruelty again, extreme greed and lack of empathy, decadence). But I very much doubt that Trump will make it in history books in centuries to come as these 2 infamous characters did. Attila created a path of destruction over large tracks of the world and Nero contributed to the fall of Rome. Trump, similarly, is bent on destroying many world institutions,treaties and compromises and is hard at work destroying America but truly, I see him as a fearful laughing stock. After a year and a half of governing, his main MAGA slogan should sound hollow to anyone who has an ounce of common sense . Trump will not forever be able to hide his dismal lack of achievements by more posturing, misdirection, discombobulation, pretense, plain lies and threats. His defining characteristics of narcissism, disagreeableness and grandiosity are in plain view for all to see.
Let voting speak truth to power.
1
No one should be surprised if it turns out that what Trump really wants is war.
3
It could be said that Trump is just one more republican.
But he is the one republican who is President of the United States, with all the powers of the President.
And he can abuse those powers because the Constitution allows the President to hold sway over all other elements of our government as long as he is not criminal.
And bully that he is, he can play the role of a global bully, pushing nations around, in his seat as President of the Untied States.
A seat with all the global powers and allowances awarded by nations since the United States achieved global dominance in the wake of World War Two.
He is an abject failure in every sense.
That is the view, clear to those who chose to see clearly.
He can skew his own view of himself, to appear to be above others, in one way or another, by beating others down, by cheating and bullying.
Individuals and nations.
Most bullies get toppled, usually by their own actions.
Congress and the rest of our government cannot topple Trump at this point.
The Constitution protects him.
But Congress can change, and the seat can be re-elected.
November 2018 is upon us, and November 2020 will come into sight.
VOTE for change.
It is your right, protected by the Constitution.
He creates non existent problems that he then insists that he solved. It's called marketing. For his base the more he is seen acting like a petulant child around grownups, the better.
4
LYING is a more apt description than "marketing". A great conman though.
Too bad for the rest of US living in reality rather than the Fox "news" fantasy of trump land.
7
Trump is best understood seen as a gangster.
Handed the immense power of being the # 1 superpower in the world, Trump reached out to other powerful criminal type leaders like Putin to strengthen his influence in the world. To Trump it's logical. America has the most powerful army and largest economy. So why should we help other nations? Why not consolidate our power with the second greatest military force in the word? Why not use this strength to lean on other nations to submit to our will? Why not pull back from being the force that holds the world together? After all it is very expensive for the U.S. taxpayer.
If you put aside lessons learned from history, all sense of decency, compassion, honor, integrity, etc. it makes sense to use America's power to expand our advantage by joining with Russia. Like all criminals, Trump abhors being restricted by laws. Laws are for suckers, Trump's losers. They are inconvenient to Trump as he looks to take advantage in all situations. So it's easy to see how international organizations like NATO are restrictive to Trump's goals.
Trump's deal making approach is to introduce chaos to situations. Thus he wants to tear up long standing treaties, economic pacts, international norms, etc. to profit from new relationships rewritten. And since the United States is the most powerful nation in the world, we will simply enforce our will upon all other countries knowing they can do little about it. Might makes right redoux.
11
Mr. Trump consistently proves by his words and actions that he is a puppet of Russia and Vladimir Putin. The Republican Party leadership enables the Trump administration in its assaults on U.S. allies, the rule of law and democratic institutions. The current Democratic Party leadership seems unwilling to put up a serious fight against what is obviously an orchestrated undermining of this nation’s interests. Perhaps a resolution may be found by joining reasonable people from both political parties into a force willing and able to put an end to a system of failed governance. Vote in November.
3
If we don't do something it may be too late? Um. It already is too late. It was too late the moment this appalling, decadent, immoral buffoon mocked a disabled reporter and no-one took him to task. His whole campaign was one long test of the "how low can you go" waters. Our brave and beautiful country, and its moronic inhabitants, played right to him, demonstrating that there is no depth to which we won't stoop, either out of greed or ignorance. We are lost and we have burdened generations to come with the unenviable task of trying to rebuild at least a semblance of the country that we used to be able to take pride in.
2
Mr.Trump is a disrupter- if he can create enough chaos he can stand before his rallies and say, " only I can fix this".Mr.Trump, if you don't break everything there will be no need for your"fixes".Breaking is easy and takes no skill- Fixing is complicated and requires skills you do not have.
6
President Trump and his loyal Trumpublicans do not conserve. They destroy. Shouldn’t Trump and his enablers be properly referenced as "The Wrecking Crew"?
Trump increasingly directs his wrecking ball at international targets:
Wreck the G-7.
Wreck NATO.
Wreck Prime Minister May’s government.
We must not forget, however, the extent to which Trump and his wrecking crew have damaged America internally.
Wreck progressive taxation.
Wreck financial and environmental regulations.
Wreck what remains of the labor union movement.
Wreck Obamacare.
Wreck equality of opportunity for women, minorities, gays and the poor.
Wreck Planned Parenthood.
Wreck the Paris Accords and all efforts to combat global warming.
Wreck civil rights and voting rights.
Wreck Social Security.
Wreck Medicare and Medicaid.
Wreck fair housing opportunities.
Wreck the last vestiges of the New Deal.
Wreck the middle class.
Wreck the American Dream.
Under Trumpublican misrule, the American prospect affords:
For the super-rich: a kleptocratic pathway to ever greater wealth and power.
For the vast majority of U.S. citizens: a superhighway to serfdom.
12
“Making Bullying Great Again” is so right!
Also, true that he is acting like a Russian agent.
Those who have the power to stop him and don’t, are the real traitors. Trump is what he is and what he is doing now was totally predictable before the election in 2016.
“We have met the enemy and it is us.” Pogo in the
‘50s.
6
Ongoing thank you, Paul Krugman, and “Does all of this sound familiar? Oh yes! Donald, constantly Trumping, is an epidemic dis-ease now infecting the entire world, with many, perhaps most of us in shock and living with all else on this divinely beautiful planet, now so woefully wounded by humans acting inhumanly.
Must we feel MORE pain before responding, and “If not now, when? If not me, who?”
87 years young I pray: Help me stay present in loving service to all beings and things… eric
1
Everything written here about Trump being a creep and likely a traitor is true.
It is also true our oligarchs want nothing more than to tear down the social safety net and pollute to their bottom line's maximum benefit. And that they have successfully bought off the Republican Party.
But the failure of the nation's political class to meet the needs of the people is hardly mentioned. The 2008 crisis cost millions their homes and millions more their jobs.
The Republican Party did nothing staunch the misery and the Democrats far too little. They can only claim matters would have been far worse with Republicans in charge. Cold comfort to those out of work or on the street.
The Republicans have ceased to be a party of democracy and serve only the greediest tiny sliver of the population. They don't care how they get power as long as they get power. They are the current version of the old machine politics of what most had hoped was a bygone age.
The Democrats have been ineffectual against this onslaught. Instead of putting economic security first, they let other priorities drain their electoral majorities and dissipate their base.
But what is a voter to do in 2018? Recognize there is nothing, absolutely nothing in the Republican Party or any of its candidates for those without several $million in assets.
Never vote for a Republican for anything ever. Every vote increases their greed, every victory strengthens their resolve.
Put Democrats in office and end the nightmare.
5
Did anyone happen to watch the House Republicans during the House Committee's questioning of Peter Strozk?
This is totally relevant to: Mr. Krugman's Op Ed - For Trump, Failure is the Only Option - Congressional Republicans are on this same path of failure.
Strzok was stupid to write those tweets and emails -
But - the House Republicans totally shamed themselves, yesterday - one after the other - each one of them - were defaming their own characters in allegiance to Trump as they maliciously for Trump's gain attacked Strzok - it was deeply sad and scary watching these supposed leaders of a Free Democracy - behave the way they did -- they have all totally let go of their integrity - let go of representing ALL AMERICAN PEOPLE - to be 'Cult Followers' of Trump -
I tried to call - Speaker Paul Ryan's office - but - the message said - unable to complete the call. Everyday - it is becoming more and more like what happened in Germany when people blindly followed that man whose name shall not be named.
I have dear friends and family who have also chosen to become 'Cult Followers' - Everyone who sees what is happening MUST VOTE these people out of office - Nov 6, 2018
11
Krugman has it right. Trump is out to destroy the USA. Stand up, Congress.
4
I imagine that Trump and his worshippers think that he is crazy like a fox -- that he will destabilize everyone around him with his unpredictable behaviour to the point where they will placate him in ways that will help Make America Great Again.
To paraphrase Lincoln -- People who like this sort of greatness will find this the sort of thing they like.
It should be realized that these childish antics by the orange buffon are not actually his ideas, but echoes of what Steve Miller has been feeding him. We should ignore Trump, and focus on what Trump’s brain, a.k.a. Steve Miller, is trying to do :)
2
Trump promised to tear things down, for the sake of tearing them down; Obamacare must go. NATO must go. China must be punished. EU must be dissolved.
The reason Americans (at least the white religious ones) want this is because they are desperate, angry, frustrated beyond measure. They are not experiencing the world they want; i.e., people they don't like are not out of sight, justice is not fully favoring them all the time, job guarantees have disappeared, as have guarantees of a good life regardless of personal choices.
Desperate people are supporting Trump's slash and burn; they cheer as he mauls through immigrants, the governmental institutions that they think favor others, and trade deals. If they cannot own it all, and cannot lynch and grab at will, the least they want to do is bring it all down. Is what Trump is doing rather well.
Democrats and the press continue to portray Trump's supporters as a small group of malcontents, when in fact it is rather an overwhelming movement; a precursor to a civil war. Trump represents all, and not some, republicans who have strong arguments about why he is better than any other alternative. Our current denial has parallels in 1934 (a band of thugs were regarded as naive and ineffectual until they precipitated 60 million deaths).
Whatever dystopia Trump precipitates, his adherents think they will be no worse off, and he would have hurt "them." That is enough for them.
15
In the Movie Dark Night, Bruce Wayne was trying to understand the motives of the Joker. Michael Caine's response to him, as his butler Alfred, seems to apply to the man occupying the White House.
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
5
I believe Preaident Trump should be treated as a security risk. Is anything preventing him from giving Mr. Putin classied information?
9
Trump is lucky to inherit a sound economy , low unemployment ( less than 5%) and relatively calm world. But he divided our nation so bitterly and racial tension at peak. He destroyed the image and prestige of America and we have become the laughing stock in the world. We do not have that many friendly country any more. Our traditional allies are skeptical . Trump has three friends now ----Putin, Netanyahu and Kim Jung-un. He has started a terrible trade war. He has been destroying the environment for us and for our future generation. He has put our Democracy in ICU at terminal end stage. With Trump in the White House, nothing is going good for us, ordinary Americans ( the white supremacists are happy).
3
Remembering how Obama was attacked by Republicans and their red journalists and how they are now silent, even supportive if not apologetic of this disaster as our president, I fully expect even demand that when any Republican attacks any Democrat now or in the future that Democrats throw it back and they be publicly shamed as utter hypocrites of the worst kind. Call Trump out publicly as a liar and manufacturer of conspiracy theories. Call out his henchman. Refuse to act as if this Administration has any credibility. It’s high time to move past mere resistance to open revolt.
1
If the electorate cannot bother to think and vote the country deserves what it gets. We have become slaves to bombast and vacant promises because people have refused to do their duty as citizens.
1
It enrages me daily that in FACT the MAJORITY of US did NOT vote for nor "elect" trump.
Instead he "won" (and we lost!) thanks to the hopelessly obsolete Electoral College, via a mere 77,000 votes for trump in 3 states (WI, MI, PA).
HRC got nearly 3 million MORE votes than the "unstable genius".
Please don't refer to trump as being "fairly" elected because most definitely he was NOT. Still he IS well on his way to being the worst ever president.
To "be fair and balanced" space were given to a Trump supporter to explain how they overlook:
More 3200 proven lies told by Trump since taking office
The trashing of important European alliances in favor of Putin's Russia
The ripping of immigrant children from their mothers arms
Sexual abuse of non-consenting females
Starting a trade war that will injury American workers and the global economy
His refusal to reveal his income taxes
His continued violation of Constitutional emoluments clauses
Calling Mexican immigrants rapists, liars and murderers
His refusal to assist Puerto Rico's hurricane victims causing untold deaths
His undying admiration of Vladimir Putin while insulting true friends of the US
The resignations of so many Trump appointees caught up in scandal
Slashing taxes for billionaires at the expense of Medicare and Social Security
The list goes on and on.
There are no likely answers other than that Trump expresses the hatred of so many for immigrants and people of color. This is an open challenge to those that think they can justify their admiration for Trump in the face of these crimes against humanity and the American people. (PS: Calling these charges "fake news" is only to prove them true).
4
I hope trump just keeps cramming those McBurgers and fries in all day every day as he is now, so he will not be with us much longer.
1
As others have no doubt concluded, Donald Trump isn't a President; he is merely the prop for those who have dreamt of the day they could completely funnel their social, economic, military goals on America and the world.
No one with a working brain believes Donald Trump (ever) comes up with his "ideas" or goals independently; an incurious, ignorant man whose world concept is how to personally profit from- everything.
I doubt the man even knew what the acronyms NATO and G.D.P. stood for- till someone told him; coming up with a G.D.P. percentage was something I'm sure General Kelly (or perhaps Steve Bannon) settled on.
Of course none of this means anything to "his base" (which is ill-defined at best and at worst; confined to rabid attendees at perpetual Trump-Rallies).
Meanwhile; "Representative Government" was on full display yesterday in the Low [life]Chambers All-of-it; Trump- them; a putrid odor wafting though the universe.
6
I know a narcissist who is just like Donald Trump in that his ultimate goal, everyday, is to be in the newspaper. Neither man feels alive unless he’s in a headline-making fight.
I suspect that Trump feels empty and alone in the rare hours that he doesn’t dominate the press. Every one of his actions, many of them inexplicably stupid, mean and senseless, can be explained by this pathological compulsion to be in the news.
How do you get into the news? Get into a fight, then resolve it with a surprising reversal. His treatment of Theresa May fits the pattern: tell a tabloid that she’s weak and incompetent, get the headline, then say the opposite when you meet her, and get more headlines.
That is the Trump doctrine. There is nothing more to it. Parsing his tweets and rants for something more is futile. That’s why I watch his actions and tune out his words. Most of the latter never amount to anything except another news clip for the stack that an aide brings him every morning to paper over the void in his soul.
4
Trump may want to destroy all our institutions, but Mr Krugman forgets one thing - Trump can be bought - he and his family are For Sale. The chinese, koreans (both N and S) and the japanese have figured him out - talk softly, flatter him, lay it on thick (call him his excellency), give him his trademarks, give him loans, send him gifts, let him build hotels etc and he will be your friend for life.
Well said Dr Krugman. But isn't it time to come right out and call Trump treasonous? We're in a cyberwar with Russia and there he is giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Hang him up!
2
A very important point has not been mentioned here and elsewhere. Trump besides wanting to destroy everything (he is not the first USA president to want this in particular toward Europe) he uses everything he learned from propaganda master Goebbels. He needs the trade war to cash some badly needed money to keep the USA afloat.
After having decreased the taxes for his friends he now must somehow fill the safe to support his fashistic programs and ideas. Unfortunately he has outstandingly(for an outsider) big support, and I believe he will nominate himself president for life.....ending the USA democracy.
1
Or he may, once he's pocketed enough wealth, declare the U.S. bankrupt and walk away, leaving the little guy with nothing and responsible for paying the debts just like the vulture capitalists who are destroying Puerto Rico which is an American "protectorate".
3
trump is Russia's man. The following is from the New York Times, By Andrew Jacobs, July 8, 2018:
"A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly.....Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.....The Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced." Then Russia reintroduced the resolution, and GUESS WHAT??? NOT A WORD FROM THE U.S.!!!
1
Don't forget trump's evil mentor, roy cohn.
They spoke daily for decades and met for meals and otherwise hundreds of times.
Trump's MO is the same one devised and practiced by cohn:
Attack with LIES
Distract with more LIES
Never admit being wrong
Never apologize
Never take responsibility for anything "bad" (as defined by you)
Always claim responsibility for "good stuff" (as defined by you)
Repeat as required.
Let's update: Tell even more LIES and Tweet, tweet, tweet to your base.
The world is to be ruled by trump's ego needs. This is where we have arrived sadly. And, he cannot stand smart (SMART) powerful women. If I were Teresa May, I would have slapped his hand away. He is horrible.
Do not say “Trump” anymore, Mr Krugman. Simply refer to the “Republican Party” and you will be signaling the real responsible of having already destroyed the world order the USA helped to create.
4
I once asked a Trump family member who grew up with Donald Trump what kind of kid he was. His answer: "The kind of kid who throws the birthday cake at the birthday boy."
4
The "fifth column" of the Cold War and McCarthy era is alive and well. Home address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. With clubhouses in the Senate and House office buildings.
1
Spoiled children break things.
1
ok, gang! pop quiz!
which US President was the absolute worst in history, and in 25 words or less, why?
behind door 1: Chester A. Arthur.
behind door 2: Millard Fillmore.
behind door 3: Donald J. Trump.
behind door B: Woodrow Wilson when he was in a coma.
1
Ahhh, I've just figured it out.
Trump reminds me of Silvio Berlusconi.
1
Ya think?!
You obviously need to read the report in Bloomberg's News (not identified with the "liberal, lying media"):
U.S. Allies Play Down Trump's Spending Claims: NATO Update:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-12/leaders-hold-unplanne...
Trump was just bloviating once again about his "stable genius" while lying about the "agreement" to increase our allies' spending.
This is simply one more episode in Trump's series of self-serving, narcissistic posturing in front of the TV cameras.
2
Trump's forte is destruction. It gets him the level of attention to which he has become addicted, and he is - as a result - an inevitable wrecking ball. That there has not been more reaction by members of his own party to his path of destruction is surprising, but perhaps is simply late in coming. One can only hope. The recent display in the crucifying of recent FBI leaders by Republican congressman in hearings seemingly established to discredit the Mueller investigation does not bode well for this. We can continue to look for signs of sanity with our fingers crossed. Otherwise I have to agree with Krugman: For Trump, Failure is the Only Option. And it must be added that with the black hole Trump is creating, both here and now abroad, we all will likely be sucked in to this trail of failure that he is so aptly blazing. If you are a women, a minority, a poor person, a naturalized citizen, a gay person, and you did not vote in the last election, please do so in 2018. That may be our only hope.
1
The Republican congress won't check Trump's destructive behavior because they believe that he and they were elected to supplant any and all political values related to equality under the law. To hold Trump accountable for his behavior in office would undermine the doctrine that "might makes right", on which all their actions rely.
3
Many of us are conditioned to internally suppress outlandish
conspiracy theories on the usually correct assumption that more mundane explanations for events are much more likely. That state of mind is not currently serving us well. We are faced with quite overwhelming evidence that the US president is acting as an agent of the Russian government. Whether that is through direct or indirect control and by what means he is controlled is irrelevant to the result. Blaming political ills such a income maldistribution and gerrymandering for Republican control for the present disasters misses the point. Those ills
exist but they can be handled through our normal political
processes if those processes are not destroyed. Further there is evidence the Russian government has studied US social structure and is systematically attempting with considerable
success it exploit those ills in order to bring down the US republic. In my view, Krugman is entirely right about this and it is really frightening that most sectors of the public have not figured it out.
5
While I agree with most comments about Trump et al I wonder whether Krugman's analysis of the wonderful benign rule of the USA after the war has a rose colored glasses tinge to it. Didn't ( don't ) we do some pretty awful things in south east asia , south america, central america, middle east, central europe ... in the name of democracy and anti communism but also furthering the global dominance of American business interests .
4
“He doesn’t want to fix these institutions. He wants to destroy them.” Yup. It’s pure Steve Bannon. That he’s not still on the White House staff simply makes it a bit less obvious that Trump is Bannon’s disciple — or is that puppet?
It appears that our modern Caligula (little bone spurs?) is as crazy as his ancient Roman predecessor. As he has gotten greater control of the levers of power he has gotten more and more megalomaniacal. Now he is "the most popular Republican ever" or you may translate that into "I am the most important person in the world". If this visceral wish is to become the most famous person in the history of the world, a pretty crazy idea, he would then demand deity, like Caligula may have. No matter how nuts this all seems, his base seems to lap it up, perhaps not realizing he would turn on them in an instant.
Suppose I am right and he is seriously dangerous to our country and to democracy in general, what can be done? Impeachment, control revert to congress, revolt, a new constitutional convention, commitment to mental hospital?
Is Russia a co-conspirator? He has weaponizes the Imperial Presidency, if he colludes with Russia to bring down the current world order, chaos could lead Russia to spring to a greater role than a large, weaponized, third world nation. Making Russia Great Again? Imperial powers, wars, and, oh yes, profits.
The great experiment mentioned by Lincoln may perish from the earth. Am I paranoid? Is this just style?
2
Remember when you were a Teenager, when you wanted Ten Dollars from your Parents, you asked for Twenty! Trump asked for 4% trusting they will do 2%!!!
