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Trump is in office 6 months and I was wrong about how long he would last [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-07-20
I predicted that after Trump took office, and I read the stack of executive orders that he signed on January 20th, and what he put in them, and the furor that they would produce, that he would be out of office in 6 months.
I was wrong.
He has not only weathered that stack of executive orders, but he has produced so much more that has destroyed the rights of Americans laid out in the Constitution.
I became even more confident after Trump put his stamp on April 2nd Liberation Day in declaring the world would pay his tariffs. The stock market tanked to the tune of 2 trillion dollars, but that didn't get him either.
Let's look at what he did just on January 20th.
Renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Terminated DEI across all government programs and agencies. Restored the federal death penalty. Moved to end Birthright citizenship. Delayed the ban on TikTok. Granted full and unconditional pardons to everyone charged in connection with the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. Rescinded 78 of President Biden's executive orders. Ordered a pause on approvals for renewable energy developments on public lands.
I thought the January 6th pardons would take him down instantly. Wrong.
There were a hell of an lot more on the 20th. The New York Times has a chronology of the most important executive orders day by day, which I'm using for most of this article.
Shades of Trump's Crypto week, on on Jan. 22, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who made cryptocurrency the best money laundering operation for criminals, and was also charged for illegal drugs being sold through his internet facility. Trump was still proud of that pardon in the speech he gave at Carnegie Mellon University.
Jan. 23rd Trump pledged to retake the Panama Canal. I thought that one was going to cause such a ruckus in Congress that he would be removed from office for declaring war. Nope. That didn't do it. Also said that California shouldn't get aid for the wildfires.
Jan.24 Trump fired 17 Inspectors General. This should have taken down any other president, but with a compliant Republican House and Senate, he showed that he could get away with anything.
On the 25th, he said he was going to take Greenland. So few days after vowing to take the Panama Canal, I thought this would take him down. Nope.
Feb. 1 He announced the tariffs on China and Canada. Everybody was outraged, but nothing happened.
Feb. 3rd Trump started the dismantling of USAID and he said he wanted Canada to become the 51st state. I thought the Canada suggestion would require Trump to at least see a psychiatrist, if not taking him out of office by the 25th Amendment. Didn't happen.
On Feb. 4 Trump proposed that the United States take over Gaza. He also said he left instructions to obliterate Iran if he were assassinated. Another intervention needed.
On February 6th, Trump started his first attack on the media by saying that CBS should lose its license over the Kamala Harris interview edit. There was a protracted battle in the media about how to cover it, but Trump just finally won against Paramount - CBS by extracting $16 million, and getting Stephen Colbert fired, in order for the merger with Skydance to go through. None of this had any effect.
On Feb. 7, Trump took over the Kennedy Center and revoked President Joe Biden's security clearances. Outrage, of course, and nothing happened.
Feb. 10th, Trump paused any enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, so he could take bribes freely. He showed it by taking the Qatar 747 later, that he will keep after leaving office. I thought that combination would do it. Pipe dream.
As DOGE actions were publicized, and the illegal accessing of agency databases, like at the Treasury Department, firing agency staff, and dismantling of so many agencies, and stopping any work by agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I thought that would be the end of Trump. No. The news media moved on to the next disaster. They were coming so fast no one could react in real time.
Feb. 14, Trump announced the first of the tariffs that would go into effect on April 2nd with those on foreign cars.
He scolded foreign leaders for clamping down on right wing organizations and speech. The start of his Nazi campaign. But he hadn't gone far enough yet to throw him out of office on that one point.
Feb. 15th, Trump made a post on Truth Social that said, "He who saves his Country does not violate any Law." Shades of Nixon's "When asked President does it, that means it's not illegal." Any move to remove Trump? Nope.
He also dropped the policy that prohibited contractors from having segregated facilities. One of his first steps at removing any vestige of the original Civil Rights Act.
Feb. 18th, He started expanding Presidential power over agencies that Congress had made completely independent of the executive.
He also directed that all Biden era attorneys be fired.
Feb. 19, Trump blamed Zelenskyy for the Ukraine War instead of Putin.
Feb. 20th, Trump reassigned dozens of officials to limbo who had been fighting foreign interference in US elections.
Feb. 22, Elon Musk sent emails to every federal employee to summarize five things that they did in the previous week that meant they should be able to keep their job.
