As I watch this second Trump administration unfold, I can’t help but notice how different the optics are between men and women.
Elon Musk stands in the Oval Office with his four-year-old son on his shoulders. Then the son stands next to the Resolute Desk and tells President Trump to “hush” while his dad is talking. Can you imagine the comments that would surface if a woman had done the same thing with her young child in the Oval Office? Editorials galore would be written about her lack of professionalism.
Vice President Vance brought his whole family to Germany for the Munich Security Conference. Photographers captured several photos of his wife and three children exiting the plane. Not sure why the whole family was on this “business trip.”
Let’s just say Kamala Harris had won the Presidency and decided to attend the Super Bowl. It is estimated that Trump’s little jaunt cost taxpayers between $15 to $20 million, which included Secret Service protection, Air Force One travel at a cost of about $3,000 per minute, a motorcade, stadium security upgrades, local law enforcement overtime and personnel. Had Harris decided to make such a boondoggle, the uproar would have been through the rafters. Oh, and by the way, Trump left at half-time. (I decided not to add up the cost of Trump’s truncated-because-of-rain trip to the Daytona 500 on Sunday which included an Air Force One fly-over and a pace lap around the track in the presidential limo.)
And what if Harris had tried to profit from her election? The Wall Street Journal has estimated that since Trump won this election, he and his family have made more than $80 million. This includes donations to his library, a $10 million settlement with Elon Musk’s X, and millions from “meme coin” cryptocurrency ventures. In addition, the Trump Store launched 168 new products between Election Day and Inauguration Day, some of that money eventually going directly into Trump’s pocket. Such grift is unprecedented. No other president in the history of this country has done anything close, and for whatever reason, no agency seems to be reining in this profiteering.
During his campaign, Trump frequently stated that he wanted to be a “protector of women whether they like it or not.” (Perhaps he would have profited from DEI training.)
When you examine the demographics of voters who voted for Trump, the dynamics are interesting. Trump frequently alluded to the fact that men needed to take back control and assert dominance over their women. So disempowered men voted for Trump so that they would feel more powerful.
Many women who manage the budgets in their households voted for Trump because of the rising cost of groceries, even though many of these same women also voted for protecting a woman’s right to choose.
Project 2025 specifically states its desire to roll back feminist gains and replace them with “conservative Christian family values.” Hence, the J.D. Vance “childless cat ladies” and “helping raise children is the whole purpose of the post-menopausal women” comments. (Tabulations are currently being run on how many pregnant Federal workers were fired last week during the Trump/Musk purge of Federal employees.)
During the campaign, Trump frequently said that Harris would not be able to hold her own against “world leaders.” He claimed they would make mincemeat of her. So, what do we have instead? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Berlin telling leaders that Ukraine should not expect to reclaim its pre-war borders or become a member of NATO—essentially giving away the store before negotiations begin. And Vice President J.D. Vance scolding European leaders, telling them that they are the real concern—not China or Russia. After his remarks, Vance met with far-right Alternative for Germany Party Leader Alice Weidel.
Trump has awarded several men accused of sexual assault with powerful posts—Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK, Jr. And then, of course, there is his own sordid past. In short, he doesn’t seem to have a problem with men asserting control over women. Couple that with his whole gender ideology stance which makes it much more difficult to uncover inequities in politics, the labor market, and society in general.
So, I guess we’re lucky to have such strong sophisticated talented white men at the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine—men like Trump, Hegseth, and Vance. And we are saved from Harris, as Trump said during the campaign, “They look at her and they say we can’t believe we got so lucky. They’re going to walk all over her.”
Yes indeed, we have master negotiators doing “the art of the deal” who are caving to Vladimir Putin’s demands, and, as Hamilton might say, President Zelensky wasn’t even “in the room where it happened.”
Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.
Maggie Andersen says
This is an especially good one, Maria! It’s infuriating!
Susan Delean-Botkin says
It is beyond infuriating!! The double standard thrives in Republican America. And very interesting that not one Republican congressman has called Trump out on any of this. They have supported his bottom of the barrel Cabinet picks, don’t bother to do their job as legislators, and have forgotten their oath to protect and defend the Constitution.