America fell off a cliff in November 2016, pushed by Putin. The FBI, in Comey's watch, didn't protect the country from a massive foreign attack. The result is here: an agent of Putin's policies in the White House, Republicans making the pilgrimage to Moscow - apparently to firm up their election prospects in November. That's where the power is now. Trump breaks the system of global trade, trashes NATO, attacks his host Theresa May and supports Boris Johnson and a hard Brexit. The right-wing Republican insurgency to cut taxes for the rich and roll back benefits for the poor and middle class was funded by the Mercers, Kochs, and other billionaires. It made common cause with the ex-KGB agent Putin's ambition to cut America down. So now the country has as its president a demented con man who never learned to read and write, a serial bankrupt and scam artist who sexually assaulted over twenty women. The Executive and the Legislature are under direct control or managed by enablers, and soon the Judiciary will be also? So what will be left of the American government under law or the Constitution - a memory for historians in the future?
2
I'm feeling hysterical, too.
Please, have we finally reached the point-of-no-return with this Charlatan-in-Chief? Trump's time in office should be measured in days, minutes, possibly weeks, not months or years. And certainly not for another incomprehensibly vulgar term.
Let's MAAA (Make America America Again).
1
So finish your thought Mr. Krugman.
Trump is returning the world to an era most akin to the Middle Ages. Rule by the biggest thug. Absence of laws, central authority, safety and security for most. He is single-handedly tearing down western civilization.
Who’s going to stop him?
2
The reporter for the Sun who interviewed Trump and published the article this morning said in an interview a few hours later that Trump reminded him of a Medieval ruler, who wants everything his way, and who expects no other opinions to matter.
1
Rex Tillerson was right in his assessment of trump......
1
Agreed. So now what?
2
He want to be King of the West, leaving the rest for putin and xi. In his own mind, he truly believes he is smarter than everyone else and should be in charge of everything.
Show me your papers for $40, alex.
1
Will someone please do some digging and find out what the Russians hold over Trump? I don't care if it's a newspaper, magazine, TV show, government agency, or a private detective!
Just find out why he is doing all he can to demolish the Western Alliance and make the world safer for Vlad the Impaler and Imperial Russia. Then we can impeach this sorry excuse for a human being and begin to repair the damage he has done to this country.
3
If you asked Trump to spell "Peace", he would say, p-i-e-c-e, only reverse the "e" and the "i". I'm very afraid it is hopeless.
Trump is not striving for unity as the ridiculous headline suggests. He only wants dominance. His method is straight out of the handbook of domestic violence: hit the woman, insult the woman, assault the woman and then tell them how much you love them. Some women fall for this. Some men fall for the same treatment. Nothing shows the utter ignorance and grossness of this mentally disturbed man more than his behavior this week. Now he will go on to get down on his knees and slobber over Putin's wonderfulness. Nothing says abuser more than his worship of other abusers.
2
Still waiting for the economy to fail due to Trump's election? It must be sooooo disappointing to you.
So after trump is through kicking sand in the faces at the playground, splashing in the pool, throwing spitballs at nearly everybody, stomping on toes and pulling pigtails then what?
Lift me up by bringing down everyone else.
2
>
A deeper analysis into the real basis of our problem shows that Abraham Lincoln some 160 yrs ago strapped a bomb on us (i.e., the Union) and lit its fuse, which has finally exploded in the culmination of DJT with his band of minions and rural hillbillies.
That bomb being, the Old Confederacy. Don't believe me? Just look at the red & blue map.
As I've long stated, Lincoln should have let the South go their own way. Goodbye! & good riddance! Send us a postcard. Please note: I won some beachfront property in the war too, but I could do without it. Slavery would have died out on its own, just like feudalism. The Union could have helped slaves escape etc....
The South would now be incorporated into Mexico and Spanish would be the official language (n.b., justice denied). That's right. Everyone knows white southerners like the porch more than work.
We, the Union, on the other hand, would be joined with Canada, have health care and a better standard of living.
One doesn't understand America and its history until one understands the South and its history.
"The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain".
Aristotle
We have missed our target here.
2
The President repeats his “no collusion” mantra, while every day he does the Kremlin’s bidding by destroying the Pax Americana that has ensured more than 70 years of prosperity for America, our allies and most of the developed world, and an eager outstretched American hand up to the developing world. Sorry Mr. President, but whether or not collusion or conspiracy occurred during the campaign, your conduct in office veritably smacks of collusion and conspiracy. You sir are no patriot. You are unrecognizable as an American and dishonor the starched flags you stand athwart hurling insults.
Alas, a serious case of overthinking. To consider anything other than blather and bluster , allowing for a hint of coherence, misses the essence of the TRUMP. Everything is critical, everything is an insult , everything is an emergency, and any change is a VICTORY for himself.
The practiced and tiresome technique of backing away from every utterance in the land of the Red Queen permits complete political autonomy from all positions. The Goal , 2020 , since the ultimate validation is reelection, SEE THEY LOVED ME...... Policies and practice is for loser wimps, GLORY awaits the VICTOR ...my personal theory was he was potty trained at gun point
Excellent piece. Get 3 of your friends to register and vote in November
1
With friends like Trump who needs enemies! Putin must be laughing in the Kremlin, seeing his useful idiot doing the dirty work for him. It's true Germany and others should contribute more to NATO costs, but the US spends a small fraction of its global military spending on NATO. 4% of GNP is a deceptive figure, the net amount is probably a lot less, especially when the advantages to its defence industries are taken into account. NATO may need reforming but insulting Merkel, May et al is hardly the best way to go about it. Whether Trump is bluffing or not in threatening to leave, he would need Senate approval anyway, and its probably all for domestic consumption.....we hope!
1
NATO no longer has a reason to exist other than to have US taxpayers subsidize EU socialism. EU is choosing to commit suicide-by-Muslim, we shouldn't help them. Let Russia take over the payments for maintaining EU socialism.
Donald Trump has been happy to pump up America’s defense budget and Make Military Fat Again. MMFA.
See “Trump’s Defense Budget,” by Lawrence Korb, 2/28/2018. “This means that since Trump took office, the defense budget will have grown by $133 billion, or 23 percent.”
But if this showtime bully is pressing Europeans to pay more to defend themselves, wouldn’t the US then be able to save money by shutting down a number of our military bases overseas? Isn’t that the goal? To get a better deal?
There is no logic here.
There is only machismo.
Trump loves military parades that wheel phallic weaponry in front of his grandstand, and he’s gratified by ejaculatory missile attacks on distant sites. He expects to be safe in his tower, with take-out meals, when the bombs fall.
Today’s NYT includes an essay, “Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Radical Incompetence,” that helps clarify why “America First” Trump has gained power attacking diplomatic compromises worldwide and the federal government here at home.
A quote: “What happens if sections of the news media, the political classes and the public insist that only sovereignty [nationalism] matters and that the complexities of governing are a lie invented by liberal elites? For one thing, it gives rise to celebrity populists, personified by Mr. Trump, whose inability to engage patiently or intelligently with policy issues makes it possible to sustain the fantasy that governing is simple.”
The big con.
1
It seems insane that the leader of the free world could be as small, petty, stupid and greedy as Donald Trump is--and every day we see that as bad as we thought he was yesterday, we underestimated him and he's worse--and tomorrow we will find out that he is worse yet again. How can a world of intelligent people of good will put up with this idiot, elected by those of perceived grievances?
Can we buy him off? Or buy off Mitch McConnell? Or Paul Ryan? What do they really want? They have frozen government, except for putting their fellow travelers in power, for years. They effectively shut down the Obama administration, they don't pass laws any more, they won't bring up a bill if it can't pass by Republican votes alone. Really--what is it they want? Is it to move all the money, gold, clean land, art, valuables of every size and shape, to the Koch brothers and their greedy ilk?
For years we heard of the anger of the ridiculously-hatted Tea Party. Well, the growing anger of the left at child abduction, greed, deregulation (Flint will be seen to be the canary in the coal mine, not just a terrible disaster), the grifting of our government "officials", and the loss of our country's self-respect is going to cause a lot more disruption. This is not politics as usual. It needs more action. It's time for a second American revolution.
If there was any lingering doubt that Trump is a Manchurian candidate, the events of this week have laid it to rest. Soon he will report to his Russian handler on his smashing (literally) successes in Brussels and Britain, er, England, and, as a reward, receive a few pats on the head. Putin must be laughing himself sick.
1
His family was rich. His older brother drank himself to death. When their father died, he inherited a lot of money.
In any other case, he would just be working a lousy job, or unemployed / homeless.
It was losers like him that voted for him.
1
Are there no safe guards against this sociopaths unilateral decesions and public performance? Will he fail only after his destruction of our values and the force of law is vanguished?
For Netanyahu. Putin and Salman, Trump and America failing is them and their nations winning. Trump tweeting and speaking slurs is not fighting.
1
Joining the echo chamber. Boo Trump. Why isn’t NATO invading Russia already? More war, please.
It's not that complex. Trump is a simpleton. A charlatan. To compensate for his ignorance he employs histrionics. Lies. And bullying. It's not rocket science that Trump fakes it. He's the great pretender. Any speech or attack, basically the same, has the same ingredients-bully, make absurd comments, disrespect, deflection. and braggadocio. This his way of camouflaging his ignorance. And with his rabid supporters and Republicans it works. But as a president at NATO, at talks with Kim Jung um or in England he's not fooling anyone, He's an unmitigated disaster. The rattle of a simple man. He's not the coldest beer in the fridge. So in essence he really is just faking it. Trump is political theater. His histrionics, narcissism, and stupidity is inimical to our democracy. It's one thing to never admit he's wrong, but as a result he's left a path of destruction.
1
Trump is a wild horse running amok on the hospital room
floor, smashing everything in his way.
He has no idea what he is doing, but at least he lies
a lot.
I his presser post NATO he told six lies in less
than a minute
1
Tearing all these things will not make America great again, as in his view. The truly sad part of all this are the Americans who swallow this tripe.
3
The Toddler-in-chief doesn't want anything to succeed or fail. He just wants.
2
Donald Trump is ignorant. He's also any number of other things, none of which the Times will print on its pages.
I fear for America, should the Republicans keep control of both House and Senate following the Novermber election.
1
Thank goodness more people are starting to say it. Democracy is absolutley under siege. I believe that Trumps USA is not the USA that even his voters signed up for. They are making Faustian bargains with the devils (Trump is not the only devil). Those with the most wealth, land and water will be able to live in a new world just fine but the less fortunate are going to loose more and our planet is going to suffer bigly. But by the time Congress and his overly represented constituency realizes it Republicans and their donors will own everything. This country is falsely over confident blowing up its credibility. And on top of all that the United States look more like one massive United States of Idiots than ever. Who can respect that?
2
Apres moi le deluge. Trump's motto.
As a retired school teacher of 30 years experience with children of all ages, sadly I find a simple explanation for Trump's insistence on destruction for the sake of destruction: attention-getting. Every teacher knows the type of loud-mouth, class interrupter, rule-breaker, show-off, bully that appears in a classroom and must be dealt with. Their motivation stems from their personal history of family, neighborhood, ethnic, and racial interactions and intellectual ability.
We all have these variables except that something goes awry with these attention-seekers: they are never satisfied and the easiest and quickest route to reward (for the immediate) is to be destructive and disruptive. Therefore, the adult in the room--the teacher in the classroom--must step in to establish control and order. So, where are the adults in Trump's classroom?
7
The threat to our democracy, such as it is, is indeed serious, and needs to be countered by activism on the part of all who cherish American institutions of freedom and equality, but it does no good to succumb to discouragement and to proclaim, as OldLiberal and other commenters do here, that they are dead. After all, for eight years we had a president who voiced liberal democratic values with eloquence, and actually upheld many of them in his actions. Now we have, at least until the November elections, a president who favors the opposite principles, and a Congress and Supreme Court willing to go along with him.
This is a test of our republican institutions, but clearly over half the citizenry dislikes Trump and his agenda. If this aversion can be harnessed for the mid-term elections, the tide may soon be reversed, and if Trump's economic policies are bad ones, that fact will further undermine his support. Now is certainly not the time for supine resignation and gloomy pronouncements that democracy is dead, but for a vigorous and hopeful opposition to oligarchy and tyranny. Our institutions are still in place; our job is to make them work once again.
4
I am perplexed that you never speak of the real problem. Our economic system of capitalism is BROKEN.
Why is this a taboo with the NY Times?
You are too generous. Trump is getting more and more a child.
2
Nero burned Rome, Trump will go in history as the one who destroyed America's economy and reputation, together with the Pax Americana. Mr. Putin must be delighted with his puppet!
4
Vote DEMOCRAT in November ! It's one of the only options we have to restore balance to our government and hopefully begin the process of ridding this country of Trump and his filth.
3
Sounds as though Steve Bannon is still setting policy for this administration.
3
Trump represents at least 20% of the U.S. population which is Neo-Fascist.
The problem, thus, is those Americans among us.
2
Falsely cry wolf for too many years and then this happens, the wolf shoes up, in America, not in Germany.
2
Face it. If Cadet Bonespurs was still a private citizen, with all of his fantasies and lies, he would simply be regarded as a vulgar crank and maybe a shady con, who gets away with it thanks to reality show celebrity. Now he twists the world to his id, threatening the world order. Let’s not even begin on the wrecking job he’s doing in the US. His spineless enablers in the Congress and elsewhere are unable—worse, unwilling—to rope him in. Or speak truth to him (not that he’d recognize it). 2020 is too far away....
4
The way Congress and the "sheep" are trending, 2020 is not a promise by any means. Scary.
"Beyond that, Trump obviously dislikes anything that...."
has Obama's fingerprints on it.
6
history will not be kind to this man and his enablers
3
If he talks like a Russian agent, if he acts like a Russian agent, if he responds like a Russian agent, guess what.
4
The Art of the Schlemiel:
I bluster and claim we are being cheated and May is all wrong because she wouldn't listen to me and we are winning the trade war and I have created great jobs and fixed NATO and saved the world, then I declare victory and go play golf.
This job is sooooo easy? and Fox News loves me. Why do all those others keep fussing? Don't they see how I fixed them?
Oh well... on to Phase II, enemies lists and getting even. Oops, I remember. I need to get a new fixer. Maybe Vlad knows one I can use. I'll ask him.
2
I vote for trump being a Russian agent.
4
>
Man hands on misery to man
It deepens like a coastal shelf
Get out as early as you can
And don't have any kids yourself
Philip Larkin, from "This Be The Verse" from High Windows
2
I refuse to join the "criticize Trump" bandwagen.
God help us all.
4
It will take decades to repair the damage this megalomaniac is causing.
Congress...both major parties... needs to get back to taking care of the business of governance. What got us to this situation is the Electoral College system...an antique institution which owes its existence to the early-republic N-S racist divide. We need to restore the concept of one-man, one-vote.
So now we have a POTUS who wasn't elected by well over 2 million americans. He's unschooled in governance, history, and evidently civility. He has a racist history, has defrauded investors and cheated tradesmen, and yet he holds this land's highest office.
If the mid-term elections don't rebalance Congress such that it can once again act responsibly, we will truly be able to say, "we have met the enemy, and they is us."
As for POTUS, he needs to enable a Martian Landing Program...and be the first to go.
2
It's the same with his supporters. The vast majority of whom never even considered trade aggreements or NATO as a major political concern for them. They just like to see him poke his thumb in the eye of liberals, uppity women, minorities, and those derned socialist Europeans. They're standing around watching the bonfire he started, and they clap and stomp their feet for bigger flames. And these are the people who claim to love their country, and are the "real Americans". Whew.
7
You know that crying child on a plane who cannot be mollified? Well, that's Trump for you.
3
Your president is another emperor without clothes.
4
Trump has a moto, America First, and he attempts to act it out by doing such things as giving the impression that he is standing up to leftist Canadian and European slackers that are piggy backing on America success. He does not know about and does not care about the reality of trade and national security. It is all just an “unreality” show designed to appeal to people as angry and ignorant as himself. A trade war will damage the economy and the dissolution of NATO will undermine our security. None of it matters. His supporters will blame inflation, suppressed growth, and continued stagnant wages on something or someone else. Russian incursions will be ignored until we are on the cusp of an undeniable crisis in Syria or the Baltics. As a super power in the hands of an idiot whose only talent is knowing how to appeal to other idiots, we are the international equivalent of an asteroid hurtling towards the earth.
2
Just waiting for you to add something constructive Paul.
1
Who is Paul Krugman ?
he is a sniveling, complaining, Jewish phony intellectual Yankee. everything you hate wrapped up in bat wings by Satan himself.
America, feel free to ignore him. listen to some real authorities like Hannity, Ross, Mnuchin, or Pruitt. even Carson may chime in, after his nap
ps: whatever happened to that late, great campaign to get the US out of the UN?
A better economist than you, I’d guess.
1
Yeah I know it's Godwin's law and all, but it's unavoidable: as with Hitler and Czechoslovakia, he doesn't want specific concessions, after which he will calm down. HE WANTS TO PICK A FIGHT.
Because that is all he knows how to do, and the only thing that makes him feel as if he is real and important.
3
Definition of Trump (n): I me mine.
3
"if Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion." Agreed; in my book, that makes him a Russian agent. He's getting away with it; that makes us a bunch of idiots. We will get what we deserve if we continue to tolerate this behavior. We are all but finished as a great power, and that will not be good. Other nations will tell us what we get, and they are not happy with us.
1
Maybe he is just crazy. No one can rationally explain his behavior as other than attempting to satisfy his psychological disorders.
Isn't NATO right next door to Blogistan? I heard it on Fox & Friends so it must be true. My neighbor Sarah Palin says she can see it from her house. I tried to see it from my house but my bone spurs don't allow me to get up on my tippy-toes to see over her gun safe.
5
What was the number? Was it 63 million, give or take, who over a period of a year and a half had a good look at this man and said "Yeah!"? 63 million looked at his 3,000 lawsuits, his incessant lies, his porn stars and payoffs, his 'birtherism" crusade, his bankruptcies, his non-sequetors, name-calling and bullying, his profound ignorance of anything beyond the momentary gushing of his own ego and said "YEAH, LOVE IT; BURN BABY, BURN!!! I really don't fear Trump ..... we will learn to forget this reality show sooner or later. There's an ash bin waiting for The Donald. What I fear is what those 63 million are going to inflict on us next time.
2
The frustrated, misfits, and newly poor which largely comprise support for mass movements are united in their desire for self sacrifice. Having lost faith in themselves they seek something in which to place that faith. It is usually ends up in the hand of a fanatic and a charlatan. In other words, Trump just another Hitler. Only time will tell if the damage will be as severe. Read "True Believer" by Eric Hoffer.
1
I know we have freedom of the press, they can cover whatever they want, and it is pretty hard to ignore the President of the United States, but this is a case where the solution is to ignore his posturing and he will go away. "Oh, I didn't want to play with you guys anyway. *sniff, sniff*" Or in internet speak, "Don't feed the troll!"
1
Funny how in the past we often complained about how one president or another did something dumb or nonsensical - once or twice. Trump and his cronies do utterly stupid and nonsensical things every single day. We are getting a lesson in what true incompetence is. Indeed, true malfeasance. I just hope we can get back some actual competence and this does not carry over to ANY other administrations of either party.
7
I notice that the NYT monitors won't allow any comparisons of Trump to Hitler, no matter how oblique. Obviously only Hitler is Hitler, and the United States isn't close to being the Weimar Republic. However, it's past time that we allow discussion of what authoritarians have in common. One characteristic is a love of chaos. This was true for Hitler, and true for Trump. Donald Trump is energized by the chaos he sows among others, whether political rivals, allies, or just ordinary Americans. All of this outrage and disruption doesn't tire him out--it lights his fire.
The only logical explanation for Trump's behavior is that he's compromised by Moscow. That's what we're going to discover, and that's why he's creating an international sideshow now.
4
Donald, Emperor of the deplorables. How's that " Winning " thing working out for ya ??? In the real world, not so good. Seriously.
3
Vote.
7
It makes me sick that this column is so thoroughly correct.
2
Bingo.
1
Trump
Crazy
Insane
Unbalanced
Twisted
We should be so very proud of this badly disturbed person.
1
This guy is sick.
2
Yes, in World War II we helped free the German people and Europe from the Nazis. Now it is there turn to help us.
1
Yes, Trump is an abomination, but the problem is really the party that knowingly and treasonously foisted this sociopathic buffoon upon America; the party that has laid the groundwork for this racist and bigot for 40 years with its own record of barely disguised racism and bigotry; the party of misogynists, homophobes, xenophobes; liars, climate deniers, neo fascists, faux Christians and political prostitutes who serve only their true owners: the Koch Brothers, the NRA (who pumped laundered Russian cash into the 2016 campaigns), and a cabal of plutocrats who seek to reduce the American people to serfs. And hello, that party is: THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, a mafia impersonating a political party, that should be prosecuted under the RICO statutes like any other gang of thieves. Ousting the Republican Party from every level of political life, from the White House to dogcatcher, is the fundamental prerequisite to saving what's left of the democracy they have been assaulting for decades. We don't seek to change the Republican Party, we don't want to reform the Republican Party, we don't need to compromise with or reach consensus with the Republican Party - we want to END the Republican Party, for once and for all, and put these criminals behind bars for their premeditated 40 year conspiracy to destroy our democracy. And after November 2018, that includes investigations, indictments, trials and jail for these liars, crooks and traitors. NO REPUBLICANS in 2018! NONE! NOT ONE!
11
He must be obliterated politically
3
This is the exact behavior pattern he followed when he sliced through his gaping primary opponents in 2016. Not one of them thought fast enough to turn the tables on him. He saw that the way to handle dignified political leaders (some candidates excepted from that label) was to more or less publicly fart in their faces. The stuttering recipient of his disgraceful rants just can’t find the words to call him the vapid bully that he is. This is because he is also mean to the core and — save us all — powerful. This man will shrink back inside his pitiable shell when his term ends and he becomes utterly irrelevant. Keep the faith and vote: those are our only chances.
