Donald Trump: an American Tragedy

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Donald Trump: An American Tragedy not only for 

the U.S., but also for the World

By Dr. Rodrigue Tremblay

(Author of the books “The Code for Global Ethics”, 

and “The New American Empire”)

“If this [U.S.] government ever became a tyrant, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the 

technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it 

to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back because the most careful effort to 

combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within 

the reach of the government to know.“ Frank Church (1924-1984), American lawyer and U.S. 

Senator, chairman of the Church Senate Committee, (in an interview with TV program 

‘Meet The Press’, Aug. 17, 1975)

“I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, and we stole. It was like —we had entire training 
courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment.” Mike Pompeo (1963- ), former
CIA director and presently Secretary of State in the Trump administration, (in April 2019, while 
speaking at Texas A&M University.)

“I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the 
‘Bikers for Trump’ —I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough —until they go to a 
certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.“

Donald Trump (1946- ), 45th American president and American hotel and casino owner, 
(statement made during an exclusive interview, in the Oval Office, with Breitbart News, published 
on Wed., March 13, 2019)

The election of New York far right businessman Donald Trump, in November 2016, has

 turned out to be a tragedy for the United States and also for the world, as more blunders, disasters and catastrophes unfold under his inexperienced, impetuous and incompetent stewardship.

Politically, never in its entire history has the United States ever had a president who 

openly rejects the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution, i.e. the separation of powers

 and the idea of co-equal branches of government, and who rejects the core 

principle of democracy that no one is above the law. This is a dangerous precedent, 

which is bound to open a Pandora’s Box of ominous things to come. Ever since Mr. 

Trump’s inauguration on Friday, january 20, 2017, he has talked and behaved as if he 

has persuaded himself that he is above the law.

Then, there was that long series of chaotic, impulsive, improvised and incoherent 

policies, as never before seen in modern times. This has been the case not only in 

economics, public finance and trade —but also in a callously bad diplomacy, which 

has tarnished the reputation of the United States around the world. The same can be said 

about Donald Trump’s divisive social policies, which have intensified income and wealth

inequalities, and which are, in fact, a throwback to the 1920’s.

Let us review a few of them:

1-            Trump’s dangerous fixation with the stock market

The stock market is not the economy. As a matter of fact, most economic recessions and 

depressions have begun when the stock market was very high or in a bubble, and about 

to crash, very often due to bad economic, regulatory and monetary policies that led to 

unchecked speculation, financial crises and financial panics.

That happened, for example, before the Long Depression of 1873-1879, before the 

Depression of 1920-21, and before the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and before 

other serious economic recessions, such as the recent Great Recession of 2007–2009.

This is not a trivial matter. Any fool can push the stock market to unsustainable levels. 

One has simply to print a lot of money or to go deeply into debt. Some Third World 

countries still do it, even nowadays. —But when the rest of the economy goes the other

way, severe economic consequences do follow. And that will not only damage the U.S. 

economy but also the world economy.

2-            An American problem, which turns out also to be a world problem

If the Donald Trump problem were only a domestic U.S. problem, hope would be that 

the political and legal systems in the U.S. would be able to manage it. However, the man 

not only professes to be above American laws, he also talks and acts as if there were no 

international law. That is why that is an international problem and not only an American 

problem.

Mr. Trump seems to see himself as some sort of a self-proclaimed ‘king of the world’. 

On any given day, he might threaten to “totally destroy” and annihilate a foreign 

country, as he did in reference to North Korea and Afghanistan. On another day, he 

would declare himself ready to “destroy the economy” of another foreign country, as 

he did recently regarding the Turkish economy…etc. —This is madness on a high level.

That such an individual in a position of high authority, but with so little mental 

capabilities and judgment, has surfaced on the international political scene, in the 

21^st Century, is most astonishing, and somewhat unbelievable.

What is especially scary in Trump’s case is the fact that he surrounds himself with 

professional sycophants, yes-men and clones of himself. The result is that there is no 

filter and no safeguards around him, against his impulsive and destructive moves. He 

thinks and acts as if he were a one-man government.

3-            The economic consequences of Mr. Trump

The private sector of the U.S. economy is one the most resilient and one of the most 

productive in the world. However, Mr. Trump’s chaotic approach to government and his 

ill-thought economic policies are bound, sooner or later, to have a very negative impact 

on the economy.

Currently, the U.S. manufacturing sector is already in a recession and contracting. The 

public and military sectors are supported by huge and unsustainable fiscal deficits. 

Consumers, going deeper and deeper into debt, keep the service sector humming for the 

time being. All the while the foreign trade sector is in disarray, thanks to the destructive 

trade wars that the Trump administration has initiated.

One day, this fragile economic structure built on debt and contracting trade flows is 

going to collapse, and it is not going to be pretty. And if one takes into consideration 

the important technological changes about to take place in the coming years, as the 

transport industry is going to be retooled, one could fear that the next economic recession could be much worse, especially if the global economy and financial markets were to be derailed 

in tandem.

4-            The political and social consequences of Mr. Trump

It is pretty much admitted, by now, that Donald Trump has been an important 

factor of division among Americans. The antipathy between Republicans and 

Democrats, for instance, is as intense and more personal as it has ever been in modern 

times. Moreover, in its studies and surveys, the Pew Research Center has found that 

partisan polarization and social hostility between groups have risen over the last three 

years.

No need to go further. The damage Mr. Trump has done is already considerable.

Let us only hope that bad does not get worse!

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International economist Dr. Rodrigue Tremblay is the author of the book “The Code for Global Ethics, Ten Humanist Principles”, of the book “The New American Empire”, and the recent book, in French « La régression tranquille du Québec, 1980-2018 ».

Please visit Dr. Tremblay’s site:

http://rodriguetremblay100.blogspot.com/

Posted, Wednesday, October 23, 2019, at 8:30 am

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© 2019 by Dr. Rodrigue Tremblay