A great place to decrease spending is Congressional salaries, staff and offices – no work – no pay.
Maria W. Grant says
Thanks Maggie. Each day the news seems to get worse.
Darrell Parsons says
While agree with your point of view, I think it’s pointless to compare what would have happened if a Democrat did the things that the Republicans are currently doing. What I am learning, is that the Republicans who are supporting Trump? Don’t care about any of that. And I don’t think that any amount of talking about it is going to change that. I think the only way we can hope for change, is to be alert for every possible opportunity to show that I don’t support what is going on. One of those opportunities coming up is a protest in front of Andy Harris‘s office in Cambridge on Friday. Nothing is going to change Harris‘s mind, but I think it’s important that those of us who disagree with him are visible.
Maria Grant says
Darrell, I agree completely. The protest in front of Andy Harris’ office is a great idea.
Judith T Leight says
You forget that Clarence Thomas was also accused of sexual assault by Anita Hill
Ginger From says
Thank you for your column. It’s heartbreaking what they’re trying to do.
Wilson Dean says
The all-male quartet of Trump -Vance-Hegseth-Kennedy reveals they all share two traits. First, they are extraordinarily incompetent. Second, their deep insecurities lead them to have an extraordinary fear of strong women. How sad our country must suffer from this relegation of women to second class status because of these men’s’ feelings of inadequacy.
Maria Grant says
Wilson, thanks for your comment. It’s also sad that so many women voted for this ticket.
Ann Farrell says
Appreciate column and perspective.
Recent post by respected contributor “normalized” Trump – compared policies, style, entertainment with other politicians, failing to cite Trump’ diagnosed psychosis or New Right movement behind him.
Dr. Bandy Lee (50 renowned psychiatrists) detail in “The MORE Dangerous Case of Donald Trump” his narcissistic personality disorder, meeting all 9 DSM-defined criteria, 5 needed for diagnosis. Per Dr. Lee (violence expert) his devolving pathology now focused on destruction.
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Google “New Right Curtis Yarvin” for MUSK/Theil/Vance/billionaire tech bros’a nti-democracy; pro-dictator Oligarchy, Crypto; anti-ERA and-LGBT views, seeing need to destroy government RAPIDLY before people wake up.
Maria Grant says
Ann, thanks for sharing this additional information. Informative but also frightening!
Jerry Kenney says
Elon Musk should be praised for making it ok to take toddlers to work. He is breaking that glass ceiling for both men and women.
Let me see if I got this right, Republican men don’t have to be found guilty of a crime, they only have to be “accused” to be guilty? When democracy isn’t enough, the courts can and should imprison political opponents regardless of the law or the evidence? Simply claiming to uphold the constitution will justify any unconstitutional actions? And when the other side wins an election, never question why voters rejected your side? Just double down on the same unpersuasive envy-filled rhetoric?
Maria Grant says
Jerry, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges in the NY case. Also I am happy to report I suffer no envy of the Republican Party. At this point, I am embarrassed by pretty much everything this administration does.
Jerry Kenney says
Maria, I posted that the left thinks it’s ok to “imprison political opponents regardless of the law or the evidence”. Hence, 34 felonies. You made my point. Also, the entire belief system of the left is centered on envy.
Montel Setter says
Full-on TDS!!!
Mickey Terrone says
I am embarrassed and disgusted with Trump and his entourage of fascist handlers for this cowardly betrayal of Ukraine and of America’s world leadership role. That Trump would lie overtly to the American people that Ukraine started the war and called Zelenskyy a “dictator”, is beyond appalling to me as an American.
Trump believes Americans will unquestioningly accept any lie he blurts out. Millions seemed to believe Haitians in Springfield, Ohio were eating the dogs and cats of the white residents there despite the denials of many of Springfield’s white residents. They believed his denials of interest in Project 2025.
