Category: Uncategorized

Trump’s Confusing Conversation with the Canadian Prime Minister: Perhaps Trump’s Obsessions Reflect a Mental Health Issue

Declining mental ability in older adults is a delicate issue. I address it in this post with a great deal of caution. As years go by, I acknowledge that my mind is not as sharp as it used to be. Mental decline affects Democrats and Republicans alike. Last year, I raised questions about Joe Biden’s mental acuity long before he decided not to run for re-election. It is only fair that I raise similar concerns about President Donald Trump.

Some of the most common expressions of mental decline are loss of memory, mispronunciation or misuse of words, and the fossilization of ideas. Biden’s and Trump’s verbal gaffes are common and have been ridiculed by late night comedians (especially by Stephen Colbert). These can be funny, but are usually not very serious. The fossilization of ideas is much more significant, especially in those who are in positions of authority. It is observed when people are apparently stuck in a mental rut. They are seemingly unable to break free from their old ways of thinking. This mental decline is colloquially captured in the phrases “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and “we’ve always done it this way”. On at least two issues, Trump exemplifies this problem: Canada and tariffs. During his meeting with the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday, his fossilized thinking on these two topics was clearly evident.

Canada: Our 51st State?

For several months, Trump has referred to Canada as our 51st state. This might have been seemed to him as “funny” or “cute”, but it is not. (This was reinforced by his referring to the previous Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor”.}  There is no positive effect to calling Canada our 51st state. He repeated the phrase and belabored it at length in his meeting with Carney. The phrase is demeaning. It is bullying. It implies that Canada is not a true nation. It suggests that our northern neighbor is worth less than 2% of the United States. In their recent election, Canadians rallied around the Liberal candidate Carney as the “Anti-Trump”, and as a result, they voted Carney into power over his Conservative opponent.

Trump’s advisors have told him to stop using the phrase “the 51st state”. It is damaging to our relationship with our long-standing neighbor and friend. It shows the moral poverty of our president… or his mental decline.

Tariffs

Trump has been fascinated (obsessed?) with the “positive” benefits of tariffs for over three decades. Somewhere along the way, he heard that tariffs were good. In the best-case scenario, a precise tariff might be useful to protect a country’s weak industry (ex. Car production). Let us be clear. Tariffs are taxes paid by importers, and then passed on to consumers. Economists are nearly unanimous in affirming that Trump’s tariffs will cause a sharp increase in inflation. 75% of U.S. citizens (including Trump supporters) believe they will increase the price of goods. CEOs of the large retail chains have warned Trump of higher prices and empty store shelves. The Dow Jones Index does not like tariffs and it shows. Trump’s Liberation Day brought a huge slide in the stock exchange.

Can Trump overcome his failing obsessions? I hope old dogs can learn new tricks.

Trump’s Lying Disease is Contagious: Several Outbreaks Among His Cabinet

President Donald Trump’s addiction to lying is notorious. He made 30,573 significant public lies during his first administration. Trump 2.0 is maintaining this daily pace. Here are a few of his most recent falsehoods.

  • Trump’s commitment to reduce the costs of groceries, gasoline, rent, etc. was the biggest political factor in his electoral victory last November. The president promised a new “golden age” for the American economy. Nevertheless, polls that came out as his regime reached its 100-day mark all show that voters are not happy with the lack of progress achieved on reducing inflation. It is appropriate for the president to comment on current economic data. It is wrong to lie about it. Last Thursday, he said gas prices “hit $1.98 yesterday in a couple of states.” That wasn’t true according to information from AAA. No state has an average gas price below $2.70 per gallon. The national average is $3.17 per gallon.
  • On the campaign trail, Trump had promised he would reduce the price of groceries on “Day One” of his administration. On Thursday he claimed that grocery prices “were down”. That was also a lie.  Average grocery prices in March were up about 0.49% from February, according to the federal Consumer Price Index, which was the biggest month-to-month jump since October 2022.
  • When asked about a possible recession, Trump reluctantly acknowledged that children don’t need thirty dolls for Christmas, maybe just two, and just five pencils, not over a hundred. So, what is it? The best economy ever…or get ready for empty shelves?
  • Readers are aware of the Kilmar Abrego Garcia story. He is the man in Maryland who, due to an “administrative mistake”, was illegally deported to El Salvador for imprisonment. The Supreme Court intervened and voted (9 to zero!) that Trump must “facilitate” his return to the United States. Trump and his staff responded that it was out of their control. The decision was in the hands of the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele. Even the most ardent MAGA supporters knew that Trump was blatantly lying. How could the president of the world’s most powerful country not pressure a friendly small Central American country to return a prisoner, especially given the fact that we are paying El Salvador millions of dollars to house our prisoners? More recently, in an interview with ABC’s Terry Moran, Trump admitted that he could make a phone call to Bukele and get Abrego Garcia immediately returned.

