I scratched my head when I heard Donald Trump was attending the funeral of His Holiness, Pope Francis. Donald Trump is not a Catholic and doesn’t regularly go to church. He cozies up to Evangelical Christians and sells Bibles. Most of us credit greed as his motivations. In essence, he is the antithesis of everything the Pope represented—a Pope who supported climate change initiatives, condemned mistreatment of immigrants, and believed that criminals could be rehabilitated. His washing of their feet was a sign of his commitment to service and the virtue of humility.

Was our President the only person in St. Peter’s this week labelled a rapist by a judge? And was there anyone credited with more lies than Trump—The Washington Post counted 30,573 false or misleading statements made during Trump’s first term as president.  He likely will break that record this time around.

When it was confirmed Trump would be flying to Rome, I was disappointed. He could have sent J.D. Vance, a converted Catholic, but Vance angered the Church by having his photograph taken with his son in the Sistine Chapel, where photography is forbidden.

When Trump entered St. Peter’s, he was easy to spot. The Vatican informed persons invited to attend the funeral mass to wear black. Trump ignored the request. Was this because he knew Swiss Guards would not remove him for the etiquette violation? Or because Trump, who has made a practice of violating court orders and insulting the judges who issued them, enjoys breaking rules.

I don’t know what prompted Trump’s behavior in Rome, but I was glad to see him board Air Force One for his flight to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Yes, the President left the funeral mass as soon as it ended to get to the golf club in time to fit in 18 holes the next day. 

Many words could be used to describe Trump’s behavior. Some that Trump uses himself in describing others, but I won’t repeat them here. I will only call the behavior disturbing. I worry that I see a president no longer in control of himself, a man subject to outbursts of anger, unable to distinguish truth and falsehoods, obsessed with vengeance and retribution against his perceived enemies, and devoid of any hint of empathy for anyone.

Every morning, in addition to reading a few newspapers, scanning the news on my iPad, and watching a few minutes of television news, I visit the President’s social media site and the White House press room. The social media site, I have found, is the best place to track what the President is doing and thinking. The White House online press room is where the full text of Executive Orders is posted. Want to learn why the President has banned paper straws? The answer is in the press room.

Trump’s social media posts are particularly disturbing. On Monday morning, I found a forceful attack on the press. The President wrote:

“We don’t have a Free and Fair Press in this Country anymore. We have a Press that writes BAD STORIES, and CHEATS, BIG, ON POLLS. IT IS COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT. SAD!”

Recent polls suggesting the public is souring on Trump prompted the outburst. The President has the lowest approval ratings for any president during their first 100 days in office in seven decades. Trump was also shown to have lost the public’s approval for his leadership on the economy. Credit the tariffs.

Be sure to visit the President’s social media site if you want to see more. There are more than enough unhinged posts to keep a small army of psychiatrists busy for decades. You will also find at least six photos and videos of the President travelling to Rome and two of him in St. Peter’s.

I do not want a man who wears a blue suit at the Pope’s funeral in the White House. Trump may have offended Catholics this weekend, but his actions and words are destroying America. I’ve had enough.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

For almost a century, between the late 1890s and 1986, coal miners relied on canary birds rather than fellow miners to detect increasing levels of colorless, odorless carbon monoxide and other toxic gases in the mines that could sicken or even kill humans. 

While mechanical sensors have long since replaced canaries in mines, the term “canaries in the coal mine” is still a metaphor for an early warning system to alert people of impending negative, even catastrophic outcomes, if they do not make necessary and timely changes.

Recent news reports on three “canaries in the coal mine” scenarios that merit serious consideration by Governor Moore and the leadership of the General Assembly.

The first are reports published in Maryland Matters that recent decisions on the state budget made by a majority in the General Assembly and by Governor Moore have not gone unnoticed by three major public finance credit rating agencies — Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global Ratings.

In the world of government finance, the ratings from these firms are of paramount importance.

They determine the interest rates on bonds issued by states to fund budgets in addition to revenue received from taxes and related revenue sources. The higher the states bond rating, the lower the interest rate on bond repayments. 

While these bond agencies reaffirmed the currently in place highest credit rating for Maryland (AAA), two did so with concerns.

Moody’s downgraded the state’s fiscal outlook from stable to “negative,” citing looming structural deficits driven by state funding for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future also known as the Kirwan Plan.

In their report, Moody’s wrote, “The negative outlook incorporates difficulties Maryland will face to achieve balanced financial operations in coming years without sacrificing service delivery goals or adding to the weight of the state government’s burden on individual and corporate taxpayers.” 

This is the first time since 2011 that Moody’s has issued a negative outlook for Maryland. 

Their report notes, “The outlook revision was driven by expected structural imbalances and planned depletion of General Fund surplus and budgetary reserves by about 60% from fiscal 2023 through fiscal 2025, which threatens to undermine performance relative to peers.” 

In their report, S&P Global Ratings, expressed concerns about deficits and costly programs. Those concerns led them to grade Maryland nearly in the middle of their its rating system — a grade that would typically equate to a credit rating just below AAA. But the agency gave the state the benefit of the doubt citing its history of fiscal management.

The second “canary in the coal mine” are reports from the General Assembly’s nonpartisan legislative budget analysts. They are projecting that by next year, the state’s projected structural budget deficit — the gap between projected expenses and expected revenues – will grow to $1 billion. In fiscal 2027, the last year of Moore’s term, it grows to $1.3 billion. A year later, it more than doubles to $3 billion.

The third “canary in the coal mine” are recurring reports from Delaware about businesses moving or planning to move their business incorporation domicile from Delaware.

The latest to do so is Affirm Holdings Inc., a publicly held American technology firm that handles financial services for merchants and shoppers. Affirm is one of at least twenty major companies citing a hostile Delaware business environment as the reason for their decisions. 

Affirm joins Facebook parent company Meta, Walmart, Tripadvisor, The Trade Desk, and Roblox. 

In the face of all this news, one has to question the impact of a recent compromise reached by the leadership of the Maryland General Assembly and Governor Moore on a final state budget and state tax package.

That compromise did not include a proposed reduction in the corporate net income tax, but did include a new 3.5 % sales tax on information technology service providers.

A spokesperson for Governor Moore has said the governor is still optimistic going forward, saying the governor “remains confident” in the state’s fiscal position following the news on the three credit ratings. He also said the governor will work with lawmakers on “long-term structural solutions” that balance revenues with priorities.

State Senate Budget and Taxation Chair Guy Guzzone is also optimistic. He was quoted in a Maryland Matters article, “I know we can figure it out and we will figure it out. Whatever the circumstances, whatever the economy gives us, in a broad sense, we’ll use our tools and we’ll be thoughtful, and we’ll come up with, I believe, good solutions.”

Time will tell if the current news from Delaware projected deficits and credit rating concerns will be included in future dialogue and deliberations on state spending and state revenues which in turn will help ensure fully informed decisions will be made on future state budget decisions in Annapolis. 

We are likely to know very soon. 

The final approved state budget bill requires a special legislative session later this year to address unexpected impacts in Maryland on more reductions in federal government spending. 

If and when that occurs, I suggest Marylanders deserve thoughtful consideration of the current canaries in the coal mine as well as unexpected others yet to be made known. 

David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant in Easton.