Trump says, “America is under attack”. Truer words have never been spoken.
Trump Attacks Socialists as He Speaks at Mount Rushmore
The Wall Street Journal reports Trump Attacks Socialists as He Speaks at Mount Rushmore
“You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot, you cannot be both,” Trump said in front of the monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota that has long caught Trump’s attention.
The president said the American identity is under a renewed attack. “There is now a resurgence of the Communist menace in our land—including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life,” he said.
“For those who would peddle Marxist lies about our heritage—who tell our children that we live on stolen land, or that our heroes were oppressors—they are doing something much worse than slandering our past. They are attacking our future,” Trump said. The Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the land on the Black Hills mountain range was illegally taken.
Trump has mused about adding his face to the monument, though he did not bring it up in his Friday speech.
On the way to South Dakota, guests on Air Force One were served cookies that featured an image of Air Force One flying past the monument with Trump’s face included, according to an Instagram post from the president’s new daughter-in-law, Bettina Trump. Reporters traveling with the president received cookies that didn’t have Trump’s face.
Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota governor and Trump’s former Homeland Security secretary, once gave him a 4-foot-tall replica of the memorial, with his face joining the four presidents.
“Sounds like a good idea to me!” Trump said about the prospect in his first term on social media.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who traveled with Trump to the South Dakota monument, has discussed Trump’s inclusion on it. He told Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump on her Fox News show last year that there was room for the president. Asked recently in an interview with The Wall Street Journal about Trump supporters’ call for the 47th president’s face to be carved into the monument, Burgum didn’t rule it out.
In Trump’s second term, he has sought to put his name and imprint on many things, from commemorative U.S. passports to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Palm Beach International Airport will officially become Donald J. Trump International Airport this month.
In the tax bill passed by Congress last year, savings accounts for children in the U.S. were named Trump Accounts. Trump’s image hangs on banners at many federal buildings in Washington, D.C., a departure from past administrations.
Trump Is an Insult to the U.S.
Trump’s self-glorification is an insult to the United States of America. He acts like he is the king that he wants to be.
No one in the Republican Party is willing to stand up to him other than Rep. Thomas Massie. And that’s an insult to the U.S. in and of itself.
But the problems go beyond insults to actual threats to the United States and the Constitution.
Communism? Really? Where?
Communists are not a threat to the USA.
Trump’s attempts to undermine the free press, label political opponents as treasonous, and pressure the justice system to prosecute rivals are frequently compared by political scientists to the tactics of totalitarian and communist regimes designed to crush dissent.
And Trump has demanded government equity stakes in private companies.
Some have likened those to communism. But that’s not accurate. Rather, they are not good steps, but it’s not the same as China’s practices where the state/party exerts near-total control over strategic enterprises.
Debt Is a Threat
- Trump: Added roughly $7.8 trillion during his first term (2017–2021). Major contributors included the 2017 TCJA tax cuts (reduced revenue), rising pre-COVID deficits, and massive COVID-era spending packages (CARES Act and related measures, which were bipartisan but signed by him). In his current second term, deficits remain elevated amid continued spending, new tariffs, and industrial policy initiatives.
- Obama: Added ~$8–9 trillion (Great Recession response, stimulus, ACA implementation, and wars).
- Biden: Added trillions more (American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act spending/subsidies, and other packages).
- Congress: Both parties routinely pass large spending bills. Entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) are politically untouchable and form the biggest long-term driver.
No recent president has made serious progress on fiscal restraint—deficits and debt growth are a bipartisan failure rooted in political incentives. Trump is a meaningful part of the recent increases, especially via tax cuts and emergency spending, but the structural problems (aging population + mandatory spending) predate and outlast any single administration.
Attacks on the Fed
With unprecedented actions, Trump has attacked the Fed twice. Trump tried to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
These were efforts to pack the Fed with Trump loyalists who would do what Trump wants.
The courts ruled against Trump both times.
Massive Graft
Please consider Trump is looting our country. He just gave us (more) proof.