Trump’s addiction to lying seems to be contagious. The tendency to lie is a disease that is spreading throughout his cabinet. Here are some key figures in the Trump regime who have fallen victim to the lying disease.

  • Pam Bondi is our country’s Attorney General. Last week (on April 30) she claimed that in President Trump’s first 100 days in office, drug enforcement officials had seized millions of pills and thousands of kilos of fentanyl, thereby saving “258 million lives” in the United States. This figure is “incredible” (as in the sense of being “unbelievable”) because it would be equivalent to 75% of our U.S. population.
  • Elon Musk, Trump’s choice to head up the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), had claimed on the campaign trail that he would save $2 trillion by cutting wasteful government spending. As recently as March 27, 2025 on Fox News he lowered this estimate to $1 trillion. Then a month ago, at the April 10 cabinet meeting, he affirmed, “I’m excited to announce that we anticipate savings in FY 26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion.” I guess he thinks changing the “t” in trillion to a “b” in billion is a small change that wouldn’t be noticed by most voters, when in fact, the real savings are a miniscule percentage of what he originally promised.
  •  The GDP report brought the bleak news that Trump’s policies had thrown the economy into reverse, turning the 2.4 percent annualized GDP growth of the last quarter of 2024 into a 0.3 percent contraction in the first quarter of 2025. It ended nearly three years of steady expansion. Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro was gushing in the midst of his lies when he announced that the report was “very, very good and quite encouraging … huge, literally off the charts … good, strong news … all things are good. So we felt really good about that number.” In another three months we will have another GDP report. If it is equally “good”, we will officially be in a recession.

As my wise dad used to say, “figures never lie, but liars do figure.” Therefore, Democrats, be careful what air you breathe. The lie disease is spreading, especially in D.C. Cabinet members, get some courage. Truth and integrity are more important than a fake “loyalty”.

Christianity in the White House: We Need Less Spirit of Constantine and More Spirit of Jesus

On Good Friday of last week, the New York Times published an article “Christianity in the White House” written by their columnist Ruth Graham. She narrates the growing presence and influence of Christian leaders, especially evangelicals, in the White House. Her article is primarily descriptive. In this post, I first summarize the article. Then I describe some historical examples that were similar. Finally I raise questions about whether this influence is more positive or negative.

Summary of the Facts

Over two decades ago, then President George W. Bush established the White House Faith Office. During these first one hundred days of his second administration, President Trump has expanded the prominence of this Faith Office. It is now located in the White House West Wing (albeit in the basement). It is led by Trump’s spiritual adviser, Paula White-Cain and by Jennifer Korn. Their main stated purpose is to reduce hostility against Christianity and other faiths, by creating an American version of “a Church-state alliance. They point to the fact that prayers in the White House do not need to be generic, but can now be prayed in “the name of Jesus”. Nevertheless, their goals go way beyond “religious topics”. These include issues of gender and sexuality. They take pride in Trump’s executive orders that claim there are only “two sexes,” male and female.

The Faith Office has sponsored multiple briefings and listening sessions for Christian leaders. They deal with foreign relationships, trade and tariffs, education, etc.  Rev. Samuel Rodriguez affirms that these sessions give Christian leaders unprecedented access to Trump’s staff.

Now we turn to the teaching of Jesus regarding secular rulers.

Jesus and “Secular Governments”

Jesus was quite aware that human governments exercise a special temptation for his followers.  Many people are attracted to power. “Then the apostles began to squabble among themselves. They were arguing about which of them would be the greatest. Jesus said to them, ‘Kings of other countries use great authority over their people. Leaders of those countries want people to say good things about them. You must not be like that. The most important person among you must become like the least important person. The person who is your leader must become like your servant.’” (Luke 22:24-26)

Some observations:

  1. Those who follow Jesus must use great discernment to distinguish between “true goodness” from the more common “fake goodness” of many rulers who claim they are doing good for their subjects…but are not.
  2. By exposing the hypocrisy of kings and other rulers, Jesus expects his followers to rise above the idolatrous loyalty and fawning so typical of governments, because disciples of Jesus are called to serve a higher authority: the true and living God.

