Trump serves his own interests, at any cost
‘D emocracy may not be the perfect system, but it’s better than the other alternatives.” When Winston Churchill expressed his memorable comment on the value of democracy, he was speaking well before Donald Trump appeared on the scene and unexpectedly became president of the United States.
But now, Churchill’s ambivalent view of the role of democracy in modern societies is becoming a worrisome issue, especially for the American population, because of Trump’s perceived anti-democratic views and policies.
Canadians and the Trudeau government are discovering that Canada cannot avoid being caught up in developments taking place in the U.S.
The forthcoming negotiations under the current free-trade agreement among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which Trump has forced on his partners, make it clear he has the ability to influence the very livelihoods of the Canadian people.
And he has made it crystal clear he will do so whenever it suits him, as he did when abruptly blocking entry into the U.S. by citizens of mainly Muslim Middle East countries, unleashing chaos on international air traffic. (On July 26, Trump also banned transgender people from joining the U.S. military, despite a pre-election promise to support LGBTQ people.)
However, while the citizens of Canada and Mexico could see their economic well-being adversely affected by Trump’s bullying tactics to advance his own interests, it’s the American people who confront far more serious threats.
For growing numbers of Americans, it has become apparent Trump is not simply a leader who intends to advance his own political and economic interests. He also is prepared to use any tactics to do so, even undermining the rule of law.
He demonstrated his contempt for the rule of law when he fired the director of the FBI, James Comey, who had persisted in investigating allegations that members of Trump’s election team had links with Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. intelligence agencies say Putin attempted to undermine the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton to help Trump’s electoral chances.
When a former FBI director, Robert Mueller, was appointed to continue the investigation, Trump denounced the move.
He then turned on Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who had been the first senator to publicly and actively support his candidacy — belittling him in tweets for failing to pursue investigations of Clinton.
Trump’s recent public denigration of Sessions, whom he personally chose, has stunned many within the American power structure, who know Sessions played a major role in the election campaign.
Trump’s willingness to criticize openly such a key contributor to his election has had a sobering effect on his supporters. Some see Trump’s willingness to humiliate such a key supporter — well-regarded by right-wing Republicans — as a warning that Trump’s only loyalty is to himself.
In such a world, Trump demands unquestioning subservience. In recent days, his loyal press secretary, Sean Spicer, stepped aside after six months of attempting to cope with Trump’s erratic and questionable actions.
Trump announced a new communications director at the White House, Anthony Scaramucci, a stockbroker with no previous media experience.
Scaramucci inexplicably began publicly criticizing Trump’s own chief of staff, Reince Priebus, a key member of the Republican Party’s traditional power group. This seemingly orchestrated assault on Priebus suddenly resulted in Trump replacing Priebus with John Kelly on Friday.
That purge of a top Republican oldguard politician clearly has serious implications for other traditional Republican power-brokers.
How the Republican Party’s elite will react to these developments is unclear, but so far the old guard might have little choice but to stick with Trump because of his voter support.
However, notwithstanding Trump’s continued strong following, in the view of constitutional experts, he is undermining the U.S. justice system and this, in turn, is undercutting the rule of law in the United States.
The question now is: Which will prevail — the U.S. constitution or Donald Trump?