This week, a new web of conflicts of interest was revealed, in an official report the President filed with the Office of Government Ethics. It’s a catalog of thousands of individual stock trades made by the President earlier this year. Skim it and you’ll find it hard to avoid the conclusion that, to Donald Trump, governing is synonymous with profiteering.
To save you some effort, I’m breaking down the highlights here, along with some legal background and suggested action items and reforms.
Similarly, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board comments The Trump Family and ‘Honest Graft’
They are profiting off the Presidency in ways that demean the office.
Americans tell pollsters they don’t think they are getting ahead financially. But President Trump and his family are having no trouble, judging from his 2025 financial disclosure report released Tuesday. The Trump clan is cashing in on the Presidency in big and sketchy ways.
The 927-page report shows Mr. Trump made some $1.4 billion last year from crypto alone. Yowzers. This includes $635 million in royalties from the memecoin that Mr. Trump launched days before his inauguration. Trump Organization business affiliates make money from what are akin to transaction fees when the memecoin is traded.
Another $593 million came from token and equity sales by World Liberty Financial, whose co-founders include the President, his sons and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Mr. Witkoff’s son, Zach, is its CEO. A business entity affiliated with Mr. Trump and his family members owns a major chunk of World Liberty.
We have detailed some of World Liberty’s dubious deals with foreign actors that may have been trying to buy influence with the Administration.
War in Iran
Presidents have always meddled. But eventually, the president made a case before Congress to support major military efforts.
Trump did not do so. He even lost a symbolic vote in the Senate on the War Powers Resolution Act.
Trump went against the advice of top military leaders, egged on by Israel, and lost one of the stupidest wars in history. He is now seeking a way out of the mess he created.
Now Trump seeks to replenish missiles. Trump requests a huge military budget increase that is tied up in Congress over the SAVE Act.
The ultimate final cost of this unilateral action is unknown.
Breaking Treaties, Threats to Do So, No Respect for Allies
Trump unilaterally broke the USMCA treaty with Canada.
He repeatedly threatened to take Greenland by force.
Trump has no respect for treaties, even those he signed. And he has no respect for allies while demanding complete loyalty to his requests.
As a direct result, Canada and other allies forged closer ties to China.
The SAVE Act
The SAVE Act has stalled in the Senate, fortunately. It is a purposeful effort to disenfranchise women and minority voters who overwhelmingly vote Democratic.
Trump and Republicans portray the SAVE Act as being about Voter ID. It’s a deliberate lie.
If the SAVE Act was about nothing but Voter ID, I would be for it.
For discussion, please see Three Reasons the Save Act Is Unconstitutional
The SAVE Act won’t pass, and that’s a good thing.
Attempt to Steal the Election in 2020
Trump repeatedly and consistently has denied that he lost the election in 2020.
Every claim has been thoroughly debunked multiple times.
Weaponizing the Department of Justice
There is no question that the Trump Administration has weaponized the DOJ.
One can claim that prior administrations and state attorneys general did that to Trump. Fair enough, but two wrongs don’t make a right.
Trump has recklessly pursued cases the courts threw out and will lose those cases on appeal.
He has shattered long-standing institutional norms by using federal law enforcement to target political adversaries, most notably former FBI Director James Comey.
Alongside Comey, the DOJ has launched investigations or secured indictments against other prominent critics, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Trump’s Military Purge Threat
Trump has prioritized loyalty in senior military appointments and publicly criticized parts of the military leadership, which breaks with traditional civil-military norms.
Elevating loyalty tests risks politicizing promotions and eroding competence, readiness, and public trust. Prioritizing loyalty over qualifications in the military is a genuine threat to institutional integrity and should be criticized.
The setup is severe enough that former top military leaders have spoken out on the risk.
Presidential Pardons for Sale
The scope and magnitude of Trump’s second-term pardons are unprecedented. The fact that a president issues more pardons than his predecessors is not necessarily problematic. The real problem lies in the great number of particular second-term pardons that appear indefensible. Such pardons fall into five categories.
