Can someone help me contact Taylor Sheridan? You know, the creator of Yellowstone, 1923, 1883 and other hit miniseries involving the Dutton Family. I want to pitch an idea to him. My series would be “Trump 2.0: A House of Cards,” not the most original title, but it fits.
My brainstorm arrived after I had already completed a draft column for this week titled, “Is the Trump honeymoon over?” I speculated that the public, even here on the Eastern Shore, was starting to question some of what Trump and Musk are doing and realizes that America now finds itself in the middle of a “clusterf**k.”
That column, written only yesterday, has been superseded by events. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally included the editor of The Atlantic on a group text chat about war plans focused on Yemen’s Houthis. The editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, received full, detailed plans for the proposed military action and heard a discussion of actions, including this comment from Vice President Vance: “I just hate bailing out Europe again.”
Pete Hegseth, a ready-made character for a Taylor Sheridan mini-series if there ever was one, is now in a heap of trouble, not only for his role in the chat, held on a non-government message service called Signal, but for lying about the incident after The Atlantic published Mr. Goldberg’s report on it.
The incident, likely to be remembered as one of the worst security breaches in recent history, is not the first stumble for the new Trump administration. It is their 100th, with the mistakes coming days after Trump won the election. Remember Matt Gaetz?
By the way, when President Trump was asked about the breach, he said he hoped Mike Waltz had learned his lesson. Really? Nobody is going to be fired?
But I digress. My point isn’t just that the Trump administration is making mistakes, it is how they are making them. That is where Mr. Sheridan might be interested. Think about the drama and the colorful characters.
The new President strips security details from his predecessor’s family and continues to ridicule the ex-president four months after defeating him.
The President’s marriage appears to be a sham, with the First Lady living in New York and the world’s richest man, a wild Nazi-saluting self-described “genius”, basically moving into the White House.
The President is selling cryptocurrency and other junk while in office. Meanwhile, Netflix pays Melania Trump $40 million to do a biopic of her.
The President appoints a “border czar” who proclaims, “I don’t care what the courts say,” after he ignores court orders and rounds up suspected Venezuelan gang members and deports them with no due process. (The incident reminds me of the “train station” in “Yellowstone,” and that is not a good thing.)
The President’s son rubs cocaine on his gums while watching Elon Musk’s Starship lift off. (Part of the rocket later exploded.)
The President’s ex-daughter-in-law starts dating the man who was once the world’s greatest golfer.
The President redecorates the Oval Office with lots and lots of gold. He also awards Boeing a $20 billion contract for a new jet fighter dubbed the “F-47.”
Then there are the minor characters. One is the son of a Democratic Party icon who sells his soul to Trump after he unsuccessfully runs for president. The son is a conspiracy theorist and former heroin addict. Another is a former governor who disclosed, in her autobiography, that she had once shot her dog in a quarry because it was not easily trained.
You get the idea. The open credits could show a handful of Trump’s buildings and golf courses, a Tesla Cybertruck, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller being himself, and a stack of Executive Orders.
It would not be difficult to find subplots for the first three or four seasons of the series. You have the President’s criminal past, including the failed insurrection, lots of sex scandals, lots of extortion, including against universities and law firms, and, of course a dozen or so Republican legislators, including an extreme-right wing anesthesiologist now representing Maryland, kissing Trump’s behind as the world’s economy (thanks to tariffs) drifts to recession and chaos and Trump himself drifts into insanity.
We should be grateful that people are finally organizing to say “Enough!” to Trump 2.0. It is not too late to save democracy, but it won’t happen unless the Trump Show is cancelled.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
HR Worthington says
You may be correct John, but yesterday CNN’s Harry Enten reported that Trump is “basically more popular than he was at any point in term number one, and more popular than he was when he won election back in November of 2024.” He continues in his usual animated fashion: “The bottom line is, the percentage of Americans who say we’re on the right track is through the roof…and if you were to compare it to when presidents have historically been re-elected, of course, Trump is not constitutionally eligible to run for re-election, but I think it sort of puts it in perspective, 42 percent of the country says the country is on the right track when the incumbent party is re-elected.”
You see old boy, for all of the transparent hucksterism of this administration, and there is enough to go around, your side’s answer is vandalizing Teslas (mostly peacefully), DC judges demanding that Venezuelan gangs be returned to the United States and defending vast sums of Federal waste. And, while what you allege is (in part) true, your moral indignation rings hollow after years of whistling past Hunter Biden’s Laptop, Hillary Clinton’s Server and the aforementioned DC spendthrift policy preferences on immigration being forced upon the electorate. This is why Trump remains popular: a pangolin will catch a cold from a cave bat before the Democrats abandon this playbook.
Nonetheless, from your provincially partisan view of things, there is good news…Trump will inevitably fall in the polls. However, until your side embraces something resembling a credible answer that isn’t a rehash of the same Beltway cocktail of DC-class entitlement mixed with superciliousness and patronization of the non-college “educated” working class, they are, to put it delicately, royally buggered. More people read the NY Post than the Atlantic, but regardless, these poll numbers don’t reflect how much Trump is loved…they reflect how much the Democratic party is loathed.
Good luck pitching your show though. By the way, how are the hat sales going? -HR
Melissa Cona says
Yes…Hilary’s emails…Hunters laptop… It’s the sanctimonious Democrats that just can’t move on, right?
Here are the facts: Trump’s cabinet, including the DNI, CIA Director, and a cabinet member IN MOSCOW used an unclassified, unencrypted app to share war plans, emojis, and insults towards our Allies creating a significant risk for our servicemembers who could have been killed.
Are you not concerned about the risk of malware on said Cabinet members’ phones putting your Dear Leader at risk?
Are you not worried about the complete destruction of trust between the US and our intelligence partners? We desperately need their trust and information based on the actions of the clown show running our national security. We need their help to protect ALL Americans.
These individuals committed CRIMES and a non-autocratic government would swiftly act to protect our leaders and the American people.
News flash: our enemies are not going to save the humans wearing red hats.
John Dean says
Well said! Thank you for this comment. I agree.
HR Worthington says
I get your point, but I am just explaining why no one cares and thus why Mr. Dean’s Hollywood ambitions might be dashed. You can’t in one breath defend a non-compos mentis President (who by right should have been removed from office under the 25th amendment) and who thus presided over a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan while leaving the southern border open; and then in the next breath histrionically pearl-clutch over this episode as if you are the sovereign arbiter of what constitutes a dire threat to national security. Sorry, madame, that just doesn’t work. Maybe worth a try, but good luck with it. -HR
P.S. Thank you for acknowledging that people who wear red hats are Americans deserving protection, that is very charitable of you. Perhaps nature is healing, and leftists will soon stop burning Teslas.
Deirdre LaMotte says
You want to know why? At this point it has nothing to do with R vs D . Our nation is at crisis. It is between
authoritarianism and democracy.
Yes. That simple
William Keppen says
You nailed it, Mr. Dean. Thank you.
John Dean says
Thank you for your kind words. They are very much appreciated.
Davis says
Great essay, Mr. Dean. Keep up the good work!
Reed Fawell 3 says
Might the Democrat Party today be a collapsed House of Cards.
And,
Might this “article” be a rant of a shattered True Believer whose God has collapsed around him, leaving him mad.
Wilson Dean says
The absurdity of Trump and his cult begs the question as to whether enough of those who currently support Trump turn on him before he drags America into ruin,or if they’ll just mindlessly follow him as he sends us all into the abyss
Reed Fawell 3 says
Projection onto your opponents is the sign of confusion, exhaustion, desperation, despair, and defeat.
John Dean says
I know this comment was directed at another Dean, but can you translate? Thanks.
Sarah Oppenheimer says
Mr Dean – you seem like an intelligent and genuine person so I say this respectfully. If you actually believe that Elon Musk made a nazi salute you are the one in a cult. You sound like a moron (which you obviously are not) if you keep repeating the Nazi propaganda. I doubt you will but you can go look to see that just about every public figure out there has made the same heart ‘waving’ gesture. If the democrats ever want to win anything ever again the Nazi stuff really needs to stop. I have been trying to tell you guys, but actually keep going… as you can see it is now working in President Trump’s favor. He has never been more popular.
John Dean says
I’m not sure what you are trying to say here other than that I sound like a moron. Are you telling me that Adolf Hitler was just making “heart ‘waving’ gestures at his many rallies in the 1930s?
Also, I don’t recall repeating any Nazi propaganda. I think you might be mistaking me for a few of the President’s appointees.
Also, let me politely ask if you know what a “cult” is.
Finally, if you don’t see attacks and retribution against judges, lawfirms, the press, and former Republicans like LIz Cheney as “Nazi stuff,” you are missing something.
sarah Oppenheimer says
You have written multiple pieces stating as fact that Musk made a Nazi salute and that President Trump called Neo Nazi’s fine people. Can you honestly say that you believe these things to be true? You believe that Elon Musk would make a nazi salute at an event that would be televised to the world? And that the majority of Americans would support it?? I apologize for the cult comment – that was too far. But I am so astounded that people continue to repeat these lies. It is so damaging. And it is one of the main reasons Trump is back in the White House which you clearly do not want. It is also why the corporate media is dying.
Craig Michael says
H.R. you are spot on. Dean drank too much of the kool aid. Thanks for calling him out.
J. Dean says
I don’t drink Kool-Aid. RFK, Jr. says there is too much sugar in it.
Deirdre LaMotte says
The whole Trump fiasco shows what happens when you remove diversity and white male incompetency is placed on full display. So they lie; no one else to blame.
Can I post something I saw recently that really struck me? Here it is:
Sue gets up at 6 a.m. and fills her coffeepot with water to prepare her morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.
With her first swallow of coffee, she takes her daily medication. Her medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of her medications are paid for by her employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Sue gets it too.
She prepares her morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Sue’s bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the shower, Sue reaches for her shampoo. Her bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for her right to know what she was putting on her body and how much it contained.
Sue dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air she breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
She walks to the subway station for her government-subsidized ride to work. It saves her considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Sue begins her work day. She has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Sue’s employer pays these standards because Sue’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union.
If Sue is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, she’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn’t think she should lose her home because of her temporary misfortune.
It’s noon and Sue needs to make a bank deposit so she can pay some bills. Sue’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Sue’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Sue has to pay her Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and her below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Sue and the government would be better off if she was educated and earned more money over her lifetime.
Sue is home from work. She plans to visit her father this evening at his farm home in the country. She gets in her car for the drive. Her car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.
She arrives at her childhood home. Her generation was the third to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification.
She is happy to see her father, who is now retired. Her father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Sue wouldn’t have to.
Sue gets back in her car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn’t mention that Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Sue enjoys throughout her day. Sue agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I’m self-made and believe everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have.”
Indeed
HR Worthington says
So, to summarize, Sue owes everything to the Left. From her drinking water, food and shelter to her job; if it wasn’t for Liberals she would, by implication, be unhealthy and poor. Any failure to realize this amounts to unforgivable ingratitude towards her benevolent government and spoiled ignorance towards how good she really has it. The failure of the radio host to point out that Republicans stand athwart maintaining this American Eden amounts to misinformation of the highest order. (For some inexplicable reason she is not a government-funded NPR listener.) Thus, the only remedy is, of course, the appointment of an information “czar” to ensure such kidology is duly corrected. For if it is not ameliorated swiftly, authoritarians might overthrow this utopian democracy by getting themselves elected. After all, Sue, despite her high-paying job, is clearly has the reasoning ability of a brick. Her progressive betters are clearly doing her yet another undeserved favor.
Indeed. -HR
Deirdre LaMotte says
Yeah, hard pill to swallow Mr MAGA. It’s amazing how so many Trump supporters say they support Trump and Musk getting rid of the fraud and waste, without realizing they’re getting rid of their Social Security healthcare, Medicare. You know, everything that was brought to you by the Democratic Party!🥳
There is no dialogue between Democracy and fascism, none
HR Worthington says
It is you who support MAGA, madame, not I. Mr. Trump himself could not conceive of a more effective advertisement for his side. Nonetheless, I wish you peace. -HR