4
He is a one-man stampede in a china shop, with a narcissistic ego that drives his mouth which is far faster than his brain.
1
And Krugman has turned idiotic predictions into an art form. When can we expect that global recession? How any one can take this clown seriously is beyond me.
Trump is Dada and Helter-Skelter all rolled into one.
Trump : As stupid as He wants to be. Thanks, GOP. Seriously.
4
More in a long line of gravely cynical columns by economist Paul Krugman.
The question I have is: With a moron and buffoon like Trump, how on earth could "the establishment" have taken the risk in 2016 with someone as deeply disliked, uncharismatic, uninspiring as Hillary Rodham Clinton?
And a known poor campaigner. It's just our country, our whole world.
2
Because Trump was the worst possible choice. The people that whined about Secretary Clinton and voted for Bernie or Jill Stein didn't get what they wanted, and they gave us Trump. You have two choices, you choose the best of the two options. Grow up, millenials and you too, Susan Sarandon.
President Obama escalated the Afghanistan war, spent almost $1 trillion dollars and lost hundreds of American lives......in a wasteland that today is worse off than it was 15 years ago.
President Obama failed Mr Krugman, but your bias only goes towards Republicans.
Only the New York Times would allow such bias.
He is just a stupid person who is also a bully, who likes to lash out and create chaos and draw attention to himself. In addition to likely being compromised by Russian intelligence.
3
The truly despicable villains of this turmoil that have allowed the petulant child president run untethered are the GOP members of Congress. These spineless eunuchs have shown no love or compassion for the American people; rather they are clinging to the coattails of the incompetent Liar-in-Chief , pandering to the incurious and uncritical rabid followers of the mercurial adolescent. Perhaps if more members of Congress had served in the military like many of us veterans they would have had a different perspective on what service means.
4
Destroying things is Trump mental illness calling him. It’s what malignant narcissistic’s do. They tear other people down while building their own fantasy world of praise. He really is crazy and shouldn’t be a White House janitor let alone POTUS.
4
More evidence that he aims to make the world safe for his financial, political pal Putin.
Weaken NATO.
Weaken WTO.
Weaken G7
Weaken NAFTA.
Weaken the EU.
Weaken the UN.
Weaken the global economy.
Weaken the USA.
Maybe Trumpies will welcome Putin to rule the USA--liberate it from all the liberals--bring in a real feudalist--the puppeteer behind Trump.
4
It seem they already do. Clearly trump works for Putin.
A classless, ignorant gangster and buffoon not satisfied with destroying our own democracy but now meddling in world order and interfering in British politics.Is there no limits to his mendacity?
1
If he is not doing all this to help putin and to destroy the Western Alliance, then I would put forth that besides being a malignant narcissist, and a pathological liar, these actions show characteristics shared by people who have both bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. We saw during his campaign that something was seriously wrong with him--his anger, his bombast, his insults, his buffoonery, his hubris, his cruelty, his lying, his vicious and inappropriate attacks on anyone and anything...YET: A corrupt, partisan Electoral College saw all this, too, yet they defied the law that prohibits them from installing an UNFIT person into the presidency. And, as a result of the E.C. gerrymandering, voter suppression, and trump's friends, the Russians, we have a very mentally disturbed, dangerous, racist, misogynist, hate-monger, corrupt, thieving, treasonous, foul con artist, and sexual and financial predator disrupting not just our democracy, but trampling, threatening, and harassing our long term allies as well. This piece of human flotsam and jetsam is not a "president," but rather an incompetent boob who is also a terrifying, dangerous demagogue. It is one thing to be an ignoramus, but it is totally another to be a malicious, mentally deranged ignoramus. And then to be handed the presidency of the United States on a silver platter????? What morons are there in the E.C.? And now, the reprehensible congress that protects him--WHAT TRAITORS AND THIEVES!
5
All very reasonable, as usual, but there is one point in Dr. Krugman's argumentation that just befuddles me: we should all increase our defense spending? why, on God's Green Earth should we do such a thing? to prevent an invasion from Russia? a graying country soon to be less populous than Vietnam and more likely to attack us through computers (attempting to disrupt our elections, say, not that such a thing may have ever actually happened) than by sending their armored divisions across the border?
You know, we have in front of our eyes a country that has been for decades investing more in its military than us... it finished invading countries for no intelligible reasons, just because, when you have a hammer, any problem looks like a nail. The bigger the hammer, the bigger the urge to smash any protruding piece of hardware with it, even if it is a screw.
I'm not sure we collectively are that eager to emulate such example, and thus we would rather keep our (in your eyes insufficient) military budgets as they are, thank you very much.
You don’t suspect Putin of wanting to annex his former satellites? Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia for instance? And then Poland, Turkey, Romania?
Seriously? He can do it without tanks and great expenditure, you know.
He’s KGB. He knows.
Babies with temper tantrums are definitely difficult to diagnose. I believe, in this particular instance, we have no choice but to let him turn blue and pass out. I suppose we should care that he doesn't fall and hit his head. With this baby, though unfortunately, it may be our heads that will get hurt.
He needs a bobo, something to suck on, to relieve his stress.
2
Trump might claim to want to "make America great again" but even if this was not an utterly stupid statement, it would still be an empty statement because he has absolutely no compunction at 'nation building'. He totally lacks the personality, intellectual qualities and abilities required for such a task. He has the narrowest possible vision of politics and the world, no sense of history, no empathy, no self control and no finesse. As stated by many, it is always all about himself, the world be damned... So like a frustrated toddler that breaks its toys, he will always try to break things rather than build, but also never forget to stuff his own pockets...
And by the time enough of us realize that Trump doesn't want to be President of a democratic-Republic, he wants to rule a kingdom or dictatorship; it may be too late.
2
It is uncanny how the ongoing collapse of our 250-year old liberal democracy mirrors the decline of the Roman Republic, as described by Gibbon.
In particular, Gibbon focuses on how easily the "forms" of republican rule, such as in our case, things like the "rule of law" and a "free press", can easily be manipulated by the tyrant and actually used to further his power, rather than act as a "check" to that power.
Thus, as with Rome, what we will likely be left with in the US is a nominal democracy, with all of its forms and rituals ceremoniously observed (e.g. the Electoral College), but without any substantive content and empty of meaning.
The forms can then be effectively used to cloak the authoritarian designs of the tyrant. Caesar Augustus always made a great show of maintaining the nominal ruling Triumvirate, with its publican and Senator.
As we know, all of the Founders were serious students of Gibbon and his Enlightenment-era humanism and sought to incorporate his warnings into the design of the American Republic. I guess it is testament to their foresight that their design lasted as long as it did. But as with Rome and Greece, it was only a matter of time until some future generation refused to put in the required effort to maintain its liberal ideals.
5
The Trump initiated trade war if leads to rretaliations and unravelling of the rule based global trading system led by the WTO it will not only catastrophic for the world economy but sure to cause serious damage to the US manufacturing industry, farmers/workers, and the consumers. Again, the way Trump is antagonising the world and abusing leaders, he is sure to isolate the US from the international mainstream.
1
It is not simply OK to continue to ignore the number of Trump nominees with contacts etc. in Russia who failed to list them on their paperwork. The inability to get security clearance is not something worthy of simple glossing over.
It is never simply an error by the nominee or the person being nominated. It is way more than economics.
3
"And what Trump is trying to do is undermine that system, making bullying great again." Trump is doing what the GOP has done for decades only he's doing it on a world wide stage. He is an embarrassment as president and as a businessman. In truth he's a failure and now, as president, he's representative of our failure to elect or, worse, convince intelligent, honest, public spirited people to run for elections at any level. He's the result of failures at many levels including the Electoral College.
We are now experiencing the results of the Southern strategy that began when the Dixiecrats exited the Democrats because LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and subsequent laws ensuring that African Americans were treated the same as white Americans. In an effort to get voters back to the Democrats Clinton and others moved to the right to appear less liberal. The only problem is that in doing so they pushed the GOP to become more radical. Both parties are now more responsive to their rich donors than they are to the actual needs of 99% of us.
The best outcome of the Trump presidency would be for him not to win the nomination or a second term. The worst; to wind up being another saint in the GOP iconography. We need better choices on both sides and we aren't getting them. We get brushed aside while our senators, representatives, governors, etc., entertain people who flatter them.
2
Our Constitution provides that treaties have the force of law. Trump's attempts to destroy the treaty underlying NATO therefore is a violation of law. That is what impeachment is for, to protect the nation from a lawbreaking president. It is time to use that protection.
4
Thank you, Prof Krugman! My memories of America's policies following WW2 match your characterisation of the Marshall Plan, The Berlin Airlift, and the founding of NATO as motivated by a desire not to dominate Europe and the rest of the world but to achieve a balanced international sharing of repsonsibility for maintaining the peace. When ill-informed - or worse, un-informed - pronouncements from the political Right paint the U.S .as a Militant/Theocratic/Corporatist Authoritarian Regime with a Divine Mission to rule the world, I know they are either ignorant of the lived history of that era or are disengenuously misrepresenting it for personal gain. Surviving the war was not enough; constructing a more reasonable and peaceful future was the key to ensuring a world worth surviving for! Trump blusters, prevaricates, and invents non-facts as an elaborate cover for his ubiquitous ignorance. He creates scenes as diversions from his incompetence because he has nothing whatever to contribute to any political process. He is indeed "a hole in the air."
2
As true as this column is, seeds of our destruction were planted in full view after 9/11. The conscience of the world was shocked at the abandonment of international law on preemptive war and torture by the Bush Administration. One wonders how the course of history would have been changed had the Bush-Gore election gone in the opposite direction. I agree wholeheartedly that Trump is the symptom, not the cause, of American moral decline. Congratulations to Senators McCain and Flake for their ultimate resignations from our abhorrent, sycophant Congress.
3
Trump's businesses have failed, and he walked away without any penalty. Now he is using the same tactics on our international allies, seeking personal aggrandizement without penalties while he destroys the international faith that has been built up since World War II.
4
Finding the true objectives driving Trump's destructive impulses is probably the most important political and psycho-pathologically challenge facing our democracy and every individual or group engaged in the struggle to preserve our democratic institutions.
My reading of the political chicken bones leads me toward two equally disturbing understandings, neither excludes the other.
First, that Trump has been powerfully compromised by his long standing dependence on Russian financing, dating back to his wave of bankruptcies in the 1990's and early 2000's. At that point, Trump's stature as a significant player in real estate development was at an end. His self-indulgent decision making habits combined with his dead-beat attitude toward traditional sources of financing had destroyed his access to main-stream banks.
Vladimir Putin quickly recognized that Trump's financial desperation created a mutual opportunity to enjoy all of that ill-gotten Russian money.
The second motivation driving Trump's actions are his personal hostility toward Barack Obama. Given Trump's hyper-narcissism, the actual pain inflicted by the tag-team destruction of Trump's ego by Seth Meyers and Barack Obama is probably beyond the empathic capability of most reasonably well grounded individuals.
Trump's seeming focus on undoing every action & accomplishment of the Obama Administration fits conveniently within the purposes of the Republican Party. Thus, their willingness to subordinate patriotic duty.
2
Finally somebody gets him. When will the rest of America wake up? I fear too late........................................
3
"Eventually", Trump will get blamed for the consequences of his idiotic reign of incompetence. But it took George W. Bush seven and a half years before his comeuppance; Bush will only suffer in the history books, not during his term in office. And in the same way, it may take several years before Trump's policies really yield their pernicious fruit. And of course, Trump will blame the succeeding President or anyone or anything but himself. And Trump's damage may be more significant- at least Bush was a pro-American cheerleader; Trump is anti-American values.
3
Crusader Rabbit, the underlying optimism in your comment is laudable but, I am afraid unrealistic.
You include mention of future history books and the results of upcoming elections. Those assumptions reflect an optimism that may not be supported by the progression of events already underway. One of the enabling failures running rampant through our political culture is the inability to recognize that the damage to our society and our economy may greatly exceed that experienced in our political memory.
We may not have meaningful elections for more than another generation. The probability of a catastrophic economic collapse is far greater than the general public is willing to contemplate. But most importantly, recent generations of Americans cannot conceive of making the sacrifices or of enduring the hardships that accompany the fundamental loss of security that lies just over the horizon. The probability of civil conflict increases with every careless word.
The destruction of the alliances & treaties that have provided basic stability in the conduct of international trade & relations among "competitor" nation's, greatly increases the probability of intense conflict between and among military powers.
Most American's need to ask themselves, do the advantages (?) that grow from Trump's conduct justify the risks inherent in tearing down the existing order.
Are you willing to take up arms to advance Trump's agenda or to preserve the changes he has placed in motion? He's not!
Krugman called it "Wingnut Welfare" -- the idea that conservatives will always have a soft landing when they leave elected or appointive government jobs where they have behaved horribly, funded by their donor masters. So failure of our government will benefit their donor masters bigly and it is in their interests to stand back and watch Wreck-It Trump bring it all down. Their hysteria in hearings like the one yesterday with Peter Strzok is just theater for their donor masters to ensure their next jobs. Trump's biggest donor master is Putin. That Trump is still envisioning a soft landing by building a Moscow Trump hotel instead of a perp walk for him and his children is amazing. If a veto-proof Democratic majority is elected in 2018, the first legislation should be to expand the definition of high crimes and treason should be to knowingly contribute to the economic failure of the country. Second legislation should be to specify that corporations are NOT people.
4
The thing about Donald Trump is this. When I get up in the morning or get off work at night I log-in to the Times and the Washington Post to see what new disasters have befallen the Republic and I actually have a hard time wrapping my brain around the man's actions. Just today, we have his involvement with Thersa May and Brexit. Yesterday and today we had his NATO fiasco, his defense spending lies. Tomorrow we will have the Putin extravaganza. (I shudder to think!) This on top of a trade war and the intentional loss of children into the gaping maw of the Health and Human Services Administration. GOD HELP THEM ALL!.
So here's the thing (remember from the first paragraph?) I can't believe it is actually happening! It's like I'm going to wake up from this nightmare, Joe Biden is President. We are continuing the good work on solving climate change, making the world a safer, saner place and solving the immigration problem in a fair manner that benefits the country and people from all over the world who continue to hold America up as the shining example of libery and justice for all. (Now don't get me wrong here: I know we have a very long way to go.)
Then the reality hits me: Donald Trump IS president. He IS working non-stop to destroy the very institutions that ACTUALLY Make America Great. Then there is that Twilght Zone moment and the truth come crashing down on me. Dear God NO!! Donald Trump can't be president!!
Then I turn on Netflix and try to forget. Yeah, not a solution.
4
As Trump would say, "we'll see" if his conduct is treasonous, but it's clear he us at best a Russian dupe.
2
Trump is taking U.S economic power ,built up over the last 80 years, and acting like he created it in 538 days.He is taking credit for the almost absurd military power which countless administrations have developed since WW11 and is threatening the rest of the world with it,He was born with an economic privilege that he come close to squandering over the years and,if not stopped,will do the same thing to this country.Incompetant fool is too kind a description of Trump.The guy is flat out dangerous.
3
Hopefully in November, the cuffs will be put on Trump. What is frightening is that his supporters and their ideas will around long after he's gone, waiting for the next Trump to come along. How did so much of America become this way?
4
Attempting to "mollify" Trump brings to mind a famous Churchill quote, “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”
3
Quoting Jeb Bush “Trump is a chaos candidate and would be a chaos president “
Quoting Bobby Jindal “Trump is an unstable narcissist “
3
Mr. Trump is too old, soft and amicable to be an effective president.
The REAL president would kick the current prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay and replaced them in front of the military courts with the truly dangerous individuals to America.
I’m no smarter than you. Like in those Farmer Insurance ads, I’ve just seen it before when the leaders, the editors and the justices pushed my former country in the bloody civil war.
That’s what all of us should be focused on – avoiding the divisions, polarizations and civil conflict here in America.
Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Obama Barack, the Supreme Court Justices and the presidents of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and FOX should face the accusations of conspiring to split and ruin America by pushing her into the unnecessary conflicts, creating artificial animosities, and working on behalf of the foreign powers.
Charge them with leading America into the series of the wrong wars in Asia and Africa!
Charge the Justices with undermining the US laws. The law is equal for anybody so every Supreme Court decision should be 9-0. Unless you can make such a decision, you continue working with your colleagues on unity of views.
Can you imagine any military unit in the middle of bloody war splitting up through the middle?
Can you imagine the patriotic free press intentionally inflaming the internal polarization?
If Mr. Trump doesn’t prosecute all of them, then he should join the accused in few years…
anyone that works for or with trump will be diminished if not destroyed. he can be the only winner otherwise he is a loser.
3
Trump's singularly wretched existence is now writ large upon our nation and the world. This carnage of values and sanity needs to stop, now. Register yourself and anyone else you can persuade and vote in November. The more people vote, the more likely sanity will prevail.
2
“Part of the answer is that anything that weakens the Western alliance helps Vladimir Putin; if Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion.”
Well then if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it must be a duck
9
Donald J.Chaos & Co are the party of wrong. US economy at its highest level of profits. Solution? Corporate tax cut. Result? Higher dividends and stock buybacks. Mightiest military in the world. Solution? Give them more money then they can spend efficiently. Result? Same mighty military at an increased cost. Innocent Black Americans being killed by overzealous police. Solution? Rescind the DOJ police reform program. Result? More Innocent Black Americans killed by overzealous police. NATO alliance has successfully helped keep the peace for over 70 years. Solution? Insult current allies and insist they pay up. Result? Alliance angry and confused. USA has benefited from immigration for its entire history. Solution? Forcibly separate immigrant children from their families. Result? Worldwide outcry and demonization. What has this administration actually accomplished? Where is the "winning" promised. Only more licensing deals for Trump and his mafia family.
4
The biggest problem with this giant ego of Trump is that he has created a cult of followers much like Jim Jones of the koolaid suicides. Will these mindless followers drag us into worldwide disaster? Only November will tell. Please vote America.
10
on BBC worldwide news this morning a sitting British MPP (Conservative) stated he believed that Trump has been compromised by Putin/Russians for a long time. This is also in keeping with the finance trail and election interference with the Russians. Trump is successfully dismantling Western Institutions on behalf of Putin. His only successful relationships are with fellow dictators. He is acting in stark contrast to his own administration who are still doing their jobs as public servants but why isn't his own political party?
14
If Germany can redeem itself from a personality cult and a world war that killed 60 million then certainly we can.
Short of a nuclear exchange we should recover from Trump.
As destructive,uncaring and suspicious as Trump and his policies are, surely after he is gone we can rebuild and repair the lion's share of damage done.
As an acolyte of the esteemed historian and entertainment mogul, Steve Bannon, it should come as no surprise that Trump’s a breaker, not a maker. Bannon described himself as a Leninist, wanting “to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment”. But why? What’s the plan? Well, unlike we mortals, these geniuses, these” great men”, believe that through a combination of their instinct and intellect they can pierce through the complexity of the moment and see the future. And according to these two, that future is a very dark one at home and abroad. America will sooner or later be eclipsed by China and in America white males will be eclipsed by “others”. But wait! It’s not too late change all that and for our two great men to make their mark on history! Disrupting the establishment will create historic (as well as personal financial) opportunities to steer us back to greatness. It won’t be pretty, they tell us, but they, and only they through their extraordinary guile and perspicacity can “make America great again”. So, there is no plan and “no second paragraph” because these “visionaries” are just making it up as they go along….just like Lenin.
4
Before now, most U.S. presidents wanted to govern and to be leaders who created positive change. Trump wants to rule. He admires rulers and seeks total control and power over his people (us). His way of obtaining this power is to mess with the status quo, to shake up belief systems, to make other democratic leaders look weak among their citizenry so that he looks more menacing and strong. It's all a game, and he's been winning at it so far, don't you think?
2
Krugman asks:
"Will anything put a check on Trump’s destructive instincts?"
He then mentions, and correctly dismisses, Congress and big business. But the ballot box, i.e., the American voters, should also be considered....and then dismissed too. Why? Because, according to Gallup, Trump's support now is basically what it was when he was elected: He has not suffered despite being manifestly awful day after day. (The electoral college and gerrymandering, of course, don't accurately reflect voter sentiment, but are mere structural tools he will use to facilitate winning again. So much winning!)
1
As often noted, the US pays more on military expenditures than the next 7 countries combined.
5-star General and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower- elected by majority vote without the help of the Kremlin- warned the nation of the military-industrial complex gaining undue influence in government.
It is nonsensical in peacetime for the nation to spend $700 billion on the military when our roads and bridges are crumbling.
There is a 1% of GDP actuarial deficit in funding Social Security over the next 75 years, yet Trump and other Republicans push through a massive unfunded corporate tax cut while seeking to increase military expenditures that do nothing to grow the economy or improve productivity.
In the best case, trillions spent on weapons of mass destruction will collect dust. In the worst case, they cause the destruction they were designed to do.
The US could spend half as much far more effectively to maximize defense capabilities in 2018, and actually increase the nation’s security.
But instead, as Eisenhower warned, the bloated military budget is allocated to Congressional districts to earn profits for contractors without regard to need or effectiveness.
A nation’s strength and security comes from strong diplomatic relations and a vibrant economy built on technology, infrastructure, skills and education, health and innovation - not empty calories like government sponsored weapons sales.