For discussion, please see the CATO article President Trump’s Pardons: An Embarrassment of Riches
The Independent reports White House weighs ‘250 pardons for 250 years’ in new wave of clemency to mark America’s birthday
The president has already drawn scrutiny for his acts of clemency, a power granted to him by the Constitution. Since returning to office, he’s issued a historic wave of pardons for white-collar criminals and political allies, including nearly 1,600 January 6 defendants.
“It is general knowledge in our practice that for $2 million, you can have a pardon,” one attorney told the outlet. “The clients come to us and tell us, ‘I’ve been told I need to go hire this specific person, and [then] I will get a pardon.’”
In December 2025, President Trump granted a full and complete pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. Hernández was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States after a federal jury convicted him in 2024 of running Honduras as a violent “narco-state” and assisting in the massive trafficking of narcotics.
The move drew swift, bipartisan criticism from lawmakers, including Senate resolutions condemning the release of a convicted narcotics kingpin.
Other Drug-Related Clemency Actions
In addition to the Hernández case, Trump has commuted the sentences and pardoned other prominent figures connected to major narcotics operations:
- Larry Hoover: The leader of the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples, who was serving multiple life sentences in federal prison for drug and gang-related crimes, received clemency.
- Ross Ulbricht: The creator of the Silk Road online marketplace, convicted of drug distribution conspiracy and computer hacking, had his sentence commuted.
- Alice Marie Johnson: Convicted for her role in a Memphis cocaine trafficking ring, she was freed during Trump’s first term and later appointed to serve as his “pardon czar”
We have a drug lord pardon czar. Lovely.
Epstein
Trump ran on a platform of releasing the Epstein files. Under pressure, Trump even signed a bill mandating Epstein disclosure.
However, millions of documents the law mandates Trump to release have not been released.
Trump has illegally refused to honor a bill he signed. There is no disclosure and won’t be as long as Republicans hold the House and his political cronies man the DOJ.
Trump is protecting pedophiles to protect himself. Released documents have redacted Trump’s name.
Sexual Convictions
Trump was found civilly liable for sexual abuse and defamation against writer E. Jean Carroll.
A judge clarified that the jury’s finding satisfied the common definition of rape.
Weaponizing the Post Office and Election Executive Order Threats
Trump’s aggressive use of executive power over the Post Office and elections erodes trust.
It’s part of Trump’s broader pattern of illegal and even unconstitutional executive orders. His attempt to create a national database of registered voters is nothing short of an effort to steal the election.
The courts have repeatedly ruled that the President lacks constitutional authority to unilaterally dictate election procedures — those powers belong primarily to states and Congress.
Trump knows what he is doing lacks Constitutional authority. Biden did similar things on student loans. But student loan shenanigans and clear attempts to steal the election are two different things.
Trump is correct. “America is under attack.” But it’s not by communists, it’s by Trump.
Pick your top ten from this list.
Communism Is No Threat, Trump Is
- Radical and Unprecedented Presidential Self-Idolization
- Debt
- Attacks on the Fed
- Epstein
- Sexual Convictions
- Massive Graft
- War in Iran
- Military Purge
- SAVE Act
- Pardons for Sale
- Attempt to Steal 2020 Election
- Breaking Treaties, Threats to Do So, No Respect for Allies
- Weaponizing the Post Office
- Weaponizing the Department of Justice
- Election Executive Order Threats
There is no risk of communists taking over the United States.
One could whitewash any one of the things Trump has done, perhaps even several of them.
However, it’s impossible to dismiss them all. President Trump is a proven threat to the United States of America.
But hey, every president has been a threat regarding debt and deficit. Trump is guilty of only fourteen more things.
MAGA Summation
TDS Not
This post will undoubtedly bring out charges of TDS, entirely by people who have it themselves, type II TDS, Trump can do no wrong.
I’m Accused of Never Supporting Trump. Let’s Have a Fact Check – In support of Trump – Mish Praise for Trump
The Facts of the Matter
I am a free market Libertarian and care about ideas, integrity, and doing things legally.