Trump called MSNBC a "threat to democracy."
Feb. 25th. This was the start of the control of the media for propaganda purposes. The White House announced that they would be controlling who is allowed in the White House Press briefing room, allowed into the oval office, and on Air Force One. A massive attack on the First Amendment on purpose and calculated to control the questioning of Trump and White House actions.
By itself, it didn't seem so much at the time, although I wrote about it. Not a qualified item to take out a president, but it was just the start.
It was also the day that Trump posted on Truth Social the AI video of Trump Gaza, that showed a golden resort that featured Trump and Musk. It sparked outrage, but that's all. Nobody said Trump was mentally ill and should be removed.
Feb. 27. Fired hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The start of removing all information that proves climate change. In addition stopping any new research into it.
Said on Truth Social that Iowa should approve a bill ending state civil rights protections for transgenders. If any other president had deliberately targeted a class of individuals to suddenly become less than citizens, they would have been removed from office instantly. For Trump, nothing was too outrageous.
Feb. 28th. The ambush of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office by Trump, Vance and reporters.
March 2nd. Ordered the Pentagon to stop offensive cyber operations against Russia. Once again, Trump proved that he is a Russian asset, if not actually Agent Krasnov.
March 4th. Trump delivered his highly partisan speech to the Joint session of Congress. Representative Al Green of Texas stood up and yelled at Trump that he would fight Trump against his attacks on Medicaid. People should have listened. Green was removed from the chamber and now we have the Big Ugly Bill that kicks 17 million people off of their health care. Too bad Al Green didn't do more than just shake his cane at Trump, but Secret Service would have stopped him.
Trump also imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on all imports from China, starting the downward spiral of the United States economy.
March 5th. Trump paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The day before he had paused all arms shipments to Ukraine. In 2019, Trump was impeached for doing nearly the same, extorting Zelenskyy for information on Biden to get them continued.
Trump threatened to cut funding to schools that allow "illegal protests." He also said that students that participate in them should be arrested, imprisoned, deported or permanently expelled. Still another trampling of the First Amendment that would take down any other president.
I'm going to skip over all of the tariff TACOs.
March 6. Trump ordered the creation of a national stockpile of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He already had his meme coin that was generating a billion dollars in wealth for him. This week he signed the GENIUS Act to make things even more corrupt in this Administration.
Trump's first executive order trying to coerce law firms to give up all their rights, with the one against Perkins Coie. This was completely unconstitutional on its face. Again, any other president doing this would have been hounded out of office immediately.
March 7. Canceled 400 million in Grants to Columbia University.
Suspended Ukraine's access to US satellite imagery.
March 11th. The Tesla commercial at the White House. This broke federal laws as well as impuning the character of the office of the presidency. Trump couldn't care less.
March 12. Canceled $20 billion in grants from the Inflation Reduction Act to fight climate change.
March 13. Asked the Supreme Court to end Birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Asking the Supreme Court to say the US Constitution is unconstitutional should have removed Trump from office instantly.
March 15. First invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
March 16. Trump declared that President Biden's use of the autopen made Biden's pardons null and void. Trump is still spouting this garbage to this day. Even got the House to do an investigation.
March 18. Trump called for Judge Boasberg to be impeached for thwarting his plans of deportation without due process. Teflon Don calls for an impeachment when he has already done dozens of acts that should have called for his impeachment.
March 20th. Trump signed an executive order to disband the Department of Education. Unthinkable. However, Trump has always said that he likes uneducated people. He's trying to make sure that happens.
Paul, Weiss is the first law firm to capitulate to Trump's demands. This time, it was only $40 million in pro bono work guaranteed. In further attacks on law firms that would go up to $125 million. Trump should go to jail for extortion. Nobody says boo.
Still another attack on Judge Boasberg saying that he was trying to usurp the presidency.
March 21. Trump revoked the security clearance of Joe Biden a second time along with Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris and others.
March 24. SignalGate is exposed by Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic magazine. Nothing happened to Hegseth. Mike Waltz was eventually sacrificed. Nothing at all happened to Trump, of course.
March 27. Trump directed Vance to remove anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian and its museums. Possibly the start of Trump's campaign to rewrite history in the largest sense encompassing hundreds of years.