But Trump is no Eisenhower. That is why Putin favored him.
4
trump is a bully. He criticizes people--including our closest allies--and when he is admonished by large protest groups or the press, he backs down and denies he ever said anything critical of the person he was bullying.
His lies and bullying are ruining relationships with our closest allies, no matter how much he backtracks or explains his actions afterwards.
1
His motivation is simple.
Grandiose,malevolent stupidity.
8
All the destruction that our orange haired President is succeeding to achieve is actually helping the people who run things in this country. The real owners of the the wealth of the mightiest nation on earth worked hard to finally get all their ducks in a row: Trump, Congress and now SCOTUS are now all in their proverbial pockets. Was it different in the olden times that Professor Krugman refers to almost nostalgically? Not really, I think. It was a different world and the owners were not exactly the same. Plus they had constraints imposed on them by the Economics conditions of their time. I very much doubt there was much altruism then either (see Michiko Kakutani’s beautiful essay today) yet definitely not the hatred of anything fair and decent of today.
1
This is a test and hopefully only a test to our democracy. It's a total waste of time to think that the Republican Party and Trump's supporters will ever admit to the harm Trump is doing to our American values as a Democracy. Trump's base and the spineless Trump/ Republican Party would willingly accept his claim that Putin will help make American Great Again.
The only way to address the destructiveness of Trump and his base to No Longer Make America Great Again is to vote Republicans out of office.
1
In eighteen months he has not uttered or tweeted a single communication that is positive, unifying, or uplifting. The world is bad, the press is bad, our citizens are bad. Worse, he doesn’t even try to couch his statements in any other terms. He is a human and political cancer, one that may be terminal.
2
After watching the Strzok “hearing” yesterday, hearing the Republicans shred Roberts Rules of Order, devoid of all dignity, spiteful and stupid, it is clear to this American that Trump has completely ruined what was left of the Republican Party. As of yesterday, they are all best described as traitors to their country.
11
Isn't it interesting that the GOP recently went for talks with Russians, and Trump is meeting with Putin?
I can't help but think it's as if they're asking Russia to 'please' interfere with the 2018 and 2020 election process so they can all stay in power. A "We'll-be-nice-to-you-if-you-be-nice-to-us."--sort of thing. Include the public shaming of Peter Strzok, and anything they can do to shut down the Mueller probe.
We can all chorus about getting out to vote the GOP and Trump out, BUT I wonder if the hacking for 2018 and 2020 are all ready a done deal.
3
Trump and his followers play the "victim card" - America is a victim of deceitful allies who treat us unfairly, Trump's followers are victims of NAFTA, the costal elites, etc.
It is so easy to play the victim - no need for personal responsibility, no need for trying to understand things more deeply, so easy to point the finger at everyone else and scream "they're cheating."
Trump doesn't want to fix the multilateral institutions because doing so would undermine his ability to play the "victim card" with his followers. Imagine this scenario: he "wins" his trade ware and gets some concessions out of Canada, the EU and China. Now he has to show that all the jobs he promised are coming back. When they don't, his game is shown to be charades. No, Trump wants to keep attacking so that he never has to show real results.
1
Face it, Trump is in Putin's pocket. Probably due to Trump's favorite topic--money. As Paul says, he may as well be an agent for Putin. So, what do we do about it?
2
Paul Krugman has it precisely: Unlike America in the aftermath of WW II building foundations of lasting peace, Trump's goal(the only one he knows) is to build foundations---for new high rises. But first, he needs to throw out his undesirables and demolish present structures. Without hesitation, we must cancel his permits by casting our votes.
2
Trump is a stranger to the rules of polite society, diplomacy, and statesman-like behavior that members of tribes expect from those within and those outside their own tribe at the levels where we operate. We kill on one level like primitives, with the killing done mechanically in the main by us and our weapons and mercenaries. We attend conferences and work on negotiating rules of order, behavior in our Congress, in the states, among the judiciary. We have elected a president out of a group of similar representatives of a class--as well as a party--and he has waded into the waters of politicals as a baby elephant making noise and blowing muddy water on all. He suffers from some great lack of self-control and maturity. "You're the puppet," he shouted at Hillary in one silly exchange. His bellicosity strains all w/i his proximity. At his worse, he initiated the crisis at the border w/Mexico and the separation of children from parents. We watch him and his co-horts regarding the Russia matter which continues like some wicked tv series. We are so inured to the tasteless tv/"movie" stars, from officials who seem to bathe in eau de swamp, that Trump's own scent doesn't stink for many. Instead, they see it as a better show than the one at the mall and stay at hom w/Fox News/other channels. Those news outlets keep the narrative pretty much along the real story line and we should be very grateful for this facet of our American life.
Your column doesn't have a Like button, so I'm writing to say, Good on you sir. Spot on.
1
It's simple. When Trump leaves office, whether by impeachment, resignation, or losing re-election, he will be moving to Russia and become one of their Oligarchs. His pretentious and ostentatious crass lifestyle will fit in well there and his demand for adoration and loyalty can easily be bought in Moscow. Putin may make him a Hero of the Russian People in honor of his services.
Will they give back AF-1?
1
and no more pesky tax returns, he's an oligarch!
1
I believe Trump is still playing the Steve Bannon playbook. These destructive ideas aren’t Trump’s creations — it is abundantly clear that thinking is not his strong suit. So they have to have infiltrated his mind from somewhere and infected it like a fever, and the most likely source for this claptrap is Bannon.
Bannon’s twin in the evil influence business is Stephen Miller. Think about that: Trump’s two top advisors are card-carrying deconstructionists. It’s enough to make you sick.
5
Watching donnie`s antics these last few days I came to the conclusion that we were watching a completely unstable man jump from lies to accusations to threats to claims of winning. If this was a homeless man found on a street ranting and raving, jumping from lies to threats and claiming to be a "very stable genius", he would be on his way to the rubber room as fast as the NYPD could call a ride to Bellevue.
But crazy or not he is reveling in the attention his antics bring him as he toadies up to Putin. he reacts to Putin just like a second rate bully trying to impress the head bully on a school yard. he is undermining everything that Putin wants to destroy. Putin`s goal is to take down the EU for financial gain and power. He wants to turn the US into a ineffectual state so we can`t get in his way. I don`t think he wants to invade anyone, he just wants to be the puppet master just as he is in Russia and collect his dues like any Mafia Don. The Russian connection to donnie just keeps getting deeper and deeper. Take two banks, the Bank of Cyprus and the Deutsche Bank, both of which have been shown to perform money laundering for Russian interests, with the Deutsche Bank having paid fines for their actions. Now we have the son of a Supreme Court Justice possibly making loans to donnie and we have donnie`s Sec. of Commerce having his hand in the till at the Bank of Cyprus. And now we have Russpublicans gonig to Moscow. Is this still our country or?
3
Trump is the head of a party whose sole accomplishment of late has been obstruction. His bloviation is part and parcel of his party.
1
Trojan horse, Manchurian Candidate, Faustian bargain, deep in debt; maybe all of the above.
Funny how he meets with Putin right after record carnage from separating children to separating international alliances.
Of course he is fulfilling his campaign promises; he had his marching orders long before.
Give the spymaster Putin credit. You have to laugh, Kushner was trying to open a back channel line right out of the White House. No need to have the those awkward old codes. Brilliant!
4
I’m not a whackadoodle prepping a cave in Utah with good and water for an “end times” scenario. But I do believe there is no way that this president’s deranged acts won’t bring on a recession, depression, or worse. As a result, I’m paying off all my bills ASAP and scouring the NYT & WaPo every day for signs of hope. Sadly, they’re scarce.
3
Greed is the North Star of both Republicans and their pals in business. Until President Crazy’s policies put the hurt on the financial interests of his morally agnostic supporters they will not say or do anything to criticize or push back on the toxic cesspool of Trump’s presidency. Cowards one and all!
1
I have a cynical view of these trade wars and their resolution. I believe that sometime this fall, a month or so before the November election, Trump will declare “victory” in the trade wars (even if very little changes). This will boost republican candidates. These crises are manufactured out of mostly thin air, and can be resolved to the president’s benefit whenever he chooses.
A few "left behind" (mainly uneducated white men) are the key to Trump's re-election. They want to blame others for their own problems, and he's happy to encourage them.
It doesn't matter that U.S. net worth has been in record territory since 2012 and just hit $100 trillion, about $800,000 per family. They are OK with the system being torn down because the 50th percentile family only has $100,000. It's inequality to the extent this is economic and not emotional/racial.
We have to stop this nonsense with real policy under conditions of high deficits, record income inequality and a booming economy: Higher taxes on the rich to help those left behind get a quality education and healthcare.
Obama started doing this, with higher taxes on the rich (about $21,000 on average for the top 1% family) used to fund $600 in benefits for the average bottom 40% family.
At 1979 inequality, each family in the bottom 99% should average another $7,000 per year in income. So we need to multiply Obamacare x 10 in redistributive scale to get our country back.
6
Years ago, in a socio-linguistics class, we watched a piece of footage from a model pre-school of a little boy acting out. The instructional purpose of the footage was the remarkable way in which his tantrum forced his fellow pre-schoolers to react--the professor analyzed in stop frame how their body language changed as they bent toward him to console, or moved away in fear. That, my friends, is the Trump presidency in a nut shell-- tantrums for the sole purpose of forcing the rest of the world to pay attention to him.
14
It would appear that Trump is one solution to the Fermi Paradox...
Unfortunately the technically advanced civilization is our own...
1
"He just wants to tear things down."
Yes, this is how Trump trumps everyone.
It is Trump's power of NO, that turns ON the media and supporters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope that the Democrats will finally wise up to Trump's NO how.
Can Democrats wake up in time to win the House in NOvember?
Time will tell...
4
I doubt that the typical Trump supporter knows much about the historical context and rationale for NATO, WTO, etc. There is probably only a vague awareness of the Berlin Airlift, the Marshall Plan, and other events. Given this militant, aggressive ignorance, Trump will pay no price for his behavior, and he knows this.
9
He said it best during his campaign: "I love the uneducated." Looks like that love is working out pretty well for him. disastrous for the rest of us.
3
The failure was in the ship Trump commandeered, he was the candidate who didn't fail to take notice of the change that was in the air. The discussion should not be about Trump as much, as why he was even able to reach the presidency in the first place.
3
You really have to give the Russians credit: They must have spotted Trump for the kind of person he is decades ago, probably while dealing with him in shady real estate deals or money laundering. They then spend years cultivating him. When the rise of right-wing radio makes it clear that they can sow division in the U.S. through the media, they see the possibilities in fomenting hyper-partisanship. Soon, internet based social media make it possible to encourage and direct such partisanship to the point where half the electorate will froth at the mouth at the mention of the Democratic Party and will reflexively vote for anyone with an (R) after their name. (I wonder if the experiments with the Russian red fox encouraged this line of thinking.) With the help of the Republican Party in demonizing any prominent Democrat, but especially Clinton, the time came when pushing Trump to run for president with some chance of winning became a viable option. If he wins, the Russians need do no more than sit back and watch him wreck havoc. The Russians have always played a long game; what started out as a long shot has paid off magnificently.
1
we are approaching a calamity. trump's actions in Europe are paving the way for putin to move against weak countries, 'restoring' the soviet union. at home, trump's actions are paving the way for social chaos not seen since the civil war, resulting in the suspension of our civil liberties and authoritarian government practices never seen before in our history. if you think this is far-fetched, ask yourself these two questions: 1-did you think that trump could become president? 2-did you ever think it possible that the government of this democracy would engage in kidnapping thousands of children and keeping them in secret prisons?
3
It has become apparent that trump will only display deference to a bigger bully than himself. Hence his kowtowing to Putin. Beyond that there is no telling what other leverage Putin has over trump. It is a safe bet that leverage has a lot to do with how trump has financed his house of cards these many years.
2
Great column Paul. One of your best. I hope your column is emailed extensively. It’s the missing piece to the daily matter-of-fact reporting and listing of the latest damage. The background to Trump’s and the Republican Party’s (who would have thought?) destruction of vital institutions and just what a tragedy that constitutes. I’ll be forwarding it to young folks who don’t know and old goats who’ve forgotten. Thanks again pal.
Maybe he's just a big baby throwing tantrums to get our attention. But maybe he knows full well what he's doing and his goal is to overturn the American-made, post-WWII world order. Not to further Putin's designs, but to accomplish the revolutionary upheaval advocated by Steve Bannon. The goal, then, is not simply to gratify Trump's ego, but to re-make America and the world into something more authoritarian and less cosmopolitan. Trump is no ideologue, but he is a radical. So long as we focus on his personal failings and treat him like an over-grown child we risk overlooking the strategic intent of what he does.
1
Sadly, I must agree with you that Trump is just trying to destroy everything, and is not interested in making a deal with anyone. And, sadly as well, I agree that the once not to be mentioned fact is now out in the open -- Trump is working for the Russians. Let us, as Americans, hope that we can unseat him before the damage he is doing becomes irreversible.
3
Trump seems to think like a reality TV star. He takes positions solely based on what he thinks his fans will think of him. Actual policy and outcomes do not even enter into his calculations because he is so inept and unaware that he cannot be bothered by the concept that he is there to do a job for the American people. He cares only about winning each media day.
That might have been enough to get him billions in free coverage and to keep the fans happy enough to elect him, but ultimately, it is not the way to govern successfully. Unfortunately, he can do a lot of damage before his fan base departs.
1
All the destruction that our orange haired President is succeeding to achieve is actually helping the people who run things in this country. The real owners of the the wealth of the mightiest nation on earth worked hard to finally get all their ducks in a row: Trump, Congress and now SCOTUS are now all in their proverbial pockets. Was it different in the olden times that Professor Krugman refers to almost nostalgically? Not really, I think. It was a different world and the owners were not exactly the same. Plus they had constraints imposed on them by the Economics conditions of their time. I very much doubt there was much altruism yet definitely not the hatred of anything fair and decent of today.
1
On my last point please see Michiko Kakutani’s beautifully written essay in the Times today.
1
This is a very wise, unemotional and perceptive column by Paul Krugman.
Donald Trump looks at institutions and American traditions differently than normal men and women, and he detests those structures and the history behind them.
Trump hates anything which is not about him, particularly if it is something created or supported by someone to whom he might be compared unfavorably.
And, so, we have a president who is a nihilistic destroyer of the world order upon which western civilization has been based for decades. Indeed, highly developed democratic countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America have adopted and prospered from this world order.
It is the great misfortune of the United States and the world at large that a warped, ignorant, narcissistic and gratuitously cruel man has ascended to the American presidency.
That misfortune has been exacerbated by the fact that in the U.S. Senate and House, the Republican leaders are short-sighted enablers of Trump.
The lies told by Donald Trump are only symptoms of the fact that he attempts to destroy everything decent which he touches.
1
Finally, someone says it!
It makes me crazy when media commentators try to parse Trump's latest ramblings, fretting that they are inconsistent with what he said ten minutes ago and worrying that Congress and the world might get confused about how best to capitulate to him when he is so incoherent.
The goal is the ramblings. The goal is to keep everyone off balance and analyzing every repugnant syllable for meaning, thereby establishing Trump's total dominance. To resurrect a tired cliche, he is indeed the puppet master, yanking the strings, and we are all the puppets, dancing to his tune.
There is no substance, There are no goals apart from watching the world go into paroxysms over every utterance and thus proving once and for all who is king of the world. Except that he is so needy, so fragile, so insecure, that this can never be proved adequately, so the dance of death perpetuates itself.
The sadism and contempt that permeate his policies, such as they are, and his discourse reflect nothing so much as a need to dominate. The more sadistic and destructive the words and deeds, the more they prove that there is no one who can stop or even moderate his behavior.
He is truly terrifying--not just because of who he is but because of how the world is reacting. The NATO secretary general who lavishly praised Trump's leadership in a misguided effort to tame his rhetoric is just the latest example of our inability to stop him. I do not see how this will end.
2
At the moment, 07/13/18, only Republicans in Congress can curtail this rogue elephant. They have no will to do so. Mueller might but only Mueller knows if and when. If the balance of power in Congress changes in November Democrats will. That makes the election of 2018 the most important in any of our lifetimes.
2
Just more hypocrisy from the GOP.
Cannot afford healthcare or food for your children or medication or education or housing. Or too dependent on Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid or clean air or clean water. And the GOP-controlled government says too bad for you as they cut and slash funding for agencies, programs and safety nets that benefit all to fund obscene and immoral tax cuts for the most well-off few.
But if you are a corporation that shared intellectual property with Chinese partners expecting it would all work out in the end and it does not, then the GOP-controlled government will start trade wars to make things great again.
Unfortunately, the GOP base after many years of indoctrination is too full of hate for their neighbors to see or understand the hypocrisy. And anything contrary to the GOP point of view is now understood by the base to be fake news. Redemption is no longer an option for the GOP and its base - the Strzok hearings confirms this.
2
Trump is an isolationist. He ran on isolationism. Build a wall. Tear up the Iran dal, pull out of the Paris climate accord, implement a Muslim ban, pull out of NAFTA, NATO the WTO, and implement tariffs. Trump will soon turn to pulling the U.S. out of the U.N. claiming that the U.S. pays too much and the U.N. is ineffective. Trump’s (meaning Putin’s) plan all along was to isolate the U.S. from the rest of the World. I would say in that regard Trump is most competent.
2
From Trump, everything is about him. All attention should be focused on him. The old chestnut, there is no bad publicity, is Trump's mantra. Even the worst possible things have to reflect positively on him. If he tears everything down, he'll be the biggest thing around. Sadly I think that the majority of the US--those who refuse to engage their brains, who find checking out whether something in their social media feed is accurate is too onerous, and who simply hide behind the flag and false patriotism--completely deserve what is headed our way because his backers also view the world in the same manner as he does. The rest of us will just have to clean it all up, as we always have.
3
Companies won't push back as they recently received their tax reduction and as regulations and consumer protections continue to be slashed. Republicans have now dangled another carrot in front of companies with another proposed round of tax cuts. To think companies will lead the charge in standing up to Trump is comical...in a tragicomedy kind of way.
Trump's rise to power and Republican acquiescence is a blatant attempt for the white wealthy elites to maintain their control and profit as much as possible from the laws and policies they create or destroy. They know demographics is not on their side in the long term.
1
A sociopath is always a sociopath. Trump is a bully because it makes him feel in control. There is no goal, except for bullying and destruction. You are right, he does not want negotiations. He just wants to feel like a big man by destroying whatever makes him feel insecure, like competency, cooperation and calm. Hence Cruelty, Incompetence, Corruption and Chaos are the hallmarks of his administration. Sadly enabled by those wishing for their own desires to ride on his destructive coattails.
3
Everyday it’s worse and worse. The incompetent bully in the White House blathers and puffs his chest out while he either destroys all that is good or creates bad policies and government actions. When will this farce end? The moral bankruptcy of Trump and his republican minions is staggering in its complete surrender to decency and intelligence.
The most bizarre and disorienting part of this whole new nightmare reality is the support that Trump continues to enjoy. Congressional Republicans, billionaires, close to half the country -- I cannot understand it. Has owning the libs really become that much of a conservative organizing principle that we are willing to let our President undermine national and international institutions in the service of Russia?
5
Yes.
This happens more often that you might think.
1
I am reminded of the brilliant scene in “The Fifth Element,” where Zorg, played by Gary Oldman, explains chaos to Vito Cornelius (played by Ian Holm): “Life, which you so nobly serve, comes from destruction, disorder and chaos. … by causing a little destruction, I am in fact encouraging life.” Of course, Zorg was an evil madman. Perfect.
Trump is no Zorg (fortunately), yet he seems to agree with the same twisted logic: not only is greed good, but chaos is good, ‘shaking things up’ will somehow perversely lead to prosperity, because no one remembers what caused the chaos in the end, all anyone recalls is the heroic effort to clean up the mess. I have noted this tendency in almost every action Trump takes: destroy something blithely, then claim credit for ‘fixing’ what he broke.
The trouble (aside from what hopefully is the obvious), is that not everything can be fixed. Trump is not alone in his delusions regarding the inevitability of recovery from any harm done; as Krugman points out, Wall Street suffers from the same self-deception, as does the tech industry with its penchant for “moving fast, breaking things, and disruption.” Sooner or later, someone inevitably takes this too far, and the damage is too great to repair. Not even all the king’s horses and all the king’s men are going to put the global Humpty Dumpty together again, not this time. In the end, Zorg was proven horribly wrong, and so will be Trump, no doubt to the shock of his loyal lackeys.
2
Though he may have been the loudest brat in the 8th grade, he was soon ignored and forgotten in the sophistication of the 9th grade. That resulted in six decades of seething indignation and compensatory foolishness enabled by inherited wealth and a keen instinct for malfeasance.
It is evidence of Satan's nasty sense of humor that he saw the Trump as a potent reinforcement of the U.S. congressional decline into juvenile self indulgence. He became the poster boy to exploit the growing gullibility of the dysfunctional portion of the public easily inflamed and distracted by stereotyped boogeymen and titillated by misbehavior (especially the sexual variety).
As these phenomena became consolidated and empowered by the lickspittles in the GOP, a few better minds have sounded strident warnings; e.g., Boehner, Corker, et al. Ignored by the party, they withdrew in disgust. Subtle as it may seem now, that disgust is growing across much of U.S. culture, driven by such atrocities as the abusive treatment of boogeymen invaders revealed to be destitute little children. Though the timing and intensity remain uncertain, that disgust is gradually turning to outrage.
