How to Break Promises MAGA Style

 

How to Break Promises MAGA Style

The Secret Life of Trump/DOGE

“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.” American treaty pledge (Article 5, April 4, 1949) to support NATO allies if any are attacked.

[The United States government is] “one big pyramid scheme” [and Social Security] is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” 

DOGE billionaire Elon Musk, March 1st, on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast

When breaking core campaign promises, knowing that MAGA followers will simply bow and accept, Trump will: distract, deny, deflect, blame, redefine, delegate, ignore, lie and/or explain away. His appointee minions tend to ignore the directives but follow the boss’ subtexts as evidenced by his statements and behaviors. This tends to lead Democrats to a “don’t listen to his words; watch what he and his appointees actually do.” Distraction is normally easy with a firehose of executive orders. When an occurrence rises to a point where it cannot be circumvented, the lie of choice is a full-on GOP lock-step gaslighting (e.g., the January 6th insurrection was “peaceful” or Zelenskyy unilaterally disrupted the March 1st Oval Office mineral rights signing moment). So, it seems worthwhile to examine that “actual” behavior following obvious falsehoods. Let’s see some tangible examples:

While pledging to leave Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security intact, notwithstanding Elon Musk’s unambiguous feeling about government programs designed to support Americans (as evidenced by the above quote), Trump appointed Musk’s DOGE to slash the federal budget and eliminate wasteful federal programs and agencies. That DOGE slashed the Social Security Administration’s staffing significantly (under court challenge – thus limiting how much money it can effectively disburse or approve under the existing rules) is Musk’s backhanded way of keeping (technically anyway) Trump’s pledge. Then there’s the government’s legal challenge as to whether DOGE is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, even as Musk had pledged maximum transparency as he stood by Trump in the Oval Office.

This gaslighting tendency to claim transparency while hiding or bias redaction permeates the Trump administration. While pledging to Congress at his confirmation hearing to keep an open mind on vaccines, RFK, Jr’s approach, as soon as he took over the Department of Health and Human Services, is quite different: “Kennedy paused a multimillion-dollar project to create a new Covid-19 vaccine in pill form on Tuesday [2/25], and the Food and Drug Administration canceled an advisory committee meeting on updating next season’s flu vaccine, an advisory committee [on 2/26].

“The Covid project was a $460 million contract with Vaxart to develop a new Covid vaccine in pill form, with 10,000 people scheduled to begin clinical trials on Monday. Of that, $240 million was reportedly already authorized for the preliminary study… ‘While it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s,’ Kennedy said, according to Fox News .. ‘I look forward to working with Vaxart and medical experts to ensure this work produces safe, effective, and fiscal-minded vaccine technology,’ Kennedy added.” The New Republic, February 28th. RFK, Jr, falsely claimed measles death were normal every year – when measles had been completely eradicated until the recent outbreak among unvaccinated groups, as the disease gained strength across several states, infecting hundreds and even killing one unvaccinated child, a clearly preventable fatality.

How about creating jobs in GOP districts? Trump/Musk intend to kill a host of infrastructure jobs launched during the Biden administration (approved by Congress). And still, consumer prices (to be reversed on Trump’s day one) are rising faster than ever. As the March 1st Guardian UK puts it: “While Trump hasn’t fulfilled his campaign promise, he is living up to his usual brand of politics: the blame game. And this blame, as usual, is rooted in generating anger against ‘undeserving’ Americans… This time, the undeserving are federal workers and poor people who get nominal benefits from the federal government – like Snap, which administers food stamps, and Medicaid. To fix so-called waste, the president apparently has no choice but to crack down on spending (and enlist help from Elon Musk ), an issue that barely registered in the public consciousness in the past 10 years but is somehow now a rampant problem, according to Trump. [The “parasite class” as Musk describes them.]

“There are policy frameworks backing Trump and the GOP’s divisiveness, including the well-known Project 2025 and a lesser-known House proposal published in 2024, Fiscal Sanity to Save America, that centers government ‘waste’ instead of corporate greed. And now, with Republicans controlling the House, Senate and presidency, Republicans have the power to act on cuts that will harm millions of Americans.”

Want more? Since the Trump administration seems to be reneging on its NATO mutual protection obligations and, while claiming to protect US’ national security, treating Putin as a long-lost and most trusted friend, it took serious backdoor journalism to discover these machinations at the Department of Defense: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to halt offensive operations against Russia, according to a current official and two former officials briefed on the secret instructions. The move is apparently part of a broader effort to draw President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia into talks on Ukraine and a new relationship with the United States… Mr. Hegseth’s instructions, part of a larger re-evaluation of all operations against Russia, have not been publicly explained. But they were issued before President Trump’s public blowup in the Oval Office with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday.” New York Times, March 2nd.

Once you step out of the MAGA/DOGE bubble (like any country other than the US and the Russian group of allies), trust of all things American fade fast. England, France and Germany are losing even more trust in pro-Russia-Trump’s “mediating” the Ukraine war. After what is perceived as Trump’s failed bullying ambush of Ukraine President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on March 1st, “Britain and France have promised to muster a ‘coalition of the willing’ to secure a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia… Drawing Mr. Trump back into the process is as important as the mission and scope of a European coalition, analysts say. For the moment, the United States appears determined to strike a deal with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia over the heads of Europe and Ukraine, and without any security guarantees.” New York Times, March 3rd. Trump wants Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, won’t give any security guarantees, gives in to a host of Putin’s demands… and Ukraine gets… er… nothing from its wish list. Nothing!

I’m Peter Dekom, and I ask ardent Trump supporters who do not get $$$ as a result of Trump’s action, do you feel stronger economically, safer from global threats and do you trust Putin to help Trump to deliver a better life for you?