An executive order to strip labor protections from civil servants across the federal government. He finished that plan two days ago with a proclamation that allows him to fire everybody and replace them with loyalists.
March 28. A second law firm, Skadden, falls in line with Trump, this time Trump gets $100 million in pro bono work. Completely unconstitutional extortion that should put Trump in jail. These cannot be deemed to be within the prerogative of a president when they are patently illegal. When actions don't qualify, the immunity does not qualify. There was that distinction made by the Supreme Court.
Trump reiterates his belief that the United States has the right to take over Greenland.
March 29. Trump fires everybody at the United States Institute of Peace, a completely independent agency that owns its own building, and Trump has no control over it. Employees try to block access by DOGE. DOGE comes back with police and Marshals and gains access.
March 30. Kristen Welker reports of conversation with Trump before the Meet the Press show, that Trump was threatening secondary tariffs on Iran and possibly bombing the country if there wasn't a nuclear deal. We know how that one turned out.
April 1. April Fool's Day. Trump tries to undermine President Biden's pardons by criticizing his mental acuity.
Trump targets Wilkie Farr & Gallagher law firm that employs Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris's husband. New law firms he had already attacked were WilmerHale and Jenner & Block. All completely unconstitutional as every law firm that has taken Trump to court has proven and made his executive orders null and void.
April 2. Law firm Milbank capitulates to Trump. Still another $100 million in pro bono work.
In a ceremony at the White House, Trump unveils his April 2nd Liberation Day tariffs against the world. The Dow Jones stock market loses a thousand points and 2 trillion dollars in value in 2 days. Trump should be tried for grand theft, but it never happens.
April 4. Trump TACOs on TikTok. This time a 75 delay.
April 7. Trump threatens 104% tariff on China if they respond to his reciprocal tariffs.
Terminated funding for the World Food Program, so people can die of starvation. That along with the dismantling of USAID qualifies both Trump and Musk for worldwide genocide with the deaths that will now occur. Anyone with a sense of decency would have called for Trump's impeachment. It doesn't happen.
April 8th. Signed several executive orders to expand the mining and burning of coal. He did new ones just days ago for revitalizing the coal industry by eliminating EPA regulations for four years on coal-fired power plants. Trump should be impeached for threatening the entire planet with additional pollution. Nobody blinks an eye.
Trump threatens states who are promoting renewable energy.
April 9. Trump issues the executive order against the law firm Susman Godfrey. Another unconstitutional action that should have had consequences.
April 10. EPA ends 15-year requirement that polluters disclose how much pollution they create. Not directly done by Trump, but he's responsible for everything his administration does.
US Attorney in New York Alina Habba gave orders to investigate Governor Hochul and Attorney General Leticia James for not knuckling under to demands for immigration enforcement.
April 11. Trump reaches deals with five large law firms at once, garnering $600 million in pro bono work.
Moved to cut off all federal funding for Maine because of refusing to ban trans from women's sports.
Trump TACOs by eliminating tariffs for certain Chinese electronic products and parts.
April 13. Release the results of Trump's annual physical. The report said that Trump is in excellent health and maintaining an active lifestyle. Well, that turned out to be a lie now that we know about his vein problem causing swollen ankles and also hand problems. His brains not doing so well either.
April 14. The first big attack on higher education with $2 billion in funding to Harvard University frozen.
April 15. Threatened Harvard's tax exempt status.
Trump looking into the possibility of imprisoning US citizens in El Salvador. Do I need to say how many constitutional violations this constitutes?
April 20. JD Vance meets with Pope Francis. Pope Francis dies the next day. We could start conspiracy theories, but let's not.
April 21. Trump resumes attacking Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He's been doing it since taking office.
April 23. Called for major overhauls in missions to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank because they recognize climate change, international development and economic equity.
Trump offers a private dinner to the top 220 investors in his meme cryptocurrency coin. A blatant bribe with foreign nationals buying coins for access to Trump. Emoluments Clause violation to the max.
April 25. Judge Hannah Dugan arrested for helping an immigrant avoid ICE.
April 28. Dept. of Education accuses the University of Pennsylvania of violating discrimination laws by allowing a transgender woman to participate in women's sports. The Department of Education was also used in the freezing of funds against Maine. This is all part of the attempt to turn trans people into people without rights.