Meanwhile, as men plan Satan laughs, knowing full well that the the worst elements of human nature cannot long survive their inevitable consequences.
This is the take of a tired old man, still unwilling to abandon hope. It worked in 2008.
2
Trump likes chaos. He wishes to make the world a chaotic place. But chaos has unexpected outcomes which for humankind are generally tragic.
2
Mr. Krugman, your looking for methods and logic where there are none. The president is only going down the list he's been given and as instructed to do by Putin under threat of blackmail. Looked at this way, it all makes sense.
1
Trump doesn't understand 'greatness' or he would never have destroyed the greatness we do have.
President Trump is conducting his own diplomatic and economic agenda without any checks and balances. His staff is now full of Fox News alumni. Nobel prize winners in economics such as Krugman are shut out.
The most pragmatic observer, whether Republican or Democratic ,must be in shock at his bullying nasty performance in Europe and Britain. Confrontation and bad manners do not make a foreign policy. Damaging diatribes about longtime allies and praising Putin is his constant mode of behavior.
We now have a one man government who speaks for the United States. Is this truly what our country stands for? Do the people of the United States want him to continue with the destruction of our relations with the rest of the world?
4
Seventy years ago the world discovered the horror of the atomic age. Which country is the only one to use that bomb? Twice? Who has fought more wars than anyone else in the last 70 years? Who spends more on arms in their budget than anyone else? Who wants to sell arms by twisting arms?
2
Trump also quit the UN Human Rights agency... Time to quit the UN itself.
All these are empty shells - all rhetoric (vile rhetoric, too) and no substance.
It's a terrible waste of money.
And yet, his approval ratings seem to be going up among his Republican base. How can this be? I am reminded of Severn Darden's character Professor Walter von Der Vogelweide, who put forth the theory of opposite goals. When you strive for success, you will have many failures. But, if you strive to fail, you will inevitably succeed.
1
People somehow continue to expect statesmen-like behavior from this president. Big mistake. Ask any of the people who knew him when he was a child and they all say the same thing - how little emotionally he has changed. So what the world is witnessing is not a man but a boy who believes that he can only get his way by acting as the leader of the gang. Friendship does not matter; what matters is that you are the leader not a follower. Since gangs thrive on fear and intimidation, it should surprise no one that Trump calls Putin a competitor rather than an enemy. To Trump, he is simply the leader of another gang. One who earns Trump's respect through his use of, you guessed it, fear and intimidation. So, America, stop expecting Trump to act presidential let alone mature. That's whipping the wagon to make the horses go faster.
5
It’s funny how you spent all of the Obama years economist-splaining why the economy was really better than it seemed, but that that topic seems to be strangely absent from your columns during the Trump years, when the economy actually is doing well. For real.
Or maybe it’s not funny.
1
Trump wants to convince his white blue collar supporters that the decline in their incomes has been caused by foreigners, rather than the fact that America's plutocracy, with the help of the Republican Party, has enriched itself at their expense.
8
Dr. K.
Sir. You write: "Was there anything our allies could have done that would have mollified him? The answer, surely, is no."
You are wrong sir.
They all could have individually sung a hymn to his greatness and confirmed that he was, indeed, a stable genius. Just as he said about himself.
They could have continued by saying that he was, perhaps, the most stable and had the most "geniosity" of anyone the world has ever known.
(Perhaps with no perhaps about it.)
Surely that would have succeeded when facts fail.
Since his toady minions in the GOP exclaim his greatness every day the foreign leaders would have to go further to "mollify" him
1
All of that, Prof. Krugman and more. The economic sabotage that the GOP has put into play, massively ballooning deficits in a rising rates environment, cannot end well.
But that is not all! Killing economic expansion around the world with a global trade war is the recipe for a second, greater Great Depression.
Fascists rose to power in times of economic chaos, is that the grand design of Mr. Chaos?
2
Trump's only concern is election politics. He appeals to his voters by dumping on those his base (falsely) believes are responsible for their economic losses over the years. Trumpites love it. Democrats use it to generate outrage in their base.
Reason is nowhere to be found, only anger and outrage. The better to drive zealots to the polls.
1
What undergirds and constitutes the word 'Liberal' is the word 'Tolerance' and tolerance means accepting views that one may dislike and may even find repulsive.
What is essential for us all, I would submit, is not the particular doctrine, whether that is left or right but what matters is the ability to tolerate dissent from your views. Not accommodating what one feels foreign to one's orthodoxies is one of the causes of the populism that is currently sweeping Europe. Portraying Trump as a Pantomime villain, is the broad brush stuff of frivolous burlesque and does not even have the cutting edge of satire.
Vilification of Trump as is evident in this article, left unattended can become quasi religious and doctrinal, perhaps that is one of the reasons Europe is on a march to the right. All opinions are theories, I would submit, but here is a couple of queries which are fact based; what does Germany pay towards NATO? How much did Germany pay to Russia for their gas line? Under Obama one never had to ask such questions for one was denied such knowledge - the knowledge of course was there but not for public consumption, now you have to be really 'educated' to brazenly deny your voting public with such sophist style. But , we all have burdens to carry; one of them to ponder being a schooling in sophistry at Harvard?
Paul: Industry can evade Trump tariffs by producing and selling overseas. This cost U.S. jobs and exports, so it has the opposite impact than Trump wished. Tesla production in China is the example.
Prof. Krugman writes:
"You might have thought that Congress would place some limits, that there were at least some responsible, patriotic Republican lawmakers left. But there aren’t."
On Tuesday the Senate voted to instruct its conferees to insist that a pending appropriation bill "include language providing a role for Congress in making a determination under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862)." That is the law that has allowed Trump to declare that Canadian aluminum exports threaten U.S. national security and impose tariffs on them. The vote was 88 to 11 with 40 Republicans voting for the resolution, including several who support the tariff on Canadian steel.
Last week the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released an unclassified report supporting the intelligence community's findings that Russia, and specifically Putin, supported Trump in the 2016 election and that the Russian support went even farther than those findings. It is highly likely that the committee, which seems to include "responsible, patriotic" Republicans will eventually find that Trump's campaign did in fact collude with the Russians. (It is pretty much impossible to not find collusion when the campaign chair at the time of the convention was a Russian agent.)
1
Our political situation demonstrates the psychological concept of groupthink taken to its extreme, in which group members value harmony at the expense of accurate evaluation and critical thinking. They unquestioningly follow the commands of the leader as well as the beliefs of other group members. Risk-taking is common because a large group is making decisions rather than a single individual, and the lack of creativity and independent thinking has negative personal and political implications for both group members and outsiders. Groupthink decisions rarely have successful outcomes because dissenting opinions are strongly discouraged and the leader can eventually exert too much power.
I have no idea what Republicans are thinking, but it's possible that for some, their conscience is telling them, "These things aren't right. We need to change the direction our country is heading." But nothing changes, because no one is verbalizing their inner doubts or fears, because every Republican feels strong pressure to agree with every other Republican, especially Trump himself.
4
We must not fall for the "free will illusion", a vice adopted and consolidated by Roman historians. Individual character doesn't matter for macroeconomic phenomena, even though it gives us the impression it does.
Trump is a symptom, not the cause, of Western decline. The USA became an empire in 1945, and transmuted its economy from a manufacturing one to a war one. As a result, the USA now depends on arms production for survival. Put it another way, the USA has reached a point where it cannot even deleverage: it cannot afford not to be the sole superpower, the global cop.
That's why, in the face of a world war that doesn't come -- because Russia and China are smart, they know peace is on their side, so they simply wait knowing they have time -- the USA simply doesn't know what to do anymore. Prolonged peace is harmful for war economies, and the USA is eating itself up.
1
True. One of the things that goes unsaid about the military and the "military-industrial complex" is the extent to which it's just a jobs program. In an era when even the post office is attacked as "socialism," military spending is basically the only form of government spending acceptable. So, people who want to keep the economy afloat but don't want to be smeared as "socialists" use the military as a means to do that. In all fifty states there are plenty of places whose economy revolves entirely around the military base or the Lockheed plant nearby, and can rest easy in the knowledge that what they're living off of is Glorious Patriotic Capitalism, not government handouts.
One side effect of this, incidentally, is to create a military with a 1940s-Germany-like obsession with Awesome But Impractical weapons systems - complex, high-tech, expensive, flashy, and not necessarily relevant to the wars we're fighting. Over and over, generals and salesmen assure us that we should buy their F-35s because of how awesome they'll be fighting MiGs that won't even be built for another twenty years, flown by people that if we ever fight, we'll be fighting with nukes, not planes. Meanwhile, simple and unsexy questions like "do we have enough body armor?" and "is this Humvee too heavy to drive on sand?" slip through the cracks, and over and over our military has to relearn that what it REALLY should have been planning to face was fertilizer bombs and tenth-hand AK-47s.
Professor Krugman is totally right. Our current President wants to be a conqueror. His plan for trade with other nations is first to make trade war, then vanquish them, and then dictate the terms of surrender. And those terms for our current President will be: take anything and everything he wants. That giant balloon in Britain is a perfect symbol for his psyche. He has the generosity of an infant. Everything, his toys, his bottle: Mine, Mine, Mine. Share anything? No, No, No.
5
As we were taught in Classroom Management 101, " The behavior of all children , good or bad, but especially bad, receives attention. So it matters not to the child how it was derived....The attention is received." Mission accomplished.
4
Spot on again Mr. Krugman.
When Trump says he wants to make America great again he's talking about raw power. The first thing he did was break sequester to dramatically increase military spending. Raw power can only be restrained by law. By destroying the institutions of law both in the USA and outside the USA, he's power is almost total. As long as Congress and the Courts continue to enable him he can essentially do whatever he wants.
11
It cannot be said too much: Trump is a sociopath and his Republican supporters (who, with the benefit of the doubt) know it and know better, are closet sociopaths but without the outsized (and hopefully) fatal hubris.
19
"Path of cooperation is path to survival, conflict is route to death" Manu Mashani wrote in early twentieth century - America was the implementer of this in the world. The effort of the most powerful country created a world a peaceful place, and many countries came out as economic miracles. Today we have a world where prosperity of people is spread almost every where. Now came Trump and the other demonic leaders in the world stage. Two question we must ask - why they came to power and why prosperity of earlier policies could not sustain its hold on power. There is much deeper psychological and emotional dynamics behind this change - intelligent economic policies have limited hold on human mind. Liberal policies ignored the emotional feelings - love for language, culture, race, traditions and dislike to foreign language, culture, race. Leaders like Trump took advantage of this disconnect and are now trying a build their vision on this division. Definitely, Trump will try to destroy the previous systems and institutions. It is foolish to expect that they will work to strengthen the old system. Only time will tell who will win this battle - it is a war of Deva and Asura. Some time Asura wins the battle.
5
He needs chaos, at which time he claims he’s the only solution. His ideal capitalist, it seems, is arms supplier and perhaps that’s where he’s headed. The Soviet Union was attempting to contain Chinese development by supplying weapons to the Viet Cong during the Vietnam era (my theory—I know, controversial), perhaps Trump sees himself and Putin containing China in some forthcoming war (trade or otherwise—I know, conspiratorial).
The only truly plausible explanation are tapes in the hands of the Russians, compromising the President of the United States (neither controversial, nor conspiratorial, to my mind).
7
Yes, mission accomplished only when they own everything and everyone. The concept of "creative destruction" has been replaced with "captive destruction", the latter being the process whereby destruction of the current order facilitates enslavement and then exploitation of the enslaved.
3
Trump considers himself a “builder” and I suspect he wants to tear down institutions so he can reconstruct them anew according to his own wishes.
Hey! Isn’t that what Steve Bannon was planning?
Actually, it'a all about rules.
Governments set rules, trade deals are all about rules so are alliances and treaties whether military or commercial. Society is about rules that people agree on and change as the people evolve.
Donald Trump is OK with rules but only for the little people so they can more easily be controlled. But rules constrict one's whims, and Donald doesn't like that. So he breaks the rules and has people like Roy Cohn and Micheal Cohen fix things. Or he declares bankruptcy. Or he divorces. He is not an anarchist like Steve Bannon because he has no driving force or philosophy. But anarchists love him because he breaks things for them. An unholly alliance that Trump doesn't even suspect because he is happy when he gets his way, and what he loves most is breaking up things, be they laws, treaties, alliances or families.
22
You could also say the same of the Iran deal - he claimed over and over that the Iranians were in noncompliance, his own government agency repeatedly couldn't bring up anything to substantiate that claim, so he pulled out of the deal anyway. You could also say the same of the previous Republican president's Iraq policy - he wanted Saddam to let the inspectors back in to verify that no WMDs were being produced, then, when Saddam let the inspectors back in and no signs were found of WMDs, he simply moved the goalposts and invaded anyway.
"Tellarites do not argue for a reason. They simply argue." These people don't have an endgame in place; getting into fights with everybody is the endgame, because it's how they reassure themselves that America's great.
8
Thank you for the insight. And now what does this say about the (roughly) 25% of the US population that cheer every time he pulls down another institution? I almost understand the pragmatic 20-25% that see commonality in most of their goals, even if it represents an absence of personal integrity, especially of the 280-something R's in Congress. And there are competent people of high integrity who serve in the adminsitration if only because not serving would be worse.
But what about the 25%? What destruction would they recoil from?
9
Congress and corporations aren’t acting becauseof their egos, power and money. Sure, I like my investments increasing but I would rather have a stable relationship with our allies. Additionally, I fear the the fallout plummet into a recession that is surely to come. Which will have a huge financial impact on my and your investments. So, slower growing investments while maintaining our healthy presence on the world stage is a much better option. This person who is in the “role” of president sees only himself, as do the Republican Congress.
11
Mr Krugman, I do not understand how markets are ignoring trade wars. How can the market control its reaction to real provocations to world trade? The market has become incomprehensible to the average investor. If I'm a train passenger and they suddenly shrink the size of the passenger cars, displaced passengers have to fight for scarce seats. Truly supply and demand, as markets are supposed to be. But they raise the prices on goods to the exporter and there isn't going to be an effect on the importer or importer country? Makes no sense. And, Trump must be stopped. Congress has to step up and put a muzzle on this ox. He doesn't understand what his actions do, or maybe is unaware of his actions altogether. He has no right to go to England and rip Theresa May for example. "She didn't listen to me," he says. Thank god for that, I say. We need to quit hearing him. He's holding the world hostage and his only demand is "bow down, for I alone know what I'm doing." No thanks king. America and several other countries in Europe said no thanks to monarchy before, and we and they will do it again.
12
What could be more obvious that Trump is a malignant force? How much chaos will it take to before he is removed and those whose poisoned enabling money and ideologies backing him are brought to justice for the abomination they have perpetuated against the citizens of this country and it's institutions and allies?
4
"You might have thought that Congress would place some limits, that there were at least some responsible, patriotic Republican lawmakers left. But there aren’t."
Alas, that is the true tragedy here. A govenment that functions well can take a raving Donald Trump and mitigate his damaging impulses but a Congress that is bought and paid for by plutocrats - and perhaps Russian interests, too - and does nothing is the downfall of democracy.
6
And the fact that about 35 to 40% of Americans think he is doing a good job is depressing. Each demoralizing day is another embarrassing day to be an American. At times like this, I feel it is time to stop reading the news and to just let it go. But then, that is exactly what he and his compatriots want. Grind me down, wear me out until I give up. So, I will not give up. I will continue to voice my opinions. It is said its darker right before the dawn. I hope dawn hurry ups and gets here.
6
You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Trump is a Russian agent under the Kremlin's thumb because he owes oligarchs hundreds of millions, if not billions. His mission: sow chaos in the Western democracies and undermine democracy itself and the institutions, like NATO, that promote it across the World.
The main questions remaining: 1) Are other Republicans, in the administration, Congress and deep in government, academia and the media in on this? Probably not consciously. 2) Are our intelligence agencies fully aware of this? Probably most of it, but if not, they are incompetent—at a minimum. 3) What is the endgame? a) Trump on trial for high treason or b) whitewash?
3
Everything Trump is doing makes perfect sense, if you accept that his business is dependent upon Russian money (probably all of it provided by Putin himself). With the Russians controlling Trump's debts, he has to do what Putin tells him to do or his business will collapse and he will end up on the street.
No need to even say this, Trump just knows. He is rationalizing his total bondage to Putin by thinking that he is in control. Which he is, because by disrupting the economy and world order single-handedly he essentially has all the insider information to steer his "business" deals towards maximal profitability.
Never has there been such a coup by more vile a team of greedy grifters - Putin and Trump!
They are literally ripping off the entire world and putting it into their pockets.
2
Fascism, Nazism, Stalinism, Trumpism. We've had a century of evidence now that the enlightenment concept of citizenship is a faulty picture of human nature and citizenship; that too much of the population is easily susceptible to propaganda and psychological conditioning, posing a grave danger to the stability and safety of the whole. Once the enlightenment vision of citizenship is proven invalid all of its claims of natural rights for individuals as citizens are also invalidated, and those who can see the danger (the educated elites: scientists, educators, journalists, intellectuals, etc.) are entitled to discard the constitution in favor of a social order based upon scientific principles, including operant conditioning and biological and genetic controls. Trump is setting up the conditions under which a future (hopefully) benevolent dictatorship will eventually change humanity for its own protection. We won't like the idea, but we'll love the result...
2
I can't tell whether you are entirely serious but of course the global movement among the democracies toward fascism certainly has to cause us to rethink our assumptions. Unfortunately, there is no royal road to a good society. "Benevolent dictatorships" - an oxymoron, since good men do not impose their personal power on others by force - are pretty obviously a fantasy that leads to hell a lot faster and a lot more often than representative democracy. Liberal representative democracy still has the best overall track record, empirically. In the U.S., the combination of the internet, money and the primary system has unbalanced it. Our own constitution clearly needs some repairs. Re-balancing is our best hope. Not authoritarian fantasies.
Rich, you can (hopefully) add a smidgen of credibility to your post by providing some past examples of the "benevolent" dictatorships of the kind you envision for the future in your article. At least a little detail about why you consider your examples to be benevolent would also be helpful. I will check back for your reply.
The idea that the "educated elites" aren't susceptible to people like Trump is hilariously optimistic.
I'm sure that Trump will be unmasked as an agent of the Kremlin before this is all over. I'm also certain that some GOP lawmakers are aware of it and are covering for him. We must make sure that these people pay a heavy price for their treason. If, as happened with the 2008 financial crisis, no one is punished, why would the average Joe ever believe that there is an America worth saving.
11
Several millions of Americans are holding hostage the billions of people worldwide. The American people are in a unique situation of being able to help the whole world just by taking care of its own house. We are obviously failing terribly.
Such failure benefits Putin in that, incapable of excelling in building his own country, he can gain hegemony over the West only when the Western institutions of government, economy and democracy fail. Trump is doing precisely that. Call me cynical, I do not think he is simply a foolish bull trashing around mindlessly and breaking things. The things he is breaking I suspect is for hidden reasons that will benefit Putin, but not the rest of the world, Russian people included.
These days, whenever I think of Trump, I think suffering. And it's all so unnecessary. Why can't his supporters see it? Fox News? If so, Fox News is a bigger enemy to American and the world civilization of democracy and liberty than Al-Qaeda, ISIS or any other terrorist groups combined.
The foundation to all virtuous actions is correct thinking. Fox News and the like, distort not just our reality, but the way we perceive and process our reality. If we cannot think critically and truthfully, nothing else we do will be correct.
I sincerely hope and pray that my fellow citizens will come to their senses before we reach the point of no return.
7
We knew what we were getting with Trump. And most of us didn't want him. The real villains here are the spineless GOP members of Congress on vivid display yesterday at the Strzok hearing. And every one of them needs to go in November.
21
America is no longer leading. Leading takes courage and sacrifice. We as a people do not really have courage and we don't want to sacrifice. Corporations want nothing but money, that is what they are created for. They don't want to sacrifice because that means loss of money. We as a people need to be challenged to do more do better and be great. Instead we elected a winer who claims we are no longer great but insists our problems are due to other people taking advantage of us. He admitted in his inaugural speech we are losers and will start winning again. Winning what? We are the winning we just don't know it because billionaires and corporations take all the winnings. Trump only helped the already winning corporation's and the rest is all show for the base who keep thinking they will get some of the winnings when they won't. So push around act like a bully at any cost to show that the losers they are winning.
1
If we just give Trump and the GOP all our money then will they go away?
Their drooling love of money and power over our country, citizens and natural resources is ungodly.
No to our allies.
No to promoting human rights and freedom around the world.
No to health care.
No to science.
No to separation of church and state.
No to public education.
No to clean air and water.
No to our parks.
No to child care.
No to infrastructure.
No to encouraging people, you know what people, to vote in our democracy.
No to the arts.
No etc., etc., etc. to just about anything to benefit the super majority of citizens which want little more than to be safe with health care for their kids and family, good schools, healthy foods, clean air and water, and opportunity.
Instead we have to endure an incompetent needy president and a clown car GOP controlled congress whose only interest is lining the pockets of their donors.
Jesus was betrayed by those closest to him, looks like nothing’s changed. In this case for modern pieces of silver and protecting ones own skin.
10
The President combines idiocy with power; the Pottery Barn Rule is his primary management principle. He smashes things, then proudly takes the pieces home.
6
Donald Trump and Nationalistic fervor are the personification of the Barbarians, Goths, Visigoths and Vikings that tore the Roman Empire apart with no reason except personal plunder and hatred. Civilization in Europe was reduced to the feudal system that held it in a primitive existence for a thousand years. Just think what we can do with the addition of nuclear weapons!