Now, those voters who provided Trump with his 1.5% voting plurality can watch as he and his insider think tank of fascists act to betray the Ukranian people, our European allies and the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and families who sacrificed and many of whom are buried where they fell fighting fascists between 1941 and 1945. The Ukrainian people have suffered terribly to preserve their democratic freedoms. Putin has ravaged them, their cities, their infrastructure and killed and injured nearly 500,000 soldiers and civilians in the process.
Prior to this week’s betrayal of the Ukranian people and our democratic allied in NATO, Americans knew that Trump has repeatedly praised Putin. Yet many of you who consider yourselves to be patriots voted for him anyway, claiming that it was an economy driven vote. If you are a Democrat who failed to vote for Harris because of Biden’s position on the Palestinian issue, you’ll have 4 years to stew in your own juices over Trump’s heinously evil (and probably self-serving) plan to rid Gaza of Gazans while building a new Riviera.
America is rapidly descending into a Germany-1933 version of Amerika. Musk clearly signaled this with his emphatic Heil Hitler salute. A Republican friend suggested to me the Supreme Court would serve as a safety net against Trump, et al’s, fascist, authoritarian initiatives. As I walked away decidedly unconvinced of his suggestion, I thought about SCOTUS’ decision to allow a president to commit criminal acts so long as those acts are within the official duties of the president.
I hope y’all are proud of your votes for Trump and the Musk character who bought Trump. Bless your hearts, but our country is already a lesser place because of Donald J. Trump and his accomplices.
Maria Grant says
Mickey, well said as usual.
Sarah Oppenheimer says
Serious question – do you truly believe Elon Musk made a heil hitler salute?
Mickey Terrone says
Serious answer: YES! It was an emphatic, forceful thrust with a stone-cold look on his face. Musk followed up by meeting cordially with the far right wing German latter day fascists. OK, I know he wasn’t wearing a brown shirt with a swastika, but we shouldn’t require a signed affadavit confirming his intentions.
Sarah Oppenheimer says
Musk absolutely did not make a nazi salute. The idea that he would stand up and make a nazi salute in front of a crowd was so widely mocked that the corporate media dropped it pretty much right away. Trump did not call Neo Nazis or white supremacists very fine people. He specifically condemned them in the following sentence but the clip was edited and falsely repeated so many times by the democrats and corporate media that people became brainwashed to believe it. Go and watch the 2017 press conference yourself. This is the truth. It is obvious and undeniable. I understand that to admit you believed these lies is painful and of course you will likely never approve of Trump or anything he does but please!!!! And I hope everyone on here sees this… PLEASE stop with the NAZI lies. It is deeply deeply offensive.
Mickey Terrone says
Ms. Oppenheimer, perhaps you think Musk was waving to someone in the crowd. Yet the crowd was Germany’s far right-wing extremist party, the latter-day N-word party, in Germany of all places for Musk to proclaim his political expression. Musk, for at least $250 Millions, has outright bought from Trump his immense influence to undermine and transform our great American democratic republic into a far-right wing, fascist oligarchy. As the richest man in the world, Musk is an oligarch who invested a quarter billion dollars to profit in the billions from the Trump Administration, by not paying taxes, eliminating any government regulations and paying for it by firing many thousands of hardworking government employees, regardless of the impact on public safety, public health or the continuity of providing services for the American people.
Trump, for his part, is in lockstep with Musk, bent on overturning our democracy, and setting himself up, whether you acknowledge it or not, as a political strongman like his idol, Putin. You seem to believe that Trump is innocent of trying to overturn the election of 2020 by violent means, overtly encouraging the mob that he invited to the January 6th, 2017 Putsch. That was an overt act of fascism by a man unworthy of Americans’ trust. His words and acts are prima facie evidence that he has committed criminal acts against our constitution. That he has been able to evade trial is a sham of justice. You also seem to believe he was falsely convicted on those 34 counts of business fraud in NY State. Do you believe those Haitians in Springfield, Ohio were eating the dogs and cats as of the local citizens Trump claimed? If not, why do you think made such an outrageously false, fear-mongering claim?