April 28. Dismissed all the government workers who worked on the National Climate Assessment Report. We don't even need to guess why.
April 29 - Day 100. Trump went crazy about a report that Amazon was going to show the cost of tariffs being added to goods for sale. Amazon denied everything and it never happened as a result.
Fired Biden appointees to the US Holocaust Museum board, including Doug Emhoff.
Trump TACOs on some car import tariffs.
The New York Times listing of Trump's activities ended at the 100 day mark. Nobody else has compiled it like this since that I can find. Now I have to go on memory for between April 30th and now, and my own diaries.
May 2. Trump threatens to defund The Corporation for Public Broadcasting with National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service as victims. Days ago a rescission bill was passed and Trump's wish was granted. Where do we go now? Turning off Sesame Street should be a cause for impeachment, all by itself.
May 3. Trump gets his golden 747 brothel in the air from Qatar. The biggest bribe in history. Because he does it right out in the open, nobody cares. The emoluments clause, please.
Al Green files his first impeachment against Donald Trump of this Congressional session. He says that the time is always right, to do what is right.
May 4. Mike Pence gets the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award of 2025, for having done the right thing on January 6th, 2021.
Trump institutes a 100% tariff on foreign films, throwing the entire entertainment industry into disarray. So much for the Golden Age of Hollywood.
May 6. Jasmine Crockett says that Donald Trump needs to cosplay as the president, not the Pope. There was of course that absolutely ridiculous picture of Trump sitting in a throne as a pope. Catholics around the world were aghast. Nothing happened to Trump.
May 7. Kari Lake decides to turn the Voice of America into a propaganda machine using the One America Network news feed. Trump appointed her, so it's his responsibility. I see this is a criminal act to control information, meaning censorship of anything considered left-leaning.
May 12. Trump fires the Librarian of Congress and then goes after the Register of Copyrights. Once again, control information and you control history. That is Trump's ultimate game. Eventually people will think that he actually won the 2020 election and there was a coup by Joe Biden.
May 14. I brought up the fact that Trump's entire Middle East trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, was to collect bribes along the way. He visited places that Don Jr had proceeded him to make deals for hotels, golf courses and resorts. Maybe even a bigger bribe than the plane.
May 24. Trump creates the Golden Standard of Science, which is nothing but. It's a simple ruse to deny climate change as a result of research. Control the science, you control the narrative about it. He will let nothing get in his way of the overuse of fossil fuels when alternative energy sources are available.
May 25. Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior tells the US Park Service to neuter information plaques in national parks. Even putting up a sign with a website address that people can go to to report what they think is information that would make people uncomfortable, like talking about slavery among a thousand other things.
May 28. United States International Court of Trade rules that Trump's tariffs are illegal and unconstitutional. Trump goes to an appeals court and is right back in business.
May 31. Rep. Jerry Nadler's aide is handcuffed in his congressional office in New York. Eventually released on the spot, but there was never any lawsuit about it that I am aware of. ICE out of control, as they have been everywhere they go.
June 5. Trump orders an investigation into Biden and the use of the autopen.
June 8. I was writing about Trump ranting about the Los Angeles protests about ICE. We know how that went. National Guard troops and Marines just made things worse, thanks to Trump.
June 10. Trump's incredibly scary speech at Fort Bragg. The next day Gavin Newsom gave an 8 minute speech that sounded presidential. He tore into Trump big time.
June 11. I ran a poll on what particular crime Trump had committed that would get him impeached for the third time. The winners were: being a threat to democracy, and bribery and corruption. There were several other categories that got 10 to 15%.
June 13. Trump's first call for remigration ethnic cleansing. That one should have ended the question about whether Trump should be impeached and removed from office immediately. I'm the only one who seemed to notice it. No coverage in any media.
June 17. Trump demands unconditional surrender by Iran.
New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration courthouse for interfering with immigration enforcement.
June 21. Trump has B-2 bombers attack nuclear facilities in Iran, without authorization of Congress. Easily could be called an act of war violation by Trump.
June 25. Trump threatens Israel for the first time about the corruption trial of Benjamin Netanyahu. He says his good buddy never did anything bad. Interfering in another country's politics is another cause for impeachment.
June 28. Law firm Susman Godfrey wins its case against Trump. Trump's executive order is null and void.