Unlike Trump, I believe in the Constitution and a legal process.
Trump faults the “activist court.” But if Trump was not such an extreme activist with blatantly absurd positions, the court would not be so activist.
In the above link, I count about forty posts supporting Trump. There are undoubtedly another forty, if not a hundred, that I did not find at first glance.
Recently, two people accused me of being a RINO. What a hoot. I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat and frequently take it from both sides.
I am a free market Libertarian who cares about ideas, integrity, and doing things legally. That generally means I don’t like any of them.
My anti-war stance has a perfect track record dating back to the Vietnam War.
Unlike partisan hacks, I take each case on its own merits.
Unfortunately, Trump has been uniquely disgusting as noted above and the related posts below.
Related Posts
January 4, 2021: Trump Sues Georgia Sec of State Over Leaked Phone Call
President Trump in a Saturday telephone call urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the November election results that delivered the state to President-elect Joe Biden.
“I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state,” he told Mr. Raffensperger on the call, adding later, “It’s not a problem that is going away.” Mr. Biden won the state by 11,779 votes out of about 5 million cast.
MR. MEADOWS: What I’m hopeful for is, is there some way that we can – we can find some kind of an agreement to look at this a little bit more fully?
MR. RAFFENSPERGER: Well, I’ve listened to what the president has just said. President Trump, we’ve had several lawsuits, and we’ve had to respond in court to the lawsuits and the contentions. We don’t agree that you have won and we don’t – I didn’t agree about the 200,000 number that you mentioned. But I could go through that point by point. …. we did a hand re-tally, a 100 percent re-tally of all the ballots and compared that to what the machine said, and it came up with virtually the same result. Then we did the recount and we got virtually the same result.
MR. RAFFENSPERGER: Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong. We talked to the congressmen and they were surprised, but they – I guess there was a person named Mr. Braynard that came to these meetings and presented data. And he said that there was dead people – I believe it was upward of 5,000. The actual number were two – two. Two people that were dead that voted. And so that’s wrong. That was two.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And what about – what about the – what about the ballots, the shredding of the ballots? Have they been shredding ballots?
MR. RAFFENSPERGER: No.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: – all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state, and flipping the state is a great testament to our country because, you know, there’s just – it’s a testament that they can admit to a mistake – or whatever you want to call it – if it was a mistake. I don’t know. …. In my opinion it’s never too late. In my opinion it’s never too late. So – oh, a little double – a little double sound there. … So that’s the story, fellows. Look, we need only 11,000 votes. We have far more than that as it stands now. We’ll have more and more, and – do you have provisional ballots at all, Brad? Provisional ballots?
MR. RAFFENSPERGER: Provisional ballots are allowed, you know, by state law.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: – you guys are so wrong and you’ve treated this – you’ve treated the population of Georgia so badly, between you and your governor, who wouldn’t – who was down at 21 – he was down 21 points and, like a schmuck, I endorsed him and he got elected. But I will tell you, he’s a disaster and he’ll never – I can’t imagine. The people are so angry in Georgia I can’t imagine he’s ever getting elected again, I’ll tell you that much right now. But why wouldn’t you want to find the right answer, Brad, instead of keep saying that the numbers are right? Because those numbers are so wrong and –
MR. RAFFENSPERGER: Mr. President, please –
May 24, 2025: Trump’s Attacks on Law Firms Correctly Smacked Again by the Courts
Even if you adore [Trump/Biden], for whatever reason, you are a big problem if you refuse to criticize clear violations of the constitution no matter who is in the White House.
May 27, 2025: Trump Pardons for Sale, What’s the Going Price?
Trump criticized Biden for his use of pardons. Who’s worse?
January 4, 2026: Trump Now Says “We Need Greenland for National Security” and the EU Knows That
Trump is seriously out of control and more so every day.
President Trump has repeatedly brought up the idea of the U.S. taking control of Greenland from Denmark, and told the Atlantic this weekend that “We do need Greenland, absolutely.” On Saturday, Katie Miller—a former Trump adviser who is married to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller—posted a map of Greenland with the American flag over it and the caption: “SOON.”
