Trump's war on America

Does Trump hate America? No, he just doesn’t care.

And Americans are slowly learning that. So…
Trump. Down, down, down.

Polls are tricky. Numbers can fool you. Yes, lies, damned lies — and statistics.

Polls can be especially deceptive when forecasters use them to predict close elections. However, they do provide a general picture of sentiment among certain communities.

What is interesting now is that the Republicans are losing to the equally uninspiring Democrats right across the board, thanks to King Donald .

Both congressional Democrats and congressional Republicans are unpopular. Politicians are like roaches. Infestations are hard to get rid of without burning down the entire building.

But suddenly Democrats in Congress are less unpopular than their Republican colleagues according to this week’s Economist / YouGov Poll — and that’s unusual, although they are less attractive by a fairly small amount.

The poll found 34% of Americans view congressional Democrats very or somewhat favorably, and 55% view them unfavorably, a net favorability of -21. Congressional Republicans are viewed favorably by 32% and unfavorably by 58%, a net favorability of -26. Not a huge difference, right?

What makes this slim comparative Democratic advantage noteworthy is that it’s the first time since right before Trump took office in January 2025 that congressional Democrats have had a higher net favorability than congressional Republicans. Something is blowin’ in the wind.

It’s a Trump Bump. Yeah, he blows….

Remember he promised no more wars.

Americans are worried. They can’t trust the Dems to fix anything. On the other hand, they can trust the Republicans to make it worse . In the end, they must face up to the fact, that nothing good will come from either party.

And Trump’s regressive economic and social policies have heightened their concerns.

At the top of the list are basics— healthcare, the economy, inflation, federal spending and inequality.

The war?

The war on Iran brings Trump’s presidency into sharper focus. The US is losing. And the war will hit Americans where it matters most—their wallets—which are pretty much empty .

But te idea that Trump is getting hugely rich at your expense is galling. Especially when it done at the cost of thousands of innocent lives.

But, hey! The US is not a democracy It’s a pretend republic, rather like Rome under Caligula. Worse Trump doesn’t like hose

It is not a democracy. And Presidents, like Emperors have their perks—and kinks.

Exemption from Ethics Rules

A key issue is that the president and vice president are specifically exempt from the federal conflict-of-interest statute (18 U.S.C. § 208) that prohibits other executive branch employees from participating in government matters that could affect their personal finances.

Since his second inauguration in January 2025, Donald Trump’s net worth has increased by an estimated $1.4 billion to $4 billion, depending on the valuation source and the date of the assessment. I talked about this before recently from a different perspective. So I may be repeating myself a bit here. Still, I think it good to go over some of the factors.

Cryptocurrency Ventures: The Trump family’s move into digital assets, including World Liberty Financial and various “meme coins,” added an estimated $800 million to $2 billion in value.

International Licensing: Renewed global interest in the Trump brand led to a $400 million surge in licensing deals in countries like Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and the UAE.

Legal Rulings: His net worth was bolstered by the dismissal or reduction of several high-profile legal judgments, including a major $500 million civil fraud judgment in New York.

Real Estate Appreciation: High-profile properties like Mar-a-Lago saw significant valuation increases, with the club now estimated at approximately $560 million.

Where does the money go? A significant portion is tied to volatile assets like stocks and crypto, which means that daily net worth can shift by hundreds of millions of dollars based on market sentiment. How do you profit. Just make a speech saying something that scares the market! Or reassures them. Doesn’t have to be real or truthful but it has to push buttons.

This strategy works.

Trump family members have seen their wealth double. reaching an estimated $10 billion as of early 2026.

“No man is above the law, and no man is below it”.Theodore Roosevelt . 2003

Constitutional lawyers make semantic distinctions: the President is “technically” not above the law – just not treated the same as you or me, who are definitely below the law. People always forget that last part of Roosevelt’s line.

In other words, the standard legal system is restricted in how it can touch a sitting president.. So the Constitution provides alternative checks:

Impeachment: holding a president accountable for “high crimes and misdemeanors”. Whatever those are. Semen on a girl’s dress? No President has been successfully impeached.

Financial Disclosures: While exempt from conflict-of-interest laws, the president is still required by the Ethics in Government Act to publicly report their assets and income every year. U.S. Presidents are required to provide detailed financial disclosures, though they are not designed as real-time tracking tools.

Sounds like the public gets to know what their president is doing?

Not quite.

While ‘disclosures” can reveal a president’s stock trades, they contain “lag” and valuation ranges that make it difficult to prove a direct link between specific policy decisions and personal profit.

So we cannot find out easily much Trump was profiting from policy decisions on Iran. Other than he made a lot of money. Luck?

The Electorate: Ultimately, the Supreme Court has noted that the final check on presidential conduct is the American people through the voting process. This doesn’t work too well in a President’ final term. He’s not coming back, right And traditionally Presidents make more money after leaving office!

Clearly Donald Trump is above the law -- and everyone else is below it.

That has sparked legislative efforts at reform.

“No Getting Rich in Congress Act” (Introduced March 2026): A sweeping proposal that would ban the President, Vice President, and members of Congress—along with their families—from trading stocks, cryptocurrencies, and commodities while in office.

But wait! Congress are millionaires including AOC. You think they are going to voluntarily vote for this?

Presidential Conflicts of Interest Accountability Act . Introduced January 2026): Proposed by Rep. Angie Craig, this bill would require the President and Vice President to divest any financial interests posing a conflict by transferring them to a blind trust.

Closing the Bribery Loopholes Act: Aims to expand the definition of an “official act” to prohibit public officials from improperly using their positions for private gain.

The MUSK Act: Requires employees in the Executive Office of the President to recuse themselves from matters affecting the financial interests of previous employers for four years.

How likely is reform?

Not very.

Amending 18 U.S.C. § 208: Congress would need to formally remove the “presidential exemption” from the federal criminal conflict-of-interest statute. This would require a standard act of Congress (passing both the House and Senate and being signed by the President, or overriding a veto). How likely is that? Overriding a veto requires a 2/3 supermajority in both houses,

Constitutional “Unitary Executive” Challenges: Opponents often argue that forcing a president to recuse themselves from certain decisions could unconstitutionally interfere with their Article II powers as the sole head of the executive branch.

Expanding Disclosure Requirements: Strengthening the Ethics in Government Act to require disclosure of “closely-held” (private) businesses and family-controlled trusts would be necessary to identify hidden conflicts.

Mandatory Divestiture: Legislation like the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act would require the President to sell off conflicting assets and place the proceeds in a true blind trust managed by an independent trustee.

Real reform is unlikely. But talking about it now with an idiot like Trump in office making things worse for ordinary people when times are tough raises the likelihood of the Democrats taking both Houses in November and holding another smoke and mirrors impeachment attempt.

Still, we can hope.

I don’t hope. I don’t drink.

Domestic Mice

Mice appear to self-domesticate to some extent when they live close to humans! You can breed for tameness as the Russians did with foxes. But sometimes self-domestication happens as with human beings, bonobos and the wolves that became dogs.

I am catching up on replies to coffeebuyers. I try to reply to everyone, plus adding my views on the day’s events. It takes a little time since I tend to be over chatty. 💩

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