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As I say very often, I didn’t leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left me. This week (and the week before that, and the week before that, and so on, and so on, going back to January 20) showed me again exactly why. It’s clearer than ever that the man sitting in our Oval Office, our Commander in Chief, is violating his oath to protect and defend the Constitution every damn day. This goes far beyond damaging the social contract. He is quite literally dismantling the United States from the inside.
Let’s take a look at just the most recent evidence…
Only disinformation is completely free.
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He’s breaking us economically.
Let’s start with his tariffs. No matter what Donald Trump says, he is enacting a huge tax increase on the American people with his “Liberation Day” tariffs [ [link removed] ]. And here’s the thing: he offers no explanation for them. Making America Great Again is just a slogan, not an explanation. There’s no justification given from the White House as to how destabilizing global markets, alienating our allies, hurting our own farmers and manufacturers, and driving up prices for the American people will do anything to make this country great.
The markets have already taken a massive hit [ [link removed] ], experiencing the biggest one-day loss since March 2020, when Trump grossly mismanaged the pandemic. Don’t expect Trump to care [ [link removed] ]. What we think [ [link removed] ] no longer matters to him, if it ever did. His party doesn’t care anymore either. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariffs, and it has not officially ceded this power to Trump. But that doesn’t matter anymore either, because the Republican-led Congress abandoned their oaths too. Republicans’ oath now is to Trump.
While Trump is busy killing our retirement accounts, putting federal workers [ [link removed] ] and others [ [link removed] ] out of a job, and igniting economic fights with friends, who is free to deepen their influence on global trade? China and Russia, of course. And Russia was conveniently left off [ [link removed] ] the list of countries hit with new tariffs from the U.S. Interesting.
He’s putting us in danger.
If anything good came from Signalgate [ [link removed] ], it’s that it woke some people up to the fact that this administration isn’t just incompetent—it is willfully, arrogantly incompetent. That’s consistent with Trump’s inept management of nearly everything he’s put his hand to, and the miscreants he surrounds himself with. All of that was evident in his first term, when he was famously constrained by guardrails. But in their absence, Trump 2.0 is a menace.
Over the past week, Trump has fired numerous key National Security Council staff on the advice of a far-right conspiracy loon, Laura Loomer [ [link removed] ], who informed Trump that these aids were “insufficiently devoted to advancing Trump’s aims.” Trump also dismissed Gen. Timothy Haugh [ [link removed] ], the director of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, the military’s offensive and defensive cyber unit. Loomer claimed Haugh was disloyal because he was “hand-picked by General [Mark] Milley,” whom Trump has outrageously accused of “treason.” [ [link removed] ] Meanwhile, at the Pentagon, the Army is considering massive reductions [ [link removed] ] in active-duty troops.
Domestically, Trump has cut programs that combat domestic terrorism [ [link removed] ] and gutted FEMA [ [link removed] ], with the ultimate goal of eliminating the agency altogether. Why? Because apparently responding to homegrown terror and natural disasters that threaten the safety and well-being of Americans is no longer a priority of the President of the United States.
He’s making us sick.
Trump is also assaulting America’s healthcare institutions and infrastructure. Massive layoffs at the CDC, FDA, NIH, and other federal health agencies [ [link removed] ] have put some of America’s top researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff, and senior leaders out of a job—the experts who track disease, conduct life-saving medical research, test and approve drugs, investigate outbreaks [ [link removed] ] and environmental health threats [ [link removed] ], regulate food, and so on. All gone.
It’s not just at the federal level. The Trump/RFK Jr. Department of Health and Human Services has also canceled $12 billion+ in grants to states [ [link removed] ] for tracking infectious diseases, providing mental health services and addiction treatment, and other urgent health issues. Twenty-three states are now suing [ [link removed] ] the administration over these cuts.
Among the intelligence and expertise we’ve lost is Dr. Richard Youle [ [link removed] ], who researches neurodegenerative disorders and was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for identifying the mechanisms behind Parkinson’s disease. He’s been unceremoniously fired. Just like that. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some hirings, though. A vaccine skeptic [ [link removed] ] will head up a federal study of immunizations and autism. And hey, at least we have a TV doctor [ [link removed] ] on board now.
He’s setting fire to the Constitutional order.
Trump’s open disdain for the Constitution, certainly not new, was on display this week with his attacks on due process. Consider the case of an innocent man [ [link removed] ] sent to a Salvadoran prison due to a so-called “administrative error” last month. A simple phone call from Trump is all it would take to right that egregious wrong, but Trump's cowardice ensures that this innocent man remains unjustly—and unconstitutionally—imprisoned.
