President Donald Trump’s first week in office painted a picture of his vision for the next four years — a performance of governance that looks more like an episode of “The Apprentice” than a stable system of checks and balances.
Though this past week was not Trump’s first introduction to the nation, it has been eight years since Trump was first elected — or one pandemic, two impeachments, one attempted insurrection and 34 felony convictions, for those keeping track. Needless to say, the country has changed, and so has the polarizing criminal reality show host turned political candidate — but not in his policy, but rather in his persona.
Trump spent his first day in office signing a slew of executive orders including one to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and another to leave the World Health Organization (WHO). He also signed orders to crack down on the border, expand the use of fossil fuels and take aim at the amorphous “woke agenda” by terminating the federal agencies working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and declaring that there are only two biological sexes.
While these brazen and sweeping orders are shocking in quantity and speed, they are quite typical of past Trump White House objectives. In 2020, the U.S. formally withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, and, that same year, Trump wrote to the Secretary-General of the UN threatening to withdraw from the WHO. While U.S. funding ceased, the country never formally left the organization.
Trump may attempt to realize these objectives more radically and tangibly this term, but overall, he has remained rather stagnant in his views for the duration of his political career. Much like his hit show, the only constantly evolving aspect of the Trump administration is its revolving door of yes-men and close personal friends who execute the Trump dream for America.
It is no secret that the ultra-rich grew richer in Trump’s first term in office, and if the president follows through on his proposed tax cuts in office, that will be the case once again. It makes sense that the Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos types would align themselves with the current White House — they stand to benefit tremendously from a Trump presidency.
Plutocrats sitting in front of Republican policymakers at the inauguration cemented their importance in this administration. In his second term, Trump is not hiding behind a fake populist narrative — he is quite literally putting the rich first.
Perhaps there is no greater example of Trump putting the opulent on a pedestal than the initiation of the bureaucratic agency to end all bureaucratic agencies, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. It is not normal for the richest living man in the world to get a senior spot in the U.S. Government in an agency named after his favorite memecoin. It would be far-fetched for a “Veep” plotline, and it is even out there for Trump, a man who embarks on policy decisions as unserious as renaming mountains and gulfs in the name of nationalism. But who doesn’t love a celebrity cameo?
These friends and advisors are a far cry from Trump’s first presidential campaign, when he promised to surround himself with the smartest, most qualified people. Whether or not he followed through on that promise in his first term, it is now clear that Trump is no longer even pretending to prioritize qualified candidates.
Look no further than Trump’s other picks for top officials, which consist of more than one disgraced TV show host and many billionaires. From the outside, it seems like he selected some of these people in his own likeness: people who are wealthy, people who are not career politicians and people who value optics above the needs of the country. After all, Trump has many shortcomings, but excessive humility is not one of them.
If Trump continues the trend from his first term in office, as soon as he grows tired of his employees or feels they no longer serve him, he will throw them out with a simple: “You’re fired.”
This Trump is perhaps even more himself than he was in 2016 — he has shed the costume of a politician and now displays his true self: an entertainer. Our phones once again feel warm from the explosion of news notifications at all hours of the day, and even if we do not agree with Trump’s vision for America, we are consumed by it. That is an entertainer’s dream.
These are the types of changes that run deeper than policy and pervade the fabric of democracy — creating a new government position for the unpredictable son of an emerald tycoon is not in line with the meritocracy Trump claims to strive for, nor does it align with the ideals for the U.S. found in the Constitution. Signing executive orders in Capital One Arena and tossing the pens into the stands of doting fans like game-worn jerseys is self-indulgent and not in the interest of progressing as a country.
This Trump, is fully and completely drowning in the spectacle of the presidency. It is America’s biggest stage for him to flex his authority, brand and persona. We can only hope that Trump pushes his head far enough above the surface to see the impact his choices have on everyday people, not just himself and his inner circle.