You appear to be personally offended by my claim of Musk’s nazi salute, as if you can deny with any certainty he wasn’t aping that nazi salute. Yet you didn’t explain what he was doing by thrusting his right arm forward while he was appearing before a far-right wing German political rally. It seems to me, however, that while you blissfully ignore most all of Trump and Musk’s transgressions, you demand that others do so as well. And when you can’t or won’t provide a reasonable explanation of what Musk was actually signaling, you attempt to take it personally, as if you are being personally accused for Musk’s act. I think its deeply, deeply disturbing that some folks just believe everything Trump and Musk say, no matter how obvious, and just don’t want to hear the criticism. And BTW, how have the “corporate media” mocked Musk’s nazi salute?
Deirdre LaMotte says
Mickey, well said. What is concerning is General McCaffrey’s remark today that NATO is finished.
His point is that the trust has been lost. Imagine any of our allies sharing sensitive intelligence with us?
They will not. It puts their operatives in harms way because they, and many of us, cannot trust
Trump or his cabinet of degenerates. Any of them. This is an alliance that has help secure peace longer than any other in the history of the world.
All shattered because of an “elected” man who is compromised/infatuated by a thug dictator who
assassinates opponents in the most gruesome way. Just think about that.
I find this personally offensive. My father was a NATO War Planner after being in Viet Nam. He was
with the Sixth Fleet, in command of all marines in Europe.
Dad left Emory University Medical School , his final year, to join up after Pearl Harbor. He fought in three wars defending this nation as did millions of men and women.
Dad, mom, my grandfather and grand mother , my three uncles and my aunts
are all buried at Arlington. You know, the place Trump refers to
as “suckers and losers”.
Danna Murden says
I seem to remember a Obama daughter flying a group of friends to some exotic place for a birthday celebration on taxpayer dollars at an extremely outlandish cost. Oh but her father was a democrat so it was not a problem!
Mickey Terrone says
Ms. Murden, perhaps you forgot, but during his first term, President Trump spent $138 million on his golf trips after claiming he’d be too busy working for he American people to play golf. But thanks for calling attention to your vague recollection of Obama’s daughter’s alleged “outlandish” birthday trip, undocumented as it is. You are quite the keen-eyed watchdog.
https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/us/donald-trumps-golf-trips-have-cost-us-taxpayers-whopping-138-dollars-million
Deirdre LaMotte says
LOL! And Trump has spent 25% of his first month in office playing golf, speeding around Daytona,
attending the Super-bowl and the rest of his time probably throwing ketchup on the Oval’s wall.
Oh yeah, sleeping through Musk’s presser and auto penning decrees.
All the while we have lost our stability, allies, common sense and the dollar will fall soon
Meanwhile, we have DOGE Incels firing people involved with nuclear weapons safety. Gosh, then rehired when they finally find their phone numbers. WTH? This is what happens when End of Time Christians collaborate with the Brainless and Feckless.
Can we all just please stop and realize how sick this man and his little army of Nazis are?
Glenn Glasgow says
While surmising what could have been, I wonder what would have been said, had the Republican party anointed President Trump as their candidate, instead of having the people vote on the candidate. It’s odd that the Democratic party did away with democracy themselves. Yes there is a double standard.
Now you want to protest everything, and everyone that was voted in by the majority. Please stop behaving like sore losers.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Please stop with the platitudes. The only reason Trump is President is Musk. Period. He owns him and
the spineless GOP who would wet their Depends if they crossed Musk.
You want to talk about “sore losers” when we are abandoning all our allies, abandoning a democratic nation that was invaded? You despise “democracy” correct? Because autocracy is what we are becoming.
As Steve Schmidt, Sen. McCains Presidential campaign director said recently:
Hitler was powerful, but he was not someone who decent people consider great.
Especially when it comes to the American presidency, one should never conflate power with greatness.
A truly great American president accomplishes two things:
He (or, one day, hopefully, she) significantly improves the wellbeing of the American people (and not to the detriment of others in the world).
Second, he strengthens the processes and institutions of American democracy.
These two goals require that a president be a moral leader. A president inevitably helps set the moral tone of the nation.