June 30. Iranian clerics issue a murder fatwa against Trump.
July 1. Trump visits the illegal ICE detention camp called Alligator Alcatraz. Being a temporary detention, those running the facility have no knowledge of detainees medical conditions. This puts them in all kinds of physical danger besides the camp itself. But there is no sign that these detainees are going to be deported. Plans are for 5,000 individuals to be held in the facility. It's design itself with cages and tents is illegal for the treatment of any human being.
Trump calls for Israeli prosecutors to leave Benjamin Netanyahu alone again. Once again, interfering in another country's legal process.
July 3. Trump has a conniption fit over Jamie Raskin's preamble to the Big Ugly Bill.
July 4. Trump's July 3rd speech descends into madness at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. Many signs of cognitive decline. Grounds for removal from office.
Trump on the defense for using the word "shylock" during remarks.
July 5. Trump wants a UFC octagon fight on White House grounds as part of the United States 250th anniversary celebrations. Totally inappropriate on so many levels.
Trump calls for remigration ethnic cleansing a second time. It can no longer be considered a mistake. He puts it in all capital letters just to let you know he's serious.
July 6. Trump starts threatening denaturalization while thinking about Mamdani and Musk.
July 7. Trump starts sending form letters to countries letting them know what their tariffs are going to be. Trump is too lazy to actually negotiate. Things start getting out of hand with insults being added to the letters. Countries respond unfavorably.
Trump whines for the first time about his buddy, Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro being tried for a coup attempt, assassination plot, and corruption and bribery charges. Tells Brazil to stop prosecuting. Interfering in a country's legal processes once again.
July 8. Trump's DoD will turn off three critical weather satellites on July 31st under suspect pretenses. Right during hurricane season and stopping necessary data showing climate change.
July 10. Trump sends the most unhinged tariff letter ever created to Brazil, setting their tariffs at 50% in retaliation for them prosecuting Bolsonaro.
July 11. Trump calls Pete Hegseth the Secretary of War for the second time. It's no longer a mistake. Either Trump has turned into a bloodthirsty warmonger, or he has really forgotten that Hegseth is the Secretary of Defense. Either is grounds for removing Trump from office under the 25th Amendment.
July 12. Trump threatens to take away Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship. He can't do that, but he thinks he can. If he thinks he can, it can happen these days. Just like he made those classified documents at Mar-a-Lago unclassified by thinking about them. He actually got away with that in the long run.
July 15. White House Faith luncheon speech shows Trump's erratic behavior, demented and cognitive declined speech.
July 17. Trump gives a speech at Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. Many memory errors during Trump's remarks. Confusing people and places. Making up dialogue between two people that never happened.
July 19. Trump has many problems during speech in Brady Room about the GENIUS Act on cryptocurrency stablecoins.
Trump finds a way to fire everybody and replace them with loyalists. Proclamation changes every single federal job category from Schedule A to E. He already could fire everybody in Schedule F. He then creates a new Schedule G category. These are people who should leave the job when a new president comes into office. Now he can fire anyone Biden hired. It also allows him to suspend Civil Service regulations, meaning he can fire people without cause. They can no longer appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The news media hasn't talked about this at all. Everybody's talking about Trump and Epstein.
July 20. Trump rounds out all of his attempts at controlling information, the law, law enforcement, and generating new conspiracy theories. He jumps on the Tulsi Gabbard bandwagon about a conspiracy to withhold information showing that there was no Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, except one created by Obama, and other select individuals on Trump's enemies list.
So, I was wrong about Trump being hounded out of office, forcibly removed from office, removed by the 25th Amendment due to lack of brain functions to perform the duties of the president of the United States, or even justified impeachment of Trump. I thought 6 months was going to be it. People would get mad as hell and they wouldn't take it anymore. I can only hope for the future.
I won't try to make another prediction like I did on January 20th. We know about some new health problems that Trump has. Maybe it's affecting his brain, too.
This litany of actions that should have removed from from office continues. Here's what Trump had to say about it:
I am not so happy about it. He says the country was dead, when he's the one who has killed it. He hasn't ended any wars that he claims. The only one close is India and Pakistan and they say he didn't have anything to do with it.
He has to quote himself about how the country was dead and now it's the hottest, because nobody else would be stupid enough to say it.
I really hate being wrong.
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