6
Vote in November. That's a good start.
3
“It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.”
- Gore Vidal
There is a reason why one of Donald Trump’s favorite “tweet insults” is “failing.” He is never happier than when delecting the failure or suffering of others. Whether putting the boot into “allies” like Theresa May or separating families on our southern borders, Trump’s schadenfreude is without parallel.
Corey Lewandowski may have said it first, but “Womp, Womp” could be the Trump family motto.
4
"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail."
Yeah, it's kind of fascinating to what extent American conservatives have devolved into exactly what they think socialists are. Churchill called socialism "the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue the equal sharing of misery." That pretty well covers Trump's red-state base and its motivations.
It appears as though Trump attempts to run the country as he ran his private businesses. "Have no mercy on competitors, just win."
2
I always thought that Ronald Reagan was a confused old man but the Trump administration has proven him to be right about one thing. Government is the problem rather than the solution. I watched the Strozk hearing through the eyes of a retired attorney and have never seen a more inept example of government in action. It was nothing more than a partisan and personal attack on an intelligent and apparently honorable federal agent who had the temerity to criticize Trump. Some of the inquisitors, like Gohmert, revealed themselves to be total boneheads. The Trump government is in chaos and is not fit to govern.
9
Government is only as good or bad as the people running it. If, as America has for nearly forty years now, we insist on electing people to run the government whose entire worldview is premised on "Government Doesn't Work, And If It Does, It Shouldn't," then what do we THINK is going to happen? It's like putting pacifists in charge of the military, or communists in charge of a for-profit corporation. OF COURSE it's going to end up a complete mess. It was never designed to be run by people who are hostile to the very idea that it should be run. Nothing is.
And we can't blame this one on gerrymandering and vote suppression; this is a disaster forty years in the making. We had plenty of opportunities before the 2010s to stop electing these people. We just chose not to. Welp, this is what happens.
Dr. Krugman states that if there were some responsible and patriotic Republican lawmakers and declares there aren't any.
Indeed. There are none. Their patriotism lies with their loyalty and subservience to Trump. This was clearly demonstrated in yesterday's sad debacle led by Trey Gowdy.
Trump is all about self-aggrandizement, being the big man in the room and always needs to project his authority to feed the ego regardless of the consequences.
As reported today that trade talks have broken down (gee, who would have guessed that would happen) it is apparent we have an arsonist firefighter as president. However, he would rather start the fires than extinguish them, or, he is clueless in how they should be extinguished.
2
If a person wants to own casinos, you know right away, without knowing anything else, that he is not someone you want to place your trust in.
4
37 years of Democratic attempts to trim Reaganism met with defiant GOP opposition, not one inch conceded in defense of holy doctrine. Complete ridicule and destruction of Reaganism met with with GOP silence, fear and shameless surrender. From "Never Call Retreat" to "I'm not focused on this."
1
I fear that Trump is not simply an egotistical child-minded seeker of attention. In fact, most of his destructive behavior makes sense if he is really deliberately attempting to destroy western military and trade agreements in order to facilitate Russia's efforts to resume control of E. Europe and probably extend that to W. Europe as well.
I don't know what hold Putin has over Trump--blackmail? preference for oligarchy? What is incomprehensible is Republican willingness to go along with Trump's anti-US actions--just so they can hold on to their offices or money contributions. I can't believe that most of them actually want to see Russia rise, though they may really favor oligarchy by the rich.
Andrew Biemiller
10
He takes instructions every day from two places, church FOX and beloved Vladimir P. Everyone else is just there for cocktail hour chitchat.
The sad truth is DT has not only a lot of hate in him, but ignorance as well. He is not a stable genius, the words he likes to use to describe himself!
9
More red meat from Krugman for the progressive echo chamber. No one else is listening.
2
What hath America's so called democracy unleashed upon the world? Trump is the reincarnation, the very embodiment and actualization of Vishnu: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
3
So men like Trump have been reported since the use of intercommunication. Are they so horrible we haven't been able to find a suitable deterrent or, in the minds of enough folks, are they not so bad?
So a man who could not win the popular vote in the United States wants to tell the British who should be their Prime Minister.
Chutzpah.
12
Donald Trump must envision himself as some kind of incarnation of Kali, the Hindu Godess of Destruction, otherwise it's hard to understand just what he's trying to accomplish with the back-and-forth game he's playing with whT few allies the U.S. has left in Brussels.
I have never been as fearful for the fate and future of this country as I am now.
1
I just can't help but wonder, after his "reign" of damage and destruction to the US and the world is over (hopefully in 2020 or before) he will have to face the world without his sycophants and protections the presidency offers. He will have to look at himself as one of the most destructive and despised people on the planet. As someone described as "a bloated, rabid satsuma" - he will have a difficult time living out the rest of his years. And if he lives long enough, thanks in part to his buddy Scott Pruitt, Mar a Logo will be under water. Sad.
6
I blame the base, without them this bullying would not or could not exist. It is time to expose the base. Put a face on the base NYT. We need in depth interviews. Let the base show off what they really are so that the rest of the world knows what is feeding this demon.
12
It is now virtually impossible to view Trump as anything but a vassal of Vladimir Putin and a witting agent for the Russian Federation.
Is this not simply sedition?
11
Robert Deniro speaks for me and most Americans!
2
"... (Trump) has given no indication what any of the countries hit by his tariffs could do to satisfy him, leaving them with no option except retaliation." - Paul Krugman
One rarely comes across such a fatuous statement as this ridiculous conclusion by Mr. Krugman. Yes, unlike with NATO, Trump has not dictated the ways in which China and Europe must recalibrate the unacceptable imbalance in our trade relations, although he did suggest a simple, mutual no-tariff situation at the recent OECD summit. Perhaps Mr. Krugman was asleep at that time.
Surely one does not need a Nobel prize in economics and a sinecure at the Times to be able to come up with myriad excellent ideas. Mr. Krugman offends the Chinese and Europeans by intimating that they lack the imagination and intelligence needed to come up with steps that would mollify the Unites States and the American tax payer.
America's word, funneled thru trump, now means absolutely nothing. I consider myself an ethical person and don't give my word lightly. I consider my word more binding than a written contract. To be governed by the likes of trump makes me retch.
13
History often appears to be the record of smart people doing stupid stuff. This has caused great resentment in the hearts of the truly stupid; from their dim recollection that two negatives form a positive, they have intuited that stupid people doing stupid stuff leads to paradise on Earth. In 2016, America embarked on a great experiment: government of the stupid, by the stupid, for the stupid. We haven't merely legitimized stupidity, we have created a state of permanent revolutionary stupidity. It's Stupidity Forever! for us, because now the stupid have the votes.
6
The world needs to go on without us until the strutting peacock leaves the stage. His destruction of everything we have accomplished working with others must be isolated like a communicable disease. The real danger is that Trump will make a pact with the devil Putin creating a true axis of evil. Where is the moddle coddling GOP congress in all of this? We need them to educate the Trump base rather than kow tow to them in their confusing destruction of world order with Trump bullying.
2
...and he does it spectacularly!
1
Trump channels the decline and fall of the American Empire. If I wasn't seeing this with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. A real surrender...right before our eyes. Bigly amazing.
1
There are people who can handle power and people who can’t. Trump can’t. He’s like a child.
1
Bluetruth - Trump is the ultimate con, and WaPo is blindly serving as his front man. Trump is not against the Russian pipeline: in fact, it’s the main reason that Putin installed him as president. Trump’s sole mission as president is to undo the Congressional sanctions that have prevented Putin’s half-trillion-dollar (that’s trillion with a “T”) oil and gas pipelines from passing through Europe.
In typical con fashion, Trump pretends to be fighting the pipeline, so that when he does his inevitable 180-turn — which he has done with every foreign policy gambit — it will appear that it wasn’t his idea to push for the pipeline: that he is only “changing his mind” to placate Germany and other allies.
With that PR ploy accomplished, Trump will have publicly washed his hands of complicity with Putin, and receive without interference the several billion dollars in payola that Putin promised to deposit in untraceable offshore accounts for him. Details on this transaction will be worked out in private negotiations at their upcoming “summit”.
2
What's inconceivable to me is that 90% of Republicans support Trump. It's an amazing insight into what wealth and power (or the greedy hope for wealth and power) does to the human soul. This decay existed before Trump appeared on the scene but it's simply more obvious now. The so-called "culture wars" are a clash of value systems. On the one side we have those who strive to realize the country envisioned by the founding fathers - a pluralistic, democratic society based on mutual respect and human values. On the other we see the Scrooge mentality that honors only wealth, power, and misely self-interests. It's incredible that the default spokesperson for these regressive Republican values (Trump) is so transparently devoid of true character and substance. The situation trully is a revealing view into the essence of Republican values stripped of rah rah nationalism and empty support of human values.
7
Well, success-for-the-many does cost money. Lots of it! And the more money you invest in society, the infrastructure, education, health care, etc., the less money there is available to be sent upstairs to the guys in charge.
The Great Depression and World War II were great successes in terms of reshuffling the deck and creating the possibility of new tycoons to replace the old ones, but then the United States and some of its allies decided to create systems to avoid depressions (Glass-Steagall) and World Wars (NATO, the United Nations, the World Bank, the Common Market, etc.). But these things simply cost too much money, and it's about time someone came along with a jackhammer and put an end to it. The experiment in human happiness just went on too long. Let's get back to the past!
3
In terms of trade, neither Mr. Trump nor my economist friends seem to understand that the production and distribution of goods has changed radically over the last two decades. A tariff in the present instance acts only to raise the price of goods for the buyer of the final product as the idea that it will protect local industries or otherwise bring new players (from abroad) is totally without merit as supply chain logistics are enormously complicated and are not easily replaced. In this sense a tariff will simply act as a drag on the importing economy and will produce no other result. As for the institutions (such as NATO) that have served the world so well for so long, they were basically aimed at containing/disrupting communism. This they have accomplished and are really dead weight given that communism (at least in the economic sense) is dead and nobody - liberal or conservative - is interested in countering the political/social side of communism. In this Mr. Trump is correct in saying that NATO is obsolete but he is wrong in asking for enormous increases in the defense budget of the US and other countries. Russia is economically too weak to attack Western Europe and while China is a major economic competitor, its history is all about mercantilism and not about political hegemony. The US would be better served by de-emphasizing NATO and increasing economic cooperation with other countries, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, to counter China.
Trump is a Gomer Pyle with a John Wayne attitude. He seems to be unaware that world leaders are respectful of the office he holds but are laughing at him personally, just as many Americans do also.
I fear that if the Mueller report arrives too late, he will have time to destroy our world standing. The Putin meeting is scary. Why meet without even a note taker?. Is there something he needs to hide? I am a believer in the Duck identity philosophy . If it walks like a Duck, Quacks etc. So he has refused to acknowledge Russian interference, Lied about the Trump Tower meeting with Russians, Indictments against campaign members , Reason he fired Comey he told Russians , refusal; to apply sanctions approved by congress, etc.
I think we identified the Duck.
1
Please don't tell me that the Founders did NOT, somewhere along the line, contemplate the possible emergence of a character like Trump. But he is creating such harmful situations that impeachment seems to be a hollow remedy.
1
Well, they certainly did foresee a barking mad mob coalescing from deep, atavistic passions, that would attempt to disrupt and take over the country by any means necessary, even deposing duly elected officials, inventing a damning pretext if necessary.
Trump is not working for the United States and its allies; he's working for Putin and Putin's oligarchs. Putin, a canny man, knew his players (as the old saying goes)...far more than the recruiting teams that sought out collaborators prior to the German occupation of Europe from 1939-45.
7
So every day the news makes me feel sick. What are we doing to make the election counting process fair in 2020? I feel like this is going to happen all over again.
11
In Donald Trump's case it's rather obvious that when you don't know how to lead, you destroy.
This is what he's done all his life and this may well explain the list of business failures, intrigues and lawsuits that scatters his past.
There's no reason to believe he'll change now.
In fact, if one looks at the amount of chaos and ill-will he has managed to generate and spread within only the first year and half of his term in office, there's no way not to be taken aback.
The one thing Trump doesn't comprehend is that America is already great.
And there's every reason to fear what he is doing to it.
2
Best narrative of the Trump problem I've seen yet.
I think our own recent history id partly to blame for smothering the the post WWII history you recount. When the world's most heavily armed nation spends seventeen years warring against lightly armed , low tech, amorphous entities, that pose no threat to the security of the US and our allies, what becomes the frame of the reference for our community?
Instead of the Marshal Plan we have the Rubble Plan which supposes that the political strength of our adversaries derives from their bricks and mortar, in spite of 17 years of proof to the contrary. Instead of devouring enemies, we create homeless refugees. Perfect opportunity for a fraud with such a talented mendacity, and egomania as a value system.
Unfortunately the opportunity extended to a Republican controlled congress, so Trump ends up with loyal body guards watching his back, sides, and front. Anything goes.
I have no idea how it will end, but I suspect China has a working group devoted to the problem.
3
Yes, Trump’s actions are all of a piece. As Michael Kruse makes clear in his Politico portrait, “Trump with the Sound Off,” he plays to the television camera with the skill and tactics of a seasoned television producer.
To the extent that his words are meant to convey meaning, a different filter applies. It doesn’t matter where he is or in what context. Trump speaks only to the motivated minority of fans and acolytes who make the logical error of believing contrarian language to be synonymous with truth-telling.
He must in fact speak this way in every context because the maintenance of this syllogism is his only hold on power. The more he doubles down on ridiculous assertions, drawing campaign promises into the real world of policy and human consequences, the more he reinforces a consistent, alternative realty. He has a media infrastructure that supports this worldview and has little need for mainstream appeal. Rejection and outrage from the fact-checkers only serves to harden resolve.
You rightly point out that his actions and rhetoric are consistent. He lies, but he lies consistently, and through this continual reasserting of contrary, “alternative facts,” he steadily encroaches on the potential for a shared reality, by increasing the cognitive costs of turning on him. Since he has no allies and no fixed philosophy, any refutation of him just looks to his supporters like whining.
It’s a perfect strategy for our era of short news cycles and commodified outrage.
1
Trump reminds me, in many ways, of the rock-throwing, window-smashing anarchists who used to descend en mass on world economic summit meetings. They wanted only to tear down the world's governmental institutions and didn't concern themselves with the problem of what would replace them. Of course, there's one critical difference: Trump has the power to do it, and unless he's stopped by U.S. voters, starting in November, the damage he's already done will progress to total devastation.
2
Channel flipping this morning between Fox and other news outlets, I was struck by the fact that the Fox moderators were hammering the idea that the FBI agent could not possibly have held strong feelings that would not affect his work. For the Trumpers, Strzok's ill considered texts made it impossible for him to do his job. Even the opportunity that Strzok didn't use - namely that one leak from him could have ended Trump's chances at victory in the same way that Comey's well timed bombshell announcement would later deliver Trump's victory, meant anything to the Trump supporters. Fro this goup, feelings will always overrule facts. Since Trump's feelings are his guiding light, his attraction to some is irresistible. They are not stupid. This divide is more basic. Putin and his army of NLP wizards were quick to realize this fact and act. The divide between the Trumpers and the rest of the world isn't about intelligence, but a deeper more basic human division. This is not going to end well.
Yes, Paul.
If our allies are not meeting their commitments on defense, we should say nothing. For the good of the institution.
If our trade deals are unbalanced and unfair, we should say nothing, for the good of the institution.
While it is true that most Democrats should be institutionalized, expecting the US to play the chump due to fears for the institution, is a bit over dramatic.
2
Trump has never once said what he means by "unfair" in any context. He has demanded nonexistent tariffs be rescinded. He hasn't explained what he expects of China, other than the stupid goal — stupid! — of ensuring exports=imports.
Blithely asserting our trade rules are uneven and unfair doesn't make it so. How is it possible with something as incredibly complicated as trade policy, to boil it down to fair or unfair?
The case is not helped by citing imaginary tariffs. If Trump wants to accomplish anything positive, he might start by saying something accurate and specific, something, as business people place to say, actionable.
As for Russia, tell me: is Russia a friend who should be readmitted to the G7, or enemy that NATO is inadequately defending against?
James, Trump has been keeping it simple.
The one statistic he cares about is the balance of trade.
It is a very straightforward indicator.
Mr. Krugman says that America’s allies should increase defense spending. I disagree. Unlike the United States, they do not go around the world making enemies for themselves. For example, they did not drop 26,000 bombs on seven Muslim countries last year. The USA did.
3
Donald Trump’s bizarre behavior can easily be explained as simple self-interest and cynicism. There are Americans who will support the leader, no matter who or what he is, in a fight against anyone else. This was illustrated by the support for the Iraq war and George H Bush that lasted well after it became obvious to everyone that the war was a disaster. Some Americans will rally around the flag like a bunch of English hoodlums wrecking an IKEA. Trump knows this and picks pointless fights. Many Americans will support him in these fights because they think of it as America versus “them”. I think this is the primary reason his polling support has increased slightly.
2
At this point pretty much anyone who supports Trump is Putin’s puppet. There are no questions about it. There’s simpy no excuse to support him, neither real nor fabricated and whoever voted for him for “the fear of being left behind” deserves to be truly left behind. They had plenty of time to wake up. The American people should start voting like their lives depend on it. Because it does. More than ever.
7
All Trump wants is a fight with international attention focused on him. He has not offered one bit of rationale for any of the discording he is sowing across Europe and the world.
And Putin is the only one to benefit. Go figure.
3
Come on People. Get out of the way!
It's all "one big fight". No one knows better.
Surely we can't "take this seriously".
How long will it go on?
Wild boy never restrained covets independence and freedom, opposes boundaries and limits, and finds any restriction intolerable.
With no rules to live by; unbounded instinct, disorder, intoxication, and whimsy roil our lives. Balance is forever lost as we are lifted into the whirlwind.
Dreams of an imprisonment and similar imagery: chains, bars, cages, entrapment, bondage intrude upon our lives as our leader feigns victimization. Life itself...is experienced as a prison by the man with little hands and we descend with him into the abyss.
We are the "lost boys" and DJT is Peter Pan come to set us free from all restraints.
We die together and our souls and spirits fade into insignificance beneath the wheel as we are ground down, down, further down with no end in sight.
All he needs to fit the image is "pipes and a live goat" both of which he has in his wife and cabinet.
We must adore him and we shall or else.
Who will stand against this path of destruction? I ask each and every one of us.
See puer aeternus. Has our ship finally come in?
.
I am often wrong. To me, Trump is waking to his need for power and thrills at the blanching faces of those who oppose his evil. He is not trying to lose, he is surfing on a tidal wave of hate.
Kind of weird, really, waking up in an America where the leadership is openly white nationalist, and doing what it can to establish an "anglo alliance" that in reality is a white power conspiracy.
Will America survive this evil? I honestly don't know, and greatly fear for Robert Mueller's investigation and for his safety.
Dictators, they don't go easily.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
3
So, the fact that the slackers agreed to pay the originally agreed amount means that the have been under-paying and they knew it. What's wrong with holding them to the terms of their agreements?
If German is patronizing the enemy, Russia... why are they asking us to keep our forces there to defend them from ... Russia?
1
The last time Germany had a strong defense and all the latest war technology 40 million people died. The same mindset that allowed that evil is now making a comeback in Germany. The last thing the world needs is for Germany to an independent military power with nukes.
5
They all had agreed to reach 2% by 2024, so nobody is violating any agreement. (Facts matter!).
The fact that the Germany has a business agreement with Gasprom, has nothing to do with NATO or Germany's contributions to NATO. The US bases in Germany are not there to "protect" Germany as much as they are jump of bases for the US's many adventures all over the world.
All of this bluster is noise meant to distract, nothing else!
1
Really, this is what you got from this piece? Europe is a bunch of slackers? And that everyone should stick to existing agreements? Like the Iran deal? NAFTA? Climate? There is no way to reason with the current level of insight in Trump supporters. Not the first time we have to deal with a pig headed and ignorant gaggle of malcontents.
Look back at our tortured history, isolationist support for fascists, legal protection of Jim Crow etc.
But the good guys are to blame, we let this happen, gave the government to Trump and his foolishness. God help us get through this.
No, no, NO! "Failure" spells "Success" for America's biggest bully, for his xenophobic base, and of course Vladimir Putin. You just can't see "all that winning" that will return us to a neo-isolationist "America First" world pariah with no friends except you know who. And if it's Atlanta City and the Trump Taj Mahal all over again, he will seize a win from failure and leave the creditors (aka us, the American taxpayers) holding the bag. We may not "win for losing." but Donald Trump has made failure the centerpiece of his business philosophy subtitled, "The Art of the Steal."
1
I'm a child of the sixties and grew up watching television (in color when Dad brought the Zenith TV in 1967). I remember the character actor Hans Conreid played a recurring role on Gilligan's Island named Wrongway Feldman. Krugman reminds me of good 'ol Wrongway.
Odd how left wing progressives are advocating the "existing world order" while Trump is the only one embracing the 21st century and pushing for the necessary changes to insure long term political and economic liberty. MAGA has guts, Wrongway has an elitist, polished penny loafer outlook on globalism conveniently framed by an overpriced window of a Manhattan skyline.
Read Krugman, then do the opposite.
1
Economic and political liberty? Pray tell how.