This is an anathema to Trump. He would not know “moral” if it hit him in the face.
HR Worthington says
If I take at face value your critique of Mr. Trump and his rouge’s gallery of misogynist spendthrifts, how do you explain their ascension to elected office and the failure of your own party to defeat these improvident misanthropes? If the answer is that you have concluded that a plurality of the electorate is some combination of stupid and bigoted, then I might suggest it is time for you to move. I lived in Europe for quite some time. In my experience, I suspect you would find the nations there more noble by your standards and the people more agreeable by your temperament. Warm regards, HR.
Deirdre LaMotte says
When a huge swath of our nation has marinaded in Fox hate for 34 years on military bases,barber shops, airport lounges and everyone’s red state houses, it is no wonder they’ve been lobotomized.
Propaganda has been the go-to resource forever. It is the number one reason Hitler was allowed
to destroy democracy in 54 days. It was all planned years before. Why do you think there was a cabinet level “Propaganda Minister in the Third Reich?
One reason Trump had Hitler’s book on his nightstand…..gullible people. Apparently it has worked but I
am of the belief 250 million dollars of Musk $$$ had a huge impact.
Two hundred bomb scares (said to be Russian inspired) took place in swing states, especially in Pennsylvania that caused polling places to be emptied (except for?). The seven swing states exhibited an impossible probability of having vote counts within the margins that eliminate required automatic vote recounts. No one since Reagan has had such results and he won 49 out of 50 states by a true landslide. Trump won by 1% of the popular vote or so. Trump, a convicted felon who couldn’t stop obsessing about the results of the 2020 election, was cool as a senile cucumber all during our interminable election season, saying “we have all the votes we need” on at least one occasion” He also directly praised Elon Musk’s efforts and familiarity with the voting machines and his prolonged presence in Pennsylvania, making a senile confession. He ran to stay out of prison, and the agitation from that worry should have made him almost apoplectic. No such behavior was displayed.
And now we are here and will fight.
HR Worthington says
I see your point about gullible people subject to propaganda, but perhaps not in the way you mean it.
Speaking of propaganda, what do you make of Hunter Biden’s laptop? Do you think it was odd that 51 intelligence officials said that it had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” which became the pretext for censoring the story on social media right before the election? Do you think I am unhinged conspiracy theorist if I happen to think that odd, but I am not if I believe that Elon Musk hacked voting machines and phoned in bomb scares? Serious question. I would sincerely like to know your thoughts.
P.S. I am certainly glad you are staying put.
Mickey Terrone says
I’ll add to Dierdre’s accurate comments that Trump’s anti-immigrant fear campaign to disinform the public into a frightened, deluded mass had much to do with tapping into many Americans’ centuries-old concerns/biases about people of different colors or religions. Trump’s passionate claim that Haitians were “eating the dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, was an unimaginably horrendous, bigoted lie. You’d think thoughtful Americans would have wondered why Trump would utter such ugly falsehoods unless he was working to strike fear into peoples’ minds. He was obviously fear-mongering because many honest white folks in Springfield publicly claimed the local Haitian immigrants did not do those things. I suppose many of those same true believers bought into the QAnon predictions back in 2020. “Believers” with that type of zombie mentality are easy targets for sophisticated propagandists.
Of course, that type of propaganda was well financed, so don’t underestimate the effect of Musk’s $250 Millions and the dark money from other anti-democratic moguls anxious to save billions by tax evasion with another Trump Administration. The fear mongering and falsehoods/distortions were repeated in online media and TV network ad buys. And lest you forget, it was none other than Dr. Josef Goebbels who pronounced the message that “The bigger the lie, the better.”
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the (I’ll be nice) naivete of too many Democrats and Independents to buy into suggestion that they’d punish Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by not supporting Harris because of the Palestinian issue. Its also their fault, too, that we face this catastrophic attack on our democratic republic and our abandonment of the leadership of the free world by embracing the influence of that monstrous dictator Putin.
What kind of American doesn’t feel viscerally sick at the thought of abandoning Ukraine and our NATO allies? Right, Trump’s zombies.