Make no mistake. In America, everyone—citizens and non-citizens, whether good or bad, including those here on student visas or even a Venezuelan gang member living here illegally—deserves due process. The Constitution and the law make that clear. Everyone is entitled to the protections afforded by due process, and it’s vital to remember that this right is foundational to our society. If a president can violate Kilmar Abrego Garcia [ [link removed] ]’s due process, a president can do the exact same to you.
Trump has flirted with the idea of a third term, strictly prohibited by the 22nd Amendment, for years. He was back at it [ [link removed] ] this week. The Republican response? Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Trump can't serve another term “without a change in the Constitution” and suggested Trump was just “messing with reporters” [ [link removed] ] when he said it. Messing with reporters? Seriously?
With Trump, every “joke” is a threat. Anyone who doesn’t know this by now is lying to you. And Trump is lying too. It’s not a mere “distraction” for a President to say he won an election that he actually lost. Likewise, it is not a “distraction” for a President to say he can ignore the Constitution and run for a third term. It is a LIE, an outright attack on democracy, and it must be loudly condemned by every American. These are the words of an authoritarian who doesn’t care one iota about the Constitution and believes he can do anything he wants. That’s a clear and present danger to the Constitutional order.
Why is he doing all of this?
Unless you’re someone who believes the government at every level is thoroughly corrupt, serves no purpose, and is actively out to get us (in which case, I can’t help you), you have to wonder why Trump is weakening every American institution that keeps the nation strong and secure and helps keep our citizens healthy and free. Trump hasn’t really explained that, has he?
This isn't just misguided policy. It’s deliberate sabotage. Ask yourself: Who prospers when Americans are financially unstable? Who benefits when America is more vulnerable to illness? Who gains when our defenses are gutted? Who profits when our Constitution and the very foundations of our democracy are weakened?
While I would never underestimate the power of stubborn ignorance or pure spite when it comes to Trump, I believe he is actively destroying America for the benefit of our greatest geopolitical adversary: Russia. The more poor, vulnerable, sick, chaotic, and lawless we become, the more power we hand to Russia. Everything Trump is doing—everything—is a strategic gift to Vladimir Putin.
What more proof does MAGA need? Folks on the Trump right are willing to believe nearly every conspiracy theory that comes down the pike, but they scoff at the reality right in front of them. And it is reality.
Consider this: a Russian scientist [ [link removed] ] who opposed Putin’s war on Ukraine, fled Russia, and legally found work at Harvard University, was detained at Logan Airport recently and transported to an immigration detention center in Louisiana for deportation back to Russia. Sending a brilliant scientist who chose to live and work in the United States back to our enemy is madness. The defection of a Russian to the United States was once the kind of thing Ronald Reagan and his Republican Party—including me—would have cheered. No longer.
So the question of why this is all happening, in my mind, has an uncomplicated answer. Donald Trump is not working for the American people. He is a Russian asset. Period.
What can we do?
What we can do about this is the real question of the hour. As a former congressman, a lifelong conservative, and a proud American, I’m struggling with it as much as you are. I’m sad. And I’m furious that we put this terrible person back in the White House, where he never belonged in the first place. Trump isn’t saving America. He’s hurting Americans, as he sells off the USA bit by bit—and I can think of one guy, sitting in the Kremlin, who’s smiling about it.
Protests, boycotts, calls to our representatives, engagement on the local level—all of that is vitally important. But I still believe the only peaceful way out of this, if that’s still (hopefully) possible, is through conversations with our fellow Americans. I don’t mean wishy-washy “finding common ground” stuff. We’re unfortunately past that stage. What I’m talking about is closer to an intervention.
What will it take for our MAGA family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors to realize the danger of blindly trusting Donald Trump? What has trusting Trump ever really gotten anyone? At the Social Contract, we’re addressing these questions head-on. We’re going to be modeling the kinds of conversations that work and giving you the tools and support to make a real difference.
Much more to come. Thanks for being a part of our community. Be brave!
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What do you think of The Social Contract with Joe Walsh [ [link removed] ]? What are your thoughts about what’s happening this week? How can we fix the political mess we’ve created in our country? How do we mend our frayed social fabric and rebuild an America that works?
Tell us your story and share your ideas with us. Email our editor at [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] ]. We look forward to hearing from you.
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