Historical Examples of Church/State Alliances

Throughout history there have been numerous examples of an alliance or “marriage” between secular rulers and religious leaders or causes that are perceived as “useful” for those rulers. The classic example is the “Holy” Roman Empire. Early in the fourth century A.D. there was a power vacuum in the Empire. four Roman generals began fighting and vying for the position of emperor. At that time, Christians and churches were expanding rapidly throughout the empire in spite of being frequently being persecuted. Although they were almost universally pacifistic and refused to take up the sword, their moral support could be useful to the generals. According to tradition, General Constantine had a vision in the night in which he saw a cross in the sky together with the words “with this cross you will conquer”. Although this vision is widely regarded today as mythical, Constantine defeated his rivals and became emperor. He changed the Church’s status from “illegal” to “tolerated”. A few decades later, Christianity became the official religion in the empire. Although there were some positive results of this alliance such as the creation of “sacred music” and Christian art, there were other devastating consequences. Freedom of religion was eliminated as the people of the empire were forced to accept Christianity or at least to go through the motions. Many followers of Jesus abandoned their Biblically based pacifism. They became Roman soldiers and did not heed the Biblical warning that “those who live by the sword will die by the sword”. The tragic truth is that the empire distorted Christianity more than the church positively influenced the Empire. The fall of the Roman Empire was largely due to its own inner corruption rather than as a result of foreign attacks. This corruption seeped into the church as well. Powerful clerical posts were sold to the highest bidder. Luther was correct in denouncing these moral failures of the papacy.

Two more recent examples merit some mention. During the 15th and 16th centuries, weak Popes made deals with monarchs in Spain. The Spanish Inquisition emerged. This permitted the monarchs to punish Jews in their lands and to wage war against the Moors with “God’s blessing”. Later, they and their Portuguese counterparts waged savage wars upon the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas. This was truly a continent-wide holocaust executed in the name of the God of the Conquistadores. Valiant voices of protests emerged, like Bartolome de las Casas.

In the twentieth century, Hitler was enabled to carry out his horrific attempt to make Germany great again by the acquiescence of the state church. Millions of Jews, Polish, gypsies and thousands of others made in God’s image “disappeared” and were massacred, all in the name of God and his chosen Aryan race. (God’s blessing appeared on the belt buckles of the German soldiers.) Here again people (like Bonhoeffer) arose to protest against this idolatrous alliance.

Concerns About Our Contemporary Situation in the United States

In light of lessons learned from history, I have questions about the presence and “access” of some Christian leaders in the White House.

  • It is well known that President Trump boasts about his transactional relationships (“I give you something, you give me something”.) These religious leaders gave Trump political support during the elections of 2016, 2020, and 2024, and partially due to their support, 80% of white evangelicals voted for Trump. What did they get in return? Invitations to go to the White House and to offer up prayers in the name of Jesus do not come close to “do justice and to walk humbly with your God”.
  • Paula White claimed she had received messages from God (prophecies) that Trump would win the 2020 election. Trump did not win that election. This makes her a false prophet. This is quite serious, as sincere Christians might believe, and act upon, her false prophecy.
  • Franklin Graham heads up the international Christian ministry, Samaritan’s Purse. His father was the famous evangelist, Billy Graham. Franklin was an outspoken supporter of Trump since 2015. In the Musk/Trump gutting of USAID a few months ago, Samaritan’s Purse received an exemption, and as a result, continued to receive millions of dollars. It seems to me like a transaction based on favoritism. Was it?
  • Trump has a difficult relationship with the truth. He frequently wanders far from it. Christian leaders in the White House could perform a valuable ministry to him if they had the courage to confront his lies. A very big lie has to do with the war in Ukraine. We all know that Putin started the war by invading Ukraine. But now, in his “peace talks”, the Trump administration claims Putin to be a “great man” and that it was Ukraine that started the war. Paula White and Franklin Graham, have you confronted Trump about this lie?

Jesus told his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13).

Pastor Niemoller Spoke Truth to Power in the Time of Hitler, and in Our Time as Well: First They Came for….

Pastor Niemoller Spoke Truth to Power in the Time of Hitler…and in Our Time as Well: First they Came for ….

Martin Niemoller was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor during the time of Hitler. Early in his adulthood, he was a national conservative. Like most German Protestant ministers, he supported conservative politicians who opposed the Weimar Republic.  He voted for Nazis in 1924, 1928, and again in 1933, thereby welcoming Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. He even praised Hitler for beginning a “national revival”. Nevertheless, he changed his opinion of the Nazis due to Hitler’s discrimination against Jews generally, and against Christians with Jewish ancestry. (Niemoller himself had to acknowledge aspects of antisemitism in his own thoughts and actions.). In 1934, Niemoller, together with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth and other pastors founded the “Confessing Church” that increasingly criticized the Nazis for their racism and persecution of the Jews. In 1937, Pastor Niemoller was arrested. He spent much of the next eight years in detention and concentration camps. He is quite famous for the following illustration that he would frequently utilize in his sermons.

“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.” (There are many versions of this quote. This rendering of the original appears on the United States Holocaust Memorial.)

This famous quotenwas a dramatic speaking of truth to power. It defends our common human rights, even of those persons we disagree with. It was important to shout out this truth against the backdrop of Hitler’s tyranny. It is also important to emphasize this truth today in our politically charged climate. I trust Brother Martin does not mind that I borrow some of his words.

