Who is Really Getting Screwed? By Maria Grant

Over the last several months, President Trump and his minions have repeatedly claimed that America is getting screwed. Foreign countries have rigged the rules of the game. They cheat, they plunder, they rob. Most of these claims center around trade imbalances. Of course, none of these issues are simple matters of math. Rather they involve complex concepts involving scale, natural resources, location, and so much more. (Personally, I agree with President Reagan when he said that over the long run trade barriers eventually hurt American workers and consumers.)

Here are a few examples of America getting screwed, according to the Trump train.

The European Union was formed to screw America. 

China, Mexico, and Canada are screwing America because of trade deficits. 

Immigrants are screwing America by committing crimes and draining our resources. 

The Media is screwing America with fake news, spreading lies and working against the Administration.

Elite academic institutions are screwing America by embracing “woke” policies and propagating “anti-American values.”   

Employers’ DEI initiatives are screwing America, resulting in unqualified applicants obtaining positions, and more qualified applicants being pushed aside. 

The Federal Reserve Board is screwing America by delaying the lowering of interest rates.

America is being conned on environmental issues, specifically regarding climate change and renewable energy. Trump’s exact words: “The greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” 

Americans are getting screwed because the federal government gives too much money to support developing countries—way more than America’s fair share. Hence the demolition of USAID and other humanitarian assistance.

Sigmund Freud developed a psychoanalytic theory called projection–the concept of accusing others of what you are guilty of. Let’s take a closer look at exactly who is screwing who. A short list of people and entities that Trump has screwed follows. 

A chauffeur driver sued Trump because he never got paid for mammoth amounts of overtime pay.

A Philadelphia cabinet maker filed bankruptcy because Trump refused to pay the final cabinet bill.

A drapery business in Las Vegas closed because Trump shorted it on its final bill to a tune of $380,000.

A contractor that installed toilet partitions in Trump’s Atlantic City casino received only 30 cents on the dollar. The contract was for $23l,0000. The contractor received $70,000. 

Trump hired 200 undocumented immigrants from Poland to build Trump Tower. No records were kept. No Social Security payments or taxes were paid. No overtime was paid to workers who frequently worked twelve-hour days. 

A piano seller who sold several grand and upright pianos to Trump’s casino was screwed out of $30,000—a huge hit for a small business. 

Thousands of students were defrauded by Trump University, a for-profit real estate seminar that Trump’s team developed which was not accredited. 

Trump’s charity was formed only for personal and political purposes and was eventually forced to shut down. 

Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has taken or proposed at least 350 actions that directly threaten the environment, climate, and human health, including rollbacks of environmental and health laws, and attacking well-established science and scientists—essentially screwing progress for a safer and healthier environment for current and future generations. 

Last year, more than 1.1 million international students contributed $448 million to the U.S. economy. The Trump administration’s draconian cuts to research and stricter regulations around international students are screwing Americans—the former brain gain is becoming a major brain drain as universities and think tanks outside the U.S encourage students and researchers to come to their shores. 

In spite of Trump’s claims that DEI initiatives result in incompetence at all levels, Trump’s current cabinet has been ranked the third worst in history. (Warren G. Harding’s came in first and Ulysses S. Grant’s came in second.) Trump’s cabinet has been criticized for lack of qualifications, appointments based on loyalty over capability, conflicts of interest, and overall, extremely poor vetting. The result: America is screwed by not receiving competent advice based on deep expertise on issues such as health, defense, intelligence, justice, and education. 

Since the shutdown of USAID in July of this year, it has been reported that an estimated 526,610 deaths have been caused by the funding discontinuation, including more than 355,620 children. Trump just gave Argentina USAID’s entire yearly budget— a $20 billion bailout (which may soon become $40 billion) that will primarily benefit various extremely wealthy hedge fund managers. 

Trump’s contentions that he has been screwed, shorted, and abused, along with the rest of America, are beyond absurd. This is a man who has cheated on every one of his three wives, shorted literally hundreds of vendors, shirked from paying his fair-share of taxes, and participated in a host of fraudulent schemes.

As a result of Trump’s policies, the national debt has increased, trade wars are running rampant, environmental policies have been rolled back, healthcare premiums are rising, scientific research is being stymied, and political polarization is increasing.

 One man, his administration, and his cohorts are the screwees. Science, affordable healthcare, the environment, the ill and disadvantaged, developing countries, our allies, and future generations are the victims. 

---

Maria Grant, formerly the principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm, now focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.