Speaking the obvious, the Danish Prime Minister says U.S. Has ‘No Right’ to Greenland.
February 17, 2026: Trump’s Voting Claims Are False. So What Is the Save Act Really About?
Let’s discuss Trump’s claims and the solid evidence on fraudulent voting.
March 4, 2026: Three Reasons the Save Act Is Unconstitutional
1. Congress Lacks Authority to Impose Voter Qualifications.
2. Violation of the National Voter Registration Act and Supremacy Clause Issues
3. Undue Burden on the Fundamental Right to Vote
January 18, 2026: We Are Now Bearing the Poisoned Fruit of Trump’s Self-Proclaimed Morality
Trump says his own morality is the only check on his power.
- “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States.” Trump said these words in August to defend his decision to send National Guard troops to Chicago under the pretext of fighting crime.
- Cancelled the USMCA treaty that he personally negotiated with Mexico and Canada.
- Invaded Venezuela to capture its president
- Said the US will “run” the country and profit from its vast oil reserves.
- Threatens to take Greenland, a NATO country, by military force
- Weaponized the Justice Department. He fired seasoned federal prosecutors and replaced them with allies, and he ordered his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to investigate and prosecute government figures who he claims wronged him.
- Ordered air strikes on 7 nations
- Announced Reciprocal Tariffs using a preposterous formula that has nothing to do with another nation’s tariffs
- Signed into law a bill that requires release of Epstein documents but refuses to do so
- Declared everything an emergency. Well not literally everything but close. Hollywood movies are an emergency. See list below.
- Used troops as political tools. Trump has long viewed the US military as his personal fighting force. He was furious during his first term when Pentagon brass refused to support deploying US armed forces to counter Black Lives Matter protesters. But he’s seen his preferences fulfilled in his second term. He has sent National Guard troops to patrol Democratic-led cities
- Plastered his name and face everywhere. When the newly formed US Treasury wanted to put President George Washington’s face on currency, as the British did with their king, Washington refused: America’s leaders were ordinary citizens who served the people, not monarchs who ruled over them. Trump has rebranded the capital with his name and likeness and remade its spaces to suit his gilded tastes. See list below.
- Mixed politics and profit. Past US presidents strained to avoid any appearance of using the White House’s power to make money for themselves. Not Trump. Since returning to office, he’s intermingled government and private business interests as his companies pursue lucrative deals at home and overseas.
- Meme Coins: He has financial interests in multiple cryptocurrency ventures, including a Trump memecoin and the USD1 stablecoin. Trump and his three sons are among the founders of the company that issued the stablecoin, World Liberty Financial.
- Seeks to restrict Birthright Citizenship by decree. This is guaranteed to be shot down by the Supreme Court.
- The administration has openly adopted Nazi slogans
- ICE is deporting US citizens, arresting native American citizens, exporting illegal aliens to countries guaranteed to torture them
- ICE is going door-to-door even busting doors down in violation of the Constitution
July 3, 2026: Former Top General Blasts Trump for Politicizing the Military
Charles Q. Brown, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks out on Trump.
What’s happening now is both clear and ominous.
Hegseth is removing top military generals on one basis only – loyalty to Trump.
When Trump loses Congress in the Midterm elections, and he will, Trump wants military officers who will carry out any and all illegal orders.
Q: Such as?
A: Seizing ballotsThat is the threat. And the course is being plotted.
That’s not a prediction, but the groundwork is being laid as I type.
I could go on. It’s endless.
But this sentence sums it all up. “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States.”
Trump believes he is a king or dictator and acts that way to stay in power.
So far, the Courts have stopped Trump’s most serious threats.
But if we stay on this course, and Trump tries to overturn posted midterm results, we are headed for a Constitutional crisis.
To repeat, Trump is correct. “America is under attack.” But it’s not by communists, it’s by Trump.
Oh, one more thing, Happy 250th Birthday.
Article posted with permission from Mish Shedlock