First, they came for the undocumented immigrants, and I did not speak out – because I was not undocumented (although some of my ancestors obtained lands in the U.S. without having permission from the true indigenous owners of those lands).

Then they came for vital USAID programs and employees, and I did not speak out – because I did not live in a refugee camp having fled from war.

Then they came for international grad students (with valid student visas), and I did not speak out – because I was a U.S. citizen.

Then they came for federal workers, and I did not speak out – because I was economically comfortable.

Then they came for (fill in the blank). Will I speak out?

Elon’s (Love of) Money Can’t Buy You Love…Nor Many Votes: A Case Study From Wisconsin

On Tuesday, people went to the polls in Florida and Wisconsin. In Florida there were two special elections to choose replacements for Representatives Matt Gaetz and Michael Waltz who had resigned their positions in the House of Representatives to join the Trump cabinet. (In fact, Gaetz’s bad reputation led to his withdrawal as the nominee for Attorney General, whereas Waltz has become Trump’s National Security Adviser.). Both districts (#1 and #6) are predominantly Republican in which Trump won by over 30 percentage points last November. Both Republican candidates won their races, each by a margin of fourteen percentage points. As a result, Republican control of the House of Representatives is slightly improved. On the other hand, these two elections are warning signs for Republicans. A decline in their margins of victory from over 30% to just 14% is a clear indication of buyer’s remorse. Polls conducted this week show President Trump’s approval rate has slipped to 43%, his lowest level since the inauguration. As his widely unpopular tariffs take effect, inflation will increase and a recession is looming on the horizon (as I correctly predicted in an earlier posting on this blog site).

A more dramatic disaster took place in Wisconsin. The principal election in that state was to choose a replacement for a position on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Technically, this was a non-partisan race. The party initials (D) and (R) did not appear on the ballot. Nevertheless, party preferences were quite clear. Trump and most Republican state leaders endorsed the conservative candidate, Brad Schimel. Democrats largely supported Susan Crawford, the progressive candidate. Wisconsin is a “purple” state with almost an equal number of registered Republicans and Democrats. Biden won the state in 2020, but Trump won in 2024 by a margin under 1% of the vote. The election was quite important because it would tilt the Supreme Court, especially on the redistricting of the state’s federal districts for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The race was also the most expensive judiciary election in U.S. with a total of over ninety million dollars spent by candidates, and political parties and donors from within and outside the state. The richest person in the world, Elon Musk, took a special interest in the race and donated twenty million dollars from his personal wealth for the Schimel campaign. He proudly offered $100 to any voter who would promise to oppose “activist judges” and he wrote out checks for a million dollars to two lucky winners of an ideological contest. (This money for votes scheme was even more egregious than JFK’s giving away of two-dollar bills back in 1960.) Musk even made a personal visit to Milwaukee over the weekend to campaign for Schimel. His money and visit proved to be toxic. The liberal candidate Susan Crawford won the election by a wide margin (55% to 45%). Even more important than the issues (redistricting, abortion, etc.), the election turned into a referendum on Musk and his money involved in politics. In her victory speech, Crawford claimed that she ran against the wealthiest man on earth…, and she won.

The Trump Administration’s Denial of the National Security Breach: How Stupid Do They Think We Are?

Over the weekend, news broke that a serious security breach of U.S. intelligence had taken place on March 15. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth disclosed war plans in an encrypted group chat to a group of senior members of the Trump administration. Participating in the chat were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, the National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the head of the CIA John Ratcliffe, and other senior officials. The information contained “operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing”. There were numerous anomalies including the following:

  1. The conversation took place outside the secure government channels that would normally be used for classified and highly sensitive war planning.
  2. The highly respected editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, affirmed in an article that he published on Monday that he was mistakenly added to the text chat on the commercial messaging app Signal by Michael Waltz.
  3. Goldberg was most cautious. He did not reveal the most sensitive information in his article, but he disclosed enough (portions of the chat text itself, including emojis) to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he had been included in the text chat.
  4. Several Defense Department officials expressed shock that Mr. Hegseth had put American war plans into a commercial chat group. They affirmed that having this type of conversation in a Signal chat group itself could be a violation of the Espionage Act, a law covering the handling of sensitive information. The revelation of operational war plans before the planned strikes had occurred could also put American troops directly into harm’s way.
  5. In the conversation, Ratcliffe mentioned the name of an active undercover CIA officer.

Yesterday there was a Senate hearing that dealt with the presentation of the major threats in the world, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials including Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe. This hearing is an annual event, but there was something different this time. Democratic senators (Warner, Bennet, Ossoff, Kelly) took advantage of the hearing to grill Gabbard and Ratcliffe about the security breach. They repeatedly answered that the conversation in the group chat did take place but that the information provided was not “classified”. How stupid do they think we are? Detