The writers at Saturday Night Live see the emerging Trump administration as ripe material. You know the drill. An old, obese, convicted felon with progressive dementia has won the presidency and starts surrounding himself with buffoons.
Although the president-elect doesn’t write much, he has a list of criteria to guide his selections. Nominees must be in your face, over-confident, inexperienced, 100 percent loyal to him, and have at least one skeleton in their closet.
Such criteria for nominees ensure that, despite Trump’s personal decline, he will always consider himself superior to those who work for him.
Since November 5, we have gotten a taste of the type of person who meets the criteria. People accused of sexual assault, with histories of substance abuse, who believe in conspiracy theories, and who don’t hesitate to call undocumented migrants garbage.
If Jeffrey Epstein were alive, one can imagine Trump appointing him to be Secretary of Education.
Personnel decisions are not the only part of Trump 2.0 that is not funny. Have you read the social media posts of Trump’s new director of communications, former director of communications for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Steven Cheung? Mr. Cheung called Ron Desantis “a eunuch,” joked about President Biden needing his diaper changed, and ridiculed Nikki Haley for not ending her campaign against Trump when her defeat seemed all but certain. Cheung tweeted, “The Nikki Haley candidacy is just one giant masturbatory fantasy for Never Trumpers and Democrats.”
And Trump took time off from the task of building Trump 2.0 to attend a UFC fight — events where those lucky enough to be in front-row seats are sometimes splattered with the blood of bare-fisted fighters. Trump attended the event with Elon Musk (I don’t know if he was wearing an “Occupy Mars” t-shirt) and RFK, Jr.
How many 78-year-old fans does “ultimate fighting” have? Will senior MAGA members start filling arenas? Will attendees get a choice between beer and Ensure?
The real comedy of Trump 2.0 will start when his underqualified team takes over on January 20, 2025. Screw-ups are all but certain, especially at the Departments of Defense, Justice, and HHS. And some may consider Tulsi Gabbard giving American secrets away to Russia funny. I don’t. And far from funny will be the damage that will be done to all parts of the U.S. government.
If we did not know better, we might believe that Trump remains so angry after being rejected by voters in 2000 that the retribution he promised to deliver, which will soon begin, will be directed against all of America, not just the justice system and media figures who criticized him.
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.
Mickey Terrone says
Hello John. Welcome to the new Amerika. I don’t think we know the half what Trump and his zombie administration plan to perpetrate. But as of January, 2025 our democratic republic will have will have changed over largely into an oligarchy. Trump zombies control both houses of Congress, the White House and the SCOTUS. I fear our great history and beacon of world leadership are lost to a charlatan demagogue. We are Germany 1933 by the hands of some of our own neighbors. Too many of our people have forgotten the sacrifices of young American antifascists who gave their lives fighting the very fascistic authoritarianism celebrated by Donald Trump. Our country and our allies worldwide are jeopardized by Trumpand his accomplices.
John Dean says
Mickey, I don’t want to write this, but I hope you are wrong. We need a bit of optimism now. The storm, with luck and courage on the part of people who know better, will hopefully pass.
Richard Marks says
Over the recent years, I have wondered about people who have chosen to run for President of the United States. Did they look in the mirror and ask, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, am I qualified to be President?” Doubtful. More likely they pictured themselves behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as they prepared their next stump speech. If I shook my head back then in disbelief over their hubris (and I did), I am now completely dumbfounded at the proposed candidates for Cabinet positions in the second Trump administration.
Warning to anyone vying for one of those positions:
If you look in the mirror and see you do not have a full head of hair or what it takes to look good on television or have allegations of unsavory behavior in your resume, you can kiss any chance goodbye.
Matt LaMotte says
I can’t wait for all those MAGA voters to get what they voted for… Bupkas!
John dEAN says
But when will they realize that they were lied to . . . That is what I worry about.
Art Cecil says
One might have hoped that your out-of-control hate for Trump and his effort to get America back on track would have taken a few months respite after seeing how out-of-touch you are with most Americans. No such luck. Enjoy the country’s ride back to normalcy.
Caroline Thomad says
Almost half the country did NOT vote for Trump.
Art Cecil says
Take away the one-issue, pro abortion vote and what percentage of votes did Trump win? There are many more existential issues facing the country and need a chance to be resolved than whether a voter is pro abortion or not.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece. The Trump transition lost me with the nomination of Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. Even if you disregard his sexual and criminal history, he is about as unqualified to head Justice as my dog, Lucca.
Trump may create a new normal, but it lacks civility, empathy, and ethics.
If you want that, I am sorry for you. Take a look at “the new Trump team.” I look at these nominations and want to puke. I must be missing something . . .
Hal De Bona says
Art, there is nothing “out of control” about one half the country’s disdain for trump. I’m surprised you didn’t call it TDS, or is that now no longer an anachronism of the misguided MAGA crowd? I’ll respectfully remind you of what “out of contol” is: Jan 6
Art Cecil says
The truth is the “Trump” transition lost you once Trump’s electoral victory was secured.
John Dean says
Sorry, I don’t have out-of-control hate for Trump. I must admit, however, that I found his nomination of Matt Gaetz as evidence of serious unfitness for office. Also, I don’t think selecting Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense is part of any “ride back to normalcy.” If you haven’t written the summary of the 22-page police report on Hegseth’s sexual assault of a woman at a Republican conference, I suggest you do so.
And don’t get me started on Tulsi Gabbard. Why would Trump pick a woman who is described as “likely a Russian asset” as Director of National Intelligence?
Wilson Dean says
Were someone to write a book about a President-elect selecting the kinds of nominees we are seeing from Trump, it would be rejected by the publishing world for its being totally preposterous. Which is exactly what it is.
There is growing sense among people agonizing over this election that Americans did not learn their lesson from the first Trump presidency because too many well-intentioned, capable people continued to work in the government and were successful at curbing Trump’s worst instincts. This time around, surrounded only by extreme loyalists, Trump will have no guardrails.
Then when a new pandemic strikes, perhaps RFK Jr’s refusal to support a vaccine program will kill 3-4 million Americans, instead of just the 1 million who died under COVID-19. Or maybe Trump will stop funding Ukraine and it will be downsized, right before Russia begins to absorb parts of Poland. Trump’s national security team, like the President, will skip the intelligence briefings but they can watch Fox News to find out what to do. Perhaps Trump will task the State Department with purchasing Greenland in return for Haiti, just as he wanted to do in his first Administration. This is the tip of the iceberg. But I’m sure this is exactly what the people who voted for Trump want.
John Dean says
As always, your response is remarkably well-written. I wish I could say that I’m looking forward to reading about Trump trying to purchase Greenland for Haiti (which is not part of the United States or a territory), but that would be another nightmare. Trump is an existential threat to everything that decent people believe in.
Paul Rybon says
Mr Dean must have forgotten why a majority of voters voted for DT and a Rep congress and conservatives school boards. Must be a fundamental problem. Maybe the new office holders can solve it and maybe they can’t but we can forever be grateful to them for trying
John Dean says
Thanks for reading my piece. One correction to your conference. Trump did not win a majority of the vote. He won the election, but his vote tally is under 50 percent. Look it up.
Andrea Levinson says
Wow, I don’t know where to begin to respond to everything you said, other than it makes me sad…sad that you seem very out of touch with the reality of the majority of Americans and the mandate for massive change they issued in this election.
Clearly you are getting your “news” from corporate- and elite-funded media, because you parroted all their talking points. Somehow you believe that over half the country are fools, which again makes me sad for you. Those “foolish” people voted to stop the war machine, which just this week has pushed us over another red line and ever closer to World War 3. They voted to restore freedom of speech and to improve the poor health of the people in this country, especially our children. They voted to stop the continual flow of illegal immigrants into this country (including hundreds of thousands of criminals) from all over the world. They voted against inflation. They voted against the hatred of the Left and its media. And the list goes on.
I wish you and your like-minded readers would stop consuming the lies and propaganda that you believe is “news,” and seek out independent news sources on platforms like Substack or podcasters on YouTube. Check out some former Democrat journalists, like Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, Glenn Greenwald and Kim Iversen. There’s a whole other world out there, and there is real news based on facts and truth. And great people who have been working hard to bring about this change. I challenge you to break out of your media bubble and engage with us—more than half the country. It’s not so bad outside the bubble; in fact, it’s pretty great! If you would have an open mind and respectfully give those who disagree with you and your media sources a chance, instead of denigrating them, you’d realize a lot of good things are already happening, with so much more to follow beginning January 20. And I, for one, can’t wait!
Mickey Terrone says
Yes the fundamental problem(s) are racism, bigotry, fear, demagoguery and the susceptability of too many deluded Americans to forget the values and history that brought us to where we are.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading my piece. I read news on Substack and listen to From and Fuller weekly on Thursdays in the Spy. You may want to look at Craig Fuller’s Decade Seven and my Dean’s Insights & Issues. I wish my Substack page were funded by corporations and “elites,” but it isn’t. (And isn’t Truth Social funded and controlled by a billionaire, just like Elon Musk’s X?)
Please also know that Trump did not win the votes of “over half the country.” Over half the country are not fools. They voted for someone other than Trump.
In any case, thank you for commenting. We are on different pages.
Mickey Terrone says
I seriously doubt the majority of Americans are excited about the prospects of our American president kissing Vladimir Putin’s butt, handing Putin important intelligence to endanger our national security and about destroying our strong world leadership partnership position by subverting NATO. What kind of American wants that? Your kind? What kind of American wants to see Ukraine handed over to Putin? The majority? Not a chance. Certainly the dire warnings from many former Trump inner circle and cabinet appointees about his complete incapacity, dishonesty and untrustworthiness to lead this country were sadly ignored by millions of otherwise thoughtful people.
I worry that majority of Americans actually believe the horrendous lie that “They’re eating the dogs……they’re eating the cats in Springfield”. I doubt the majority of Americans believe that immigrants are “vermin, poisoning the blood of America”, not to mention hundreds of other ugly fear mongering lies designed to villify immigrants and frighten gullible people as if we are Germany in 1933, not 2024 in America. If resolving the immigration issue was important to Trump, he would not have stopped his own party from passing the bipartisan immigration bill last year. But he wanted a campaign issue so his congressional lemmings killed the deal. You should be fearful that Republicans in Congress are gutless lemmings.
Any American with investments in IRAs or stocks knows the value of their investments are worth approximately twice what they were when Trump left office. Yet the millions spent on dark money soundbites deluded them into believing otherwise. FOX News, X, and crazed right wing media were able to deceive the majority into agreeing that they were better off 4 years ago. Thay weren’t.
I doubt the majority of Americans believe the January 6th attack on the US Capitol and our constitution were peaceful demonstrations and that the violent mob are “political prisoners” who should be freed. I doubt the majority of Americans support a military tribunal for Liz Cheney for having the courage to speak out against the tyranny of Trump on January 6th. Personally I believe Trump is guilty of attempting to overthrow the constitution and his oath of office to defend the constitution. I believe so because of the mountains of evidence available to the public, just as the mass of evidence in other courts that convicted him of assaulting Jean Carroll and falsifying the value of his assets to secutre bank loans. Maybe you and the majority of Americans believe Trump won the 2020 ecection but for “rigging”. Maybe y’all forgot he lost 60 court cases because there was no evidence to support his false claims. I don’t know whether most Americans believe the 2020 election was actually rigged or if they’re just saying they believe Trump’s Big Lie. I don’t believe the majority is that naive.
I doubt the majority of American Christians want to see 12 million immigrants, most of whom are Catholics caged in prisons waiting to be deported at some time in the future. If that’s what evangelical white christians want, they’re aren’t really Christians, they’re more like white supremacist fascists. I trust that segment of our society is a minority.
I doubt the majority of Americans look forward to the chaos of Trump appointing lunatics like RFK, Jr. to oversee the health system in this country or to have a sexual predator in charge of the Justice Department or a Putin groupie like Tulsi Gabbard with primary responsibility for our intelligence community.
No, ma’am. Americans were deluged with a campaign of fear and misleading rhetoric about immigration and the economy. This was a terrible aberration and we must now stand up against Trump and his elitist, wealthy accomplices to keep us from falling into a Putin-like oligarchy with a handful of his top contributors acting in their own best interests. Musk invested close to $200 million to get Trump elected. But he’ll make that back many times over with the massive tax cuts guaranteed by Trump – even as the national debt will increase once again.
No ma’am, the majority of Americans fell for a mirage of dishonesty, abased propaganda and fear purchased by dark money. The vast majority of Americans don’t want an oligarchy, don’t want the fall of NATO, nor the demise of US world leadership for democracy. We don’t want a circus of incompetence in the cabinet and inner circle or a total upheaval of the government system that has made the USA so great for so long. Above all, this election proved the vulnerability of our democracy to a massively financed campaign of deceit, fear, mysogyny, bigotry and disinformation. And now, true to Trump form, he has interpreted his victory an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” from the American people. In reality, it was one of the narrowest popular vote majorities since the 19th century. But what do facts matter to fascist demagogues or their deluded true believers, anyway?
Lyn Misiaszek says
January 6, 2020.
Lyn Misiaszek says
Oops! Reply I just sent should read January 6, 2021. Sent in haste.
Paul Callahan says
“In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.”
Abraham Lincoln, 1858