Please explain what exactly economic and political liberty will look like in the 21st century. Your colorful comment was devoid of specifics, quite like the president's, come to think of it. I'd be interested to hear just one particular outcome you'd like to see. That would be one more than Trump has articulated.
There's nothing left to add to Dr. Krugman's analysis. We are now living in DumbTrumpistan. Sad!
1
Please, Dr. Krugman, for the good of our country, start the call for his impeachment.
1
There a considerable number of monarchists on the right in America. The support Trump.
Paul forgets "the art of the deal"... if the Trump tariffs fail, America can always file for Bankruptcy.
Well, Steve Bannon encouraged Trump to tear apart the existing world order and that seems to be what he is trying to do. Is Trump aware of this, or is he actually mentally ill? He obviously has a character disorder but maybe he is also in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease, which would explain why he changes his attitude in a whiplash fashion. And so, the world watches in amazement as our democracy crashes and burns...
3
We shouldn't be surprised...he thinks by destroying (or trying to destroy) others, it raises his importance. This is typical of a bully. And he has taught his Congress and Cabinet well. I have not seen a single act of his that has had a PRODUCTive result, just more and more DESTRUCTion. We don't need a foreign enemy to kill our Democracy...we ARE the enemy.
2
Boasting of imaginary triumph is a standard Trump tactic:
“I play to people’s fantasies. ... People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration—and a very effective form of promotion.”
That worked well for him as a sleazy businessman, but it's disastrous in a president -- and as far from 'harmless' and 'innocent' as you can get.
6
That is why he has an affinity for the Brexiteers. They also are wreckers....and they have a common purpose. It is also no coincidence that some of the leading architects of Brexit seem to have some close connections to Russia.
3
There are very few examples of businss ventures that he has tried his hand at that haven't ended up in failure. Why did we think that it would be any different running the largest economy andthis country.. The only thing he is halfway good at is say "Your Fired".... We would never have seen him on Undercover Boss. He has no idea how to build anything. It's a shame that we elected him
2
Trump's bluster is echoed by many of his followers, who feel so angry and disenfranchised that the highlight of their day is reading editorials like this and high-fiving one another because they see Trump doing such a great job of aggravating the liberal/elite establishment. They don't want to solve problems, they want to stick it to those uppity liberals who think they know everything, and Trump is their gladiator. This includes virtually every traditional leader in business, government and education.
It's not unlike the French Revolution: anyone having anything to do with the established hierarchy was beheaded, no matter their role or character. Fortunately, the rabble haven't resumed daily executions in the square; hopefully we can avert such a development.
3
Meanwhile Mathis, Kelly et al. look on, enablers all. Like Tillerson and MacMasters. What a bunch of (ambitious ) mediocrities! Meanwhile Bolton and Pompeo are starring in the second act. Neither have any reputation to lose and there are plenty of hungry opportunists panting to replace them painting North Korea a success; caging immigrant infants necessary, a trade war winnable, etc etc. What a great country.
3
How true. Trump, aside from being extremely vulgar and with a big loud mouth, he may as well be called the destructor in-chief, cruelty gratis as he seeks no mutual remedies to the common problems that ail us. I am still amazed how the U.S., being such a powerful nation, is being lambasted by one loose cannon, with impunity and with the republican party in disarray and cowed to Trump's stupidity. This chaos will take a generation to reverse, mark my words.
1
President Trump by his actions and statements will of cause a reduction USA power and influence in the world.This reduction of American power will make it harder for America to make war therefore making the world safer,no more ill conceived interventions as the bombing LIbya,occupying Afganistan,aiding the Syrian rebels,Iraq war etc.Maybe Donald is a secret peacenick,he through his actions will make it much more difficult for America go around the world invading,sponsoring coups,intervening in other counties politics,election etc.Donald will make America again a peace loving country which will make America great again.Give that man the NobelPeace Prize.at least he is doing something for peace,Obama did nothing and he received a Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump's behavior is a lesson in what some would call 'breaking the glass ceiling'.
"if Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion."
Professor, I've said these very exact words numerous times before you published this opinion. That last such occasion when your words were evident was recently. Before he left for the G7 talks in Canada, he said that Russia should be part of that organization again. Who paid him to say such a thing? Ooops. Pardon me, lest I sound too presumptuous.
4
The damage to the credibility of the United States, mutual trust among nations, any remaining respect for the US Congress is enormous. It takes a generation to fix such damage. If you cannot rely on the US to be the beacon for democratic values around the world, who can you trust?
Just so intriguing. Who appears to be winning in all of this? Vladimir Putin. Trump is Making Russia Great Again. #MRGA
2
Both NATO and the WTO have been attempts to avoid the conditions that lead up to the last two world wars, any rational person can understand that. What Trump is doing is based on what seems a mystical attraction to the idea that chaos can serve american interests. His base has refused to raise critical voices as though he is above criticism much as charismatic leaderships are above rational analysis because they are thought to be emissaries of "higher powers" .
This presidency and its mystical reasoning no longer is hiding behind reasonable voices, rather those voices have been silenced and all we are doing is resigning ourselves to the hope that the damage will not be too severe. This is a very unfortunate as once the logic of what pushes countries into wars is put into motion it becomes very difficult to diffuse. Yet this is exactly what we are watching in slow motion and the only response will have to be for rational voices to step forward and admit the irrationality this presidency !
3
Since Trump's words are so wildly self-contradictory, his actions are the only way to judge him. And his actions make it clear that he is, in deed and in fact, Vladimir Putin's man in Washington. We have three lines of defense: the courts haven't yet been co-opted (though they are soon to be); the coming election,which is probably the most important non--presidential vote in our history--gerrymandering and vote suppression cannot hold back an avalanche of angry voters; and finally, Robert Mueller, patiently gathering facts for his report about Russian meddling in the last election.
6
We were given this outlandish person as president in spite of all reason and logic, and we are condemned to ponder in disbelief why it happened and what he is. From his actions and decisions, it is clear that what he wants to do is to take down everything, without regard of consequences and without a clear idea of what will replace them. The conclusion is that he wants to stand alone among the ruins. If everything around him fails, he will see himself as a winner. This is clearest with respect to the AHC. He is taking away all of its underpinnings so that it will fail, and as he stands upon its breakdown, he will declare himself the winner.
3
America's "better angels" must have been in hiding yesterday. With the double barrel blast of Trump thrashing and crashing through NATO and England, and the disgraceful abuse of power on display at the Peter Strzok hearings by hyper-partisan Republicans more interested picking at and opening wounds then healing them, yesterday was the most embarrassing day to be an American I can recall.
This cannot be a summer of rest. It must be one of political activism to fight the horrendous nationalistic impulses of the Trumpists, especially would-be Emperor Donald the First, including voting against every Republican in November and every primary and special election until then and after, and then continuing to stay involved and vigilant. Our country and the world will survive Trump only by internally restoring America's balance of power, and that can only be done by winning power electorally. "His Excellency," as Kim Jong-un called him, must be stopped.
10
It takes a lot less time to tear things down than to build them up. We seem to be living in a time that values disruption over construction. Trump seems comfortable with that.
4
Trump doesn't create, he can only destroy. There is nothing he has done that is new and good for the country.
9
Creative Destruction is a business theory supposedly integral to capitalism; destruction is supposed to lead to more efficient innovation, but does not consider, and may even welcome, human loss. It also gives Trump all the attention he craves, since the poor cowering people are never sure which part of their essential economic, moral, or personal oxygen is going to be squeezed out or shut down next. We need to vote his followers out in 2018 before it's too late and we're just another Banana Republic or failed state. Even countries full of resources and promise, like Russia or Brazil, can end up corrupted, second-rate, and stagnant when there is no ethical government and all the institutions are gamed by the wealthy.
2
For the Democrats, with slogans like Abolish ICE, failure seems to be the top choice. We need a third party with common sense, dignity and honesty.
2
"If (Trump) isn't literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one on every possible occasion" - Paul Krugman. Not only Krugman is saying these things, the chorus is growing louder e every day. This is terrifying. Steve Bannon's plan to destabilize the world order, destroy the western alliance and bring the world back to a modern medievalism is coming to fruition. What can I say?" That sounds terrible to me! To contrast Trump's bombast in the diplomatic arena, his domestic rallies, where he takes on the role of not funny at all Presidential Insult Comic, to adoring and slavish crowds, who cheer his every cruel barb. the Republican establishment, who will not challenge him, and by doing that
approves him. That scares me more
4
What wise words! Mr Trump has the diplomatic skills of a badger with rabies, I feel embarassed for my Country. Alliances that have withstand so much...
It will take a long time for healing to take place, after the hurricane, some of the tortured children will never heal properly...
It is human nature, when humiliated and attacked to lash out.
All of this, will have negative consequences, for most of us.
People can think that this a winning behavior, but bullies get a pushback, sooner or latter...
5
Trump has proven the old adage, "there is no such thing as BAD publicity." No matter how rude, vulgar and hateful Trump acts. No matter how mean and corrupt his administration. No matter his level of incompetence, his approval ratings keep going up.
That is because the Main Stream Media gives him non-stop air time. The same thing they did during the primaries that got him elected. The "Train-Wreck-In Chief" makes for good ratings and better profits; but, please think about our nation and find some other way to cover Trump rather than give him free air time to spread his lies and hatred to every corner of our nation.
11
"What's his motivation?". Simple. Just like a toddler, his motivation is to gain attention. Toddlers don't and can't contemplate consequences and neither does Trump. Either he doesn't possess enough intellect to see what may happen or doesn't care, but the results are the same. Man-baby is the correct label for him.
2
I despise Trump and the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. They are destroying the country. It is us or them.
5
Krugman's conclusion is the ONLY logical, objective conclusion that one can draw from Trump's behavior. Trump is doing his level best to destroy. He is dedicated to creating civil discord and jacking up racial tensions, dedicated to wrecking trade relations and upending the US economy, dedicated to creating as much discord as possible with our allies, dedicated to creating upheaval and chaos in everything he touches. Trump has had no successes, none, other than giving a $15 trillion tax break to the wealthiest. The ONLY person Trump finds to his liking is Putin. Believe your eyes! Trump is an agent of Putin's.
12
I'm no longer able to believe that this is not a systematic takedown of our democracy. Yes, Trump is intellectually limited and a narcissus who constantly needs the spotlight.
However, he is methodical (if that's a term you can apply to such a chaotic psyche) in what he targets. Suppose you wanted to destroy a democracy? How would you go about it? He seems to be following a blueprint for destruction. He never does one good and positive thing, even by accident. And his actions are consistent with Putin's interests.
Are we to conclude that he is simply "playing to his base?" How are we to explain the silence of the Republicans? Is it merely allegiance to their donors, or allegiance to something or someone else?
Watching the hearing yesterday, I concluded that even Trey Gowdy cannot be that stupid. There's more behind this than meets the eye. It does not totally add up.
I feel they are committing treason, pure and simple.
2
Trump has been owned by Russian interests since 1987 or thereabouts. What he is doing now is the job they hired him to do - weaken Western democracies to the betterment of Russian power. Putin doesn't want to be Lenin or Stalin - he wants to be Czar. Trump doesn't want to be President - he wants to be Supreme Ruler.
Republicans want money and power and as long as Trump can allow them to get both they will do whatever he wants. You and I don't matter.
5
OKAY! OKAY! OKAY! We get it. We've known for a long time about who and what Trump is and I , for one, am soooo tired of hearing/reading about his narcissistic, evil ways. Surely there must be a purpose to all he is doing. Surely, in addition to his own aggrandizement, he has another, some other, goal(s) in mind. I've always assumed it has to do with getting himself richer. Whatever his reasons, I look to you in your wisdom, Mr. Krugman, to explain. To think that destruction for the sake of feeding his ego is that man's endgame is way too frightening!!!
1
Most normal people realize that when they fail, they are to learn from that failure.
Mr. Trump seems to revel in failure and call it success.
5
The goal? Put his negotiating partners in a position where they are painted into the corner and have no choice but to accept Trump's terms. In other words an extortion racket. And the Republicans go along with it. But there will be a price to pay for the rank and file voters. Ands when they start calling their elected representatives and asking why they aren't feeling so"great", the representatives will start to ask for some cover from Trump. And he will give them a pardon or a nasty tweet about Pelosi or Schumer. "There, there now. Let me insult someone and make it all better". It's getting to the point where it's the same old song and dance. The real question is how long will it take before the base starts to see it for what it is? Lip service.
4
Trump with his unorthodox manners has finally got all our attention. His many contradictions producing resentment. We can only hope he settles down at some point and takes into account the toxic exhaust fumes in his wake. Europe may have been under the illusion US acting as friendly leader we trust and follow. How much damage to international relations Trump will achieve hard to estimate at this stage. As for Russia they despise European Union for supporting 2014 Kiev revolution after Ukraine requested full NATO membership. Trump also loathes EU: Strange bedfellows?
1
Are we to face another French Revolution? A country reborn in blood in order to finally convince the world that our Republican Party in its present form is not representative of the will of the people of the United States of America?
Or will we take back the reins now, repudiate all that Trump represents, reject Putin's Russia, Netanyahu's Israel, Assad's Syria, and restore the United States of America to its rightful position as a world leader in benign governance, by the people and for the people.
9
Many of them SHOULD be destroyed. Outdated, bloated and unnecessary organization like NATO and the EU have produced nothing good.
It's time for a new world order and Trump is shaking it up.
Just because the This makes the democrats cower (what doesn't ?) doesn't mean what he's doing is wrong.
What do you do when the barbarians come from within rather than over the wall? Is the end result any different?
In either case it's always been easier to tear apart than build.
1
Trump wants autocratic power like Putin. And he wants the money Russia has loaned and will loan his companies. (American banks knew better than to loan him any more money.)
He wants onto Putin’s money train, a place at Putin’s table with the other anointed thugs and crooks.
And the Republicans are giving it all to him.
He doesn’t care about America or Americans, only what he can get, from them, from Putin.
Inside 45, there is no heart or humanity, no soul, no conscience, no light. Just an empty dark bottomless nothing.
For America and Americans to prevail, we must understand what we are fighting for and fighting against, stay angry, and fight very smart, very hard to save ourselves and our country. Or we will lose all we love.
1
No one states the obvious.
Donald Trump is crazy.
He's ignorant, with a hidden agenda involving Putin.
But beyond that, Trump is nuts. He lacks impulse control & blurts any crazy thing that enters his head heedless of consequences.
Since landing in Europe, he's insulted Chancellor Merkel (fighting to stabilize her govt.) & Teresa May (also struggling to stabilize her govt.). He's insulted London's Mayor while hiding from mass protests. He's bragged he's more popular than Lincoln while planning a private meeting with Putin. He hasn't admitted that nothing was accomplished in that summit with Kim Jong Un.
Meanwhile, undocumented children haven't been reunited with their parents. Trumps claims a 100 people died in Hurricane Maria but the death toll is 4000+.
Dozens of his staff have quit or been fired. Many don't trust him. 19 have been indicted or pleaded in the Mueller probe.
Crazy Donald Trump - wasn't elected by a majority in an election destabilized by Russia - careening around destabilizing the world order & threatening world peace.
Trump's old friend Howard Stern predicted this. He said being President would be bad for Trump, that Trump's too emotionally fragile, is desperate to be loved & not suited for a stressful job, can't handle intense criticism.
Is that why Trump can't stop lying on a daily basis?
Trump's mentally decompensating as the stress of a job he doesn't understand batters his psyche.
But the real cost is to our endangered world.
2
Trump paints himself into corners and then blames the corner for being there. All along I've been certain that he'll eventually crash the world economy. But I thought it would come gradually. Now, as I watch the equity markets rebound yet again, as though all is right in the world, I've come to the conclusion that the collapse will be sudden, and therefore more devastating. When you think about it, this scenario fits Trump's past perfectly. Only he could make the Taj Mahal successful, we were told. Same for the Eastern Shuttle, renamed the Trump Shuttle. And so on. Each day brings a new level of Trump craziness and gross incompetence. We've become numb to his madness in the way a cop with 20 years of experience is numb to car accidents with broken bodies. In all this, Trump sees success. Nothing has changed. He's still the same huckster he was 30 years ago. His mistake in logic is to think that America is invulnerable. We're not. Next week, or next month, or next quarter, Trump will reach a level of insanity we can't imagine today. Instead of making great deals he'll destroy great deals. Instead of nuanced diplomacy he'll give us an economic guillotine. Republicans have given him unprecedented power. They're giddy about killing liberalism in America. But it's not liberalism Trump is destroying, as though it were a cancer in a patient. No, he's killing the patient.
12
From the viewpoint of anything less than total adoration of the Dear Leader the question does come up over and over, why doesn't anyone stop him? At the very least, state legislatures could chose to sign onto the National Popular Vote Bill giving Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote so the ultimate form of gerrymandering and voter suppression can never again give us a president like this. Why the sense of politicians drifting in sleepwalking anesthesia while we the people rage and suffer?
Trump is a pirate, put an eye patch on him. He said recessions and market crashes are good for people like him in his financial position. Everything is going according to plan. He's got his cannon, his grappling hooks, and his small but dedicated band of ruthless privateers at his side laying into our ship of state for all they're worth, carving us up as we founder. Lady Liberty is just one more conquest.
1
The narcissist in action. He is unhinged and it is all about him looking powerful by breaking things up like a kid in a tantrum.But once broken he has no desire to fix anything , he wants rubble around him so he can just walk away. The man is crazy. Craziness is hard for people to get their heads around precisely because it is crazy. Don’t take too long to figure it out,please.
1
Hello Joyce. Important comment, I'd say. But, it seems to me few read much psychology these days here in the States. Think of narcissism as a character disorder; are unaware of the damage done to the mental status/functioning of those afflicted ("The man is crazy"). A kissing cousin to PTSD; something serious happened long ago. Damaged goods. As such, Trump should have reported for treatment long ago. Is operating in "backup," to use an engineering term. Lost, terrified, compensating; "false self." We will likely never now the whole story because these sorts almost never report for treatment. At age 72, the die is cast.
Trump is a "malignant narcissist." These people thrive on attention and chaos. He is probably the most unfit human being for any responsible position on the face of the earth. While he is damaged goods, it is his party who allowed this to happen. So it goes, not much left to say. Down the slippery slope.
3
Abusive narcissists shut down all communication between he victim/spouse and the outside world. The inlays are cut off from the victim (us). All must go through Trump, the perp. No trade deals, no systems, that he did not himself create. the 4% is so "they" buy from the US. That's is the enlightened limit of this man's business savvy.
You’ve outdone yourself. What a brilliantly insightful column! How are we going to get rid of Trump before he destroys everything?
2
What folks are not getting and what no other (retired) psychiatrist has the you-know-whats to say, is that Trump is first and foremost a paranoid and is slipping in and out of psychosis. Paranoids have a fundamental need to construct "pseudo communities", surrounding themselves with straw dogs against whom they can rail. Why? Freud rightly explained that such individuals internalized both an overweaning father in their punishing super-ego and an impossibly grandiose ego-ideal (also a paternal introject). Such a person is doomed to never live up to this bloated internalized self-image (ego-ideal) and is thus doomed to relentlessly punish himself. This also explains Trumps admiration of strongmen. However, in order to protect his own vulnerable ego, he must externalize this rage constantly by projecting it outward onto one straw dog or another, which then allows him to rail against this created enemy and relieve his inner rage. Under stress, such a person lapses in and out of psychotic distortions of reality and presents as flip-flopping back and forth on distorted persecutory delusions or grandiose delusions, from victim to savior Such a person should not be making dangerous decisions, as their judgement is grossly impaired in the process. Sound familiar? Treating such a person is the most difficult task in the psychiatric tool box. Trump has unconsciously created a stable nexus of adoring fans and deplorable enemies in a balance Good luck America!
3
"Trump doesn`t. want negotiations with our allies and trading partners to succeed; he wants them to fail. And by the time everyone realizes this, the damage may be irreversible." Take a moment to think about that Truth.
Is it not incredible that is what this has come to? When the President of the U.S. is blatantly and openly seeking to undermine what generations of American leadership has built successfully since the end of W.W. 2; and millions of the Trump base still do not have a clue the real damage he is doing every day. And still the G.O.P. rolls merrily along playing sycophant to this Putin puppet.
What on Earth is it going to take to stop this insane dance with the Devil? Facts do not matter. Truth does not matter. Decency does not matter. Only Trump matters. The world is already moving on. The clock is ticking on how long this pathetic soap opera can continue. Those brave Americans who still cling to the hope that , "This too shall pass," must shudder at the damage already done.
One must seriously question the mental stability of this man. He really does not seem capable of rational thought or behavior. Before the damage is truly irreversible; the American people who have not yet drunk the Kool-Aid must finally draw a line in the sand. ENOUGH!
5
Your comment is absolutely rational and sensible, as well as correct. I double-checked your date line hoping that you were in the state that could benefit from your enlightenment. But then I saw you were in Canada. No wonder you made such good sense!
2
Trumpian destruction of all that is the best of America, past, present and future, only makes sense if he is Putin’s puppet. Putin could not ask for a more effective agent for destruction of American democracy and leadership than Donald Trump and his minions.
1
Why must the U.S. and the world be forced to placate this ignorant, immature bully? Note to media and world leaders: Stop giving Trump what he wants. Give him nothing, isolate him, don't cover his stupid tweets and comments. He needs -- craves -- your attention and respect more than you need him. Yes, he and the republicans will do severe damage to America and its people, but that's what we get for having a ridiculous electoral system that allows the candidate with fewer votes to win.
3
Most Americans today can remember where they were when the jets hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 9/11. A few of us can still remember the terror that swept across our country after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In both cases fear gripped everyone until our civilian and military leaders got a better idea of what had happened and our presidents spoke to us.
Remember the pictures of the rubble at Ground Zero or the upturned hulls of the "Arizona" and the "Oklahoma" and remember that our elected leaders did not panic, did not whine. They resolved to rally all of us to the flag and to the task of expanding our national defense. Remember also that all of our NATO allies and many other countries offered us their help in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Everyone was shocked that such a thing happened, that three thousand people, including many of different nationalities, were murdered in the collapse of the Twin Towers.
Have we come so far from the unity and pride in our American spirit that we believe a single bully wearing a MAGA cap can solve all our problems? If our representatives in Congress are chicken to stand up to the president when he lies, there are millions of us that know better, that live by moral principles, and that do the right thing by their families, neighbors, and even strangers. Honor the firefighters, police, and other citizens who fought to save people at Ground Zero and paid with their lives. They are our beacons of justice and rectitude.
2
Yeah, the untold truth about NATO is that its self-defense clause has only ever been used once, for an attack on America. It's Europe that's helped us with our wars, not the other way around.
A few days from now, July 16th, will mark the 73rd anniversary of the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the main scientists behind its creation, quoted the Hindu sacred text, the Bhagavad-Vita, saying 'Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds'. July 16th is when Trump will be meeting with Putin; let's hope Oppenheimer's quote does not apply also to Trump.
2
First this is not just Donald Trump, it takes a village. The entire GOP has been work this game for a long time. Second, many Republican have been in Putin’s camp. There is philosophical affinity—evangelicals. Also the Russians are not stupid. They hacked Republicans as well and no doubt have enough dirt to bring down the Party. The fact explain their behavior.
2
Trump is an utterly self-serving con-man.
He's profoundly ignorant, of mediocre intelligence, and extremely obvious.
The fact that he continues to receive the support that he does is disgusting, and clear indication of incredible stupidity or corruption on the part of his supporters.
Congressional Republicans are conmplicit in Trump's treason.
With an utterly corrupt "president", a corrupt congress, deplorable voters, and having two SC picks fall into this miscreant's lap, the situation is grim.
Even if Mueller (or others) come up with definitive proof (to any rational person) of Trump's collusion and corruption, it will likely do little good.
Trump's mindless supporters swallow his lies and hypocrisy, no matter how blatant.
I see no good outcome.
Ousting Trump by force is ethically justified, but seems unlikely, and would have dire consequences (though perhaps better than those of Trump remaining in office).
Although I have some reservations regarding the Democratic party, they are the best option for constraining and ousting Trump.
And any shortcomings of the Democratic party are insignificant considering the abomination occupying the White House.
3
By bossing around other countries, Trump is only demonstrating to his devotees that “America Is Great Again “ — because Trump is great. If they buy into this ‘feeling’, they will re-elect him in 2020.
1
trump cannot be expected to understand the reality most of us live in. The reality he enjoys in his head only requires that he think he is great and that he get's accolades for being so.
2
Dark days in America. The Trump/Republican cloud is a storm which America may not survive. Literally.
Trump's art of the deal is chaos. He simply wants to blow things up. And the Republican Party has signed up to facilitate the chaos.
Trade wars, NATO disorder, inciting hatred of America in Canada, Mexico, Britain, Europe, praising Putin and Kim Jong Un (not just despots, but murderers), and of course, inciting hatreds, biases and divisions at home in America.
And did we mention the lies? The proliferation of lies? The reduction of the Oval Office to the epicenter of outlandish and shameless lies?
November cannot come soon enough, but our in-the-gutter Republican "friends" are also mobilizing to meet us at the polls. The salient question: Can decent Americans save America?
6
I can appreciate Mr. Krugman's concerns regarding NATO and the free trade policies of the current administration. However, I think we are not giving our allies enough credit. These countries have survived dealing with many difficult obstacles in their history (i.e. World Wars, depressions, recessions, political upheavals, etc.). I believe our supporters will not only survive, but learn that they need to be independent regarding their own economic and financial situations. This difficult relationship period should allow our friends to move from dependence on the U.S.to partners with us in the long-term.
What is most appalling about all this is the complete hypocrisy and abdication of responsibility by the Republican party.
9
Appalling, but in no way surprising.
1
This is the cult of Trump. That's all there is to say, and the entire GOP is under the spell, having tacitly and willingly taken his destructive and venal oath. I am no psychologist, but I have to believe that if one were to delve into the backgrounds of Trump, Bannon, Miller, Bolton, and others too numerous to name, one would find deep familial dysfunction when they were children, utterly lacking in love. These are all glass-half-empty, zero-sum people, to the point of sociopathy. Chaos is not a strategy, unless one's ultimate goal is destruction. And that is the path we are now on.
16
Mr. Trump has no understanding of complicated issues like trade, immigration, healthcare or world order and could care less about the rule of law. His positions on any of these matters is based on how loud the applause is at his rally when he brings up trade or immigration. This guy is just the final product of decades of Republican propaganda overflowing with hate and fear about things the president really doesn't understand. An example of this is the resistance to healthcare by Republicans who would have us believe that enriching insurance companies instead of caring for the elderly or infirm while those people require health services the most is in some way a bad thing. There are other more humane ways to address immigration and tax policy, but they'll never be understood or addressed in a decent way since this would be counter to long term Republican policy that promotes inequality and creates an us against them atmosphere that this president has embraced. Since he doesn't understand the problem and has no desire to educate himself on the matter he'll simply continue to behave like a petulant child doing the bidding of the people around him who benefit the most from these misguided policies. He's simply unfit to serve since he has no coherent thoughts on anything other than the "size" of things as he perceives them. He and the GOP are dismal failures to a once great nation now divided and on the threshold of tyranny. Great job Republicans. You got what you wanted
10
I still believe Trump has one over all guiding light: self enrichment. I am unable to explain many of his individual actions, but remain convinced that his ultimate goal is consistent. Hopefully he eventually finds himself cornered and takes the best deal available, grabs as many assets as possible, betrays his supporters, and leaves the scene.
6
from david brooks today "...even though Donald Trump is doing his best to inflame racial division..."
and here from dr k "...He doesn’t want to fix these institutions. He wants to destroy them."
no trump voter here, but no one actually believes that trump made the effort to win an election because he woke up one day convinced that inflamed "racial division" or the destruction of "international institutions" would be his cause.
these, of course, are judgements converted by false equivalence to "fact" in service not of debate but of predetermined partisan political conclusions...the casualty here is debate.
for example, trump is not wrong when he points out the inequalities paying for nato, nor in his statement that the usa has come up big in the defense and rehabilitation of europe, true, too, that the burden falls on the american taxpayer...he is not the first potus to say all of the above, he's just the first one to draw a line, if you will, at the bottom of the column of numbers.
how he goes about the fix is another matter ("pay up!" may be ok, it is here, but telling the english who might make a good prime minster, when he is the guest of a serving head of state who is having her troubles, ain't by a long shot).
what we have here is a president who will be in office for at least two more years, we could lean on him, try to influence his trajectory and/or his choice of targets, what we don't need is a willful failure to communicate.
1
U need two devices to communicate and Trump has lost his hear aid.
Our collective trust in our institutions has been in decline for a while. That’s one reason Trump was elected. His assault on those institutions, and his base's stubborn approval to his assault, will just make it yet that much harder to resolve economic, social and political disputes. Our Constitution has held thus far and might continue to do so under more-extreme circumstances. But it also might not.
5
I don't agree that there is no end game. America is so powerful economically and militarily---and our multi-nationals have likewise spread their dominance around the world--that both Trump and the "billionaire class" (to quote Bernie) seek dominance, not bilateral or multi-lateral cooperation. It's one big game of monopoly. One sign of that game being played is the utter nonsense that our military seeks to keep us "Free". It seeks to make the world safe for American multinationals to exploit and dominate. Who need multilateral trade agreements when you can just TAKE? The con job is on all the young men who buy into the whole "hero" baloney when they are recruited. Another sign is the cessation of anti-trust enforcement. This ain't the country my father fought for in WW2. Sad.
12
Fox News, the GOP, and Trump are partners in the destruction of our Constitution.
The rule of law stands in the way of global billionaires looting our national wealth.
Look at the United States Parcel Service. The Post Office is in the U.S. Constitution because we could not have possibly built the United States without it. It is a key institution of our democracy that pays for itself (it is not subsidized by taxes), and still does many of the "last mile" deliveries for the big shipping companies.
This critical piece of U.S. infrastructure represents a large amount of real wealth and also reputational "brand" wealth, built over hundreds of years.
Fox News and Republicans have been systematically attacking that brand for well over a decade. George Bush signed Republican legislation to force the P.O. to fund pensions and healthcare for its workers 75 years into the future. Even though no other organization in the world does that, and facing intense competition from the internet, the Post Office has still remained financially independent and solvent.
But if the brand is destroyed, Republicans will be able to give the business and infrastructure of the P.O. to the global shipping companies in juicy government contracts.
Enter Trump (already profiting from this with the DC Post Office hotel) who mimics Fox talking points and and attacks their biggest contract, the Amazon deal.
None of this is a coincidence. It is a very public conspiracy, mostly ignored by mass media and Dems.
28
Thank you for expressing what I have thought for years. The USPS has been an absolutely terrific delivery service, far better than UPS or FedEx, the 2 private companies that would benefit from privatization of the mail services which is no doubt what Republicans have been ginning for since Bush W. Both private services are much more expensive. Their packages often arrive damaged and delivery takes much longer than the USPS. Republicans have sponsored vile policies since 2000 especially. With Trump and his base they have gone so far out on the limb that they will be destroyed along with Trump for not standing up to America's enemies and putting striving for power way ahead of caring for the country and its citizens.
6
I use the USPS for non-critical deliveries because it is cheap and generally effective. FedEx is far more reliable for anything time sensitive or crucial.
To only mention FedEx and UPS is naive. Amazon is building an enormous delivery company which is competing with FedEX and UPS. Remember the pejorative comments by our president about Amazon and then rethink the destruction of the USPS. That would be his nightmare if Amazon succeeds as it appears to be doing, and of course it hurts FedEx and UPS.
1
You should have added the Supreme Court to the list of those undermining the Constitution.
2
The analysis that President Trump is dismantling the international institutions to remove the restrictions it imposed on itself on the use of its power when aiming to create an international system based on equality, raises an interesting question. Namely whether any US President would not, at some point in time, do the same when confronted with a rising superpower (China) that will try to impose its own international system.
One may believe, as I do, that this challenge is better met by a strong alliance of countries that adhere to the current system. But if trust in the international system is eroding (and I know, President Trump is probably the greatest contributor to this), or perhaps even absent as might be the case for President Trump, this does not seem entirily as an illogical move.
Nevertheless, is seems as a premature move at this point in time. Also, the focus on Russia is not consistent with the logic described above. Russia does not pose a threat to our world order. It has a GDP of the Benelux area. It may pose a threat to the smaller countries that were in its sphere of influence a couple of decades ago and it is good at revealing the weak spots in our defense mechanisms, but this seems all quite manageable.
The last thing we should want is to break down our own alliances while in the mean time forcing an alliane between China as Russia as a result of our pushing against Russia.
America's simpletons might cheer at Trump's "cowboy style" diplomacy, but the Prof. is right: Trump has a savage gusto to destroy the world. The worst in this almost clinical case is that he thinks that this is "progress".
I only hope the American voters will show him the Red Card in the coming November election.
3
"Trump obviously dislikes anything that smacks of rule of law applying equally to the weak and the strong." It's all about spite. In the Big Apple the man insulted and stiffed vendors, used bankruptcy to foil lenders, and foisted architectural tackiness on all New Yorkers. Their seething contempt sounded to his ears like impotent bleats of envy. If his hirelings wished to remain employed they stoked his delusion of bigness. In Trump's mind right now there are no equals before the law; just his crowd and their victims.
Those folk who speak in praise of Trump and argue that he is achieving something have no regard for history nor any understanding of what leadership, negotiation or wit and intelligence really entail.
Yes, the issues the babbling fool raises are real and need to be dealt with, but the manner and spirit of the way they are raised is all wrong. It is impossible to know what he actually wants because you can't believe what he says.
It would be interesting for a reputable news outlet to outline the results internationally and nationally of his 'deals' and pronouncements. We are all aware of his embarrassing posturing, but front pages should keep a running tally of the outcomes.
I'm assuming that something is happening behind the scenes that is more meaningful than his boorish and titillating act that continues to impress, that is, fool, his uncritical followers. Is the US government actually achieving anything that will benefit US citizens (NOT Trump and not big business)?
1
Trump is a horrible man at home and he has now proven himself a horrible man abroad. Americans in power, the Republican congress, are cowed by him and in thrall to his "base", but I think the rest of the world, not so cowed. It's pretty apparent they all think he's a pretty wretched guy. Personally, I hope the Queen decides to cancel "tea." Trump does not deserve the time of day from Betty.
8
One give Trump too much credit to act as a Russian agent. He is too much a loud mouth to be a spy. The rationale of Trump is simple. He is an Nativist and the best way to move to Fortress America is to destroy our international ties. Of course, Trump is too short sighted or has too little understanding of history to know that this new world order is a prelude to WAR.
2
If the problems we have were simply that Mr Trump is an inept President they would be solvable, but he is just the barker of our political carnival.
Rather than popular representation in Congress, the House and Senate on both sides of the aisle are more concerned with fulfilling the agenda of their major donors than aiding the rank and file citizenry.
While there is a division along so called party lines these lines are in no way separate when it comes to dividing the spoils.
The tax giveaway of $1.5 trillion is going to the major donors on both sides of the aisle who are using it to buy back shares in their companies or feather their own nests. The needless military budget continues to skyrocket while the average wage earner sees at best a token payment.
Working people are divided along party lines, give no indication of understanding how they have been played and less thought to cooperating among themselves.
The few nails left will be used to seal the coffin on our Democracy as we are dealt another Supreme Court Injustice who may assist in further suppressing a woman's right to make decisions regarding her own body.
It is truly difficult to think that less than two years ago we had expectations of, albeit imperfect, continued positive change.
The avarice and greed will not be felt to a truly great extent until those now in political office have retired, but our kids and grandkids will rue the day we handed this charlatan the keys to the office of the Presidency.
605
Your false equivalence between the two parties is guaranteed to help one over the other. Republicans love comments like yours since it's an easy way to peel away 5% of the liberal coaltion - the left-wing fringe. In 2000, Ralph Nader helped Republicans capture the presidency, and by extension, the Supreme Court, which in 2011 gave the Republican Party what they craved: the Citizens United decision. Campaign Finance Reform was a Democratic aim. Republicans won with an able assist from America's sanctimonious left.
Politics is not salvation. You can only do the best you can with the citizens and issues you have at any given moment. By dividing the progressive coalition, the left-wing fringe is helping he right win elections and the long game playing out in the judiciary. Please: be more conscious of your rhetoric. It's hurting your coalition and the country we love.
3
False equivalency. “Both sides of the aisle” did not approve the tax giveaway. “The agendas of major donors” to the Dems do not include despoiling our environment, advancing oligarchs’ over citizens’ interests, ripping up historic alliances, depriving Americans as well as asylum seekers a portfolio of rights, hurting children, giving a religion preferential treatment in the secular sphere.
4
Left wing fringe? Rhetoric?
Do you really think Shumer and Pelosi among others actually care? Like their Republican playmates they pay lip service to Democracy. They and their counterparts across the aisle feather their own nests with little thought and less compunction.
Progressive coalition? They are the other side of the facism lite coin minted by the right wing.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is as close to reality as any politician has gotten in years. She and other women who have a grasp on reality rather than the macho poseurs of Congressional hearings are the ones I support.
If we stay silent about the obvious fraud and vote rigging, among other things being avoided by our representatives on both sides of the aisle, we guarantee cynicism and ignorance will continue to rule and our kids will be the ones who suffer.
If we don't raise our voices and express our thoughts now they don't stand a chance.
I'm not a sanctimonious leftie and have little use for any political party. I'm a father of four sons who will inherit the nation we fathers and their mothers will leave them. If we don't speak out now this world, our nation and our citizenry will not remain free.
Before anything else I'm an American citizen, a free man and not any part of any "coalition".
While I still have the freedom to voice my thoughts in a public forum, like you Mr Hall, I will.
This is our country and the only one I have ever known which is why I speak without fear of censure.
Trump's ego made him a bumbling failure at business. He was removed from management responsibilities as a result. However, by undermining NATO, Trump chooses to serve Putin and not the United States. These true allies in Western Europe and Canada have fought and died for the US but Trump displays his blatant ignorance of history and economics with every passing day. Trump is who he is and always has been - an ignorant extreme narcissist and now a Russian agent bent on destroying decades of critically important alliances under Putin's orders. We know that huge amounts of laundered Russian money passing through the Bank of Cyprus and elsewhere were used to bail Trump out of bankruptcy when no legitimate banks would lend him a nickel. Putin not only owns Trump, Putin is Trump's model for the US presidency.
However, the greatest threat to our nation is that the Republican Congress remains silent and compliant on behalf of their ultra-right wing billionaire owners. They know full well that Trump is easily manipulated by Putin, and that he is disgracing the United States before the entire world and undermining US security in violation of his Constitutional oath. Despite Trump's self-evident servitude to Putin, Republicans in Congress refuse to protect the American people as is their sworn duty as well. The only hope for the future of the United States is getting out the vote in order to throw Trump and his Republican enablers out of power in every election going forward.
1
Everything Krugman says in this piece is true, in my opinion.
Has Donald Trump ever had any other motive, for the entirety of his life, than to destroy everything outside of his eternally aggrieved ego?
To that end: What in the name of anything coherent was that press conference at NATO today? What does Trump think he is doing? Watching Trump speak, with his eternal incoherence and pathological narcissism, is beyond embarrassing. It really is like watching a defensive teenager fighting back against non-existent "attacks" every five seconds.
"Alternatively, you might have thought that big business, which is deeply invested, literally, in the existing world order would protest effectively. So far, however, it has been utterly ineffectual. And while talk of trade war sometimes causes the stock market to wobble, as far as I can tell, investors still aren’t taking this seriously...."
Yes, that's one view. Another view is that global corporations and the entire corporate oligarchic class believe they are benefitting from Trump's chaos and incoherence. Certainly, they got their tax cuts. Perhaps that alone is enough to keep Trump in office for another term. I certainly have no faith in Congress anymore. How they are allowing this inept clown to destroy the global institutional stability the United States has built since World War II is beyond me.
1
I am so sick and disgusted by Trump that I actually listen to the radio station in Auckland, NZ at night to hear radio shows and newscasts that don't mention his name. It is so refreshing to hear about a country where the people get along well. If I was a young man, I'd emigrate.
3
It seems to me that Mr. Trump is behaving consonantly with his main theme, to make America great again. To do this he must be against all the institutions built since WWII. Why to do it? To play to his base and to increase his re-election chances. Is it a mystery that he likes power ?
Trump is the end result of the decades-long program by the Republican Party to cement rule by a wealthy minority, forever. It has happened in some countries. My wise friends, the Times readers, do not seem to get how important the near total right-wing control of talk radio is. These stations spew hatred and mockery 24 hours a day (at no cost to the Republican Party) and are constantly staying on the republican message also blasted from TV, social media, and other ads. After these decades of hatred, hate, racism etc. are now cool. Some republicans thought since they created this web of hatred then they could merely turn it off when they wished. Trump came along and seized it, and did not claim to be decent or to promise a hundred points of light. He merely hated people, and eliminated the Republican contenders and won the Presidency. His conservative and Christian followers have shown that all the positions they claimed to have held, from patriotism to truth telling to morality to spending limits have always been lies; it’s about hatred and cruelty and all the bad emotions. The hatred is real, and no one talks back. But today, during the House republicans’10 hour harassment of the heroic FBI agent Peter Strzok, the Democrats, for the first time, fought back. At least we got to hear them fight back once if we had cable TV. There was nothing except vile conservative hatred on talk radio, but we don’t pay attention to that.
2
Failure is preordained for a man woefully ignorant of history and geopolitics as demonstrated by the moment when he assimilated the independent Republic of Ireland with today's United Kingdom. His unabashed interference in British internal politics when expressing his 'preference' for Boris Johnson as prime minister is finally one of many indicators invalidating Trump as a credible policy maker... outside of the golf course.
I fear deeply for what the future beckons, for it appears that ordinary Americans have not been personally affected enough to react to the wholesale vandalism characterizing the Trump regime. And I share your puzzled attitude over the business community's flaccid reaction -- really, what is their endgame ????
1
"And by the time everyone realizes this, the damage may be irreversible."
Gee thanks for the uplifting concluding sentence. It may take a while, but of course we can turn it around as long as we don't despair. If you think this is tough on us, just imagine the pressure on Trump who is in so far in over his head that he's standing at bottom of the Marianas Trench. His head will explode soon enough.
We are better than this-much better. We'll take our our trash soon enough.
I agree with the premise of this article, and the sister editorial pointing out that Republicanism is about undermining government to prove the thesis that government doesn't work.
What I don't understand is why anybody with half a brain would go down this philosophical path. Even if you're so dogmatically convinced, sans evidence, that"government is the problem", why not just... try to fix things that seem broken? Employing Trump as a wrecking ball...
This approach is vastly stupid, and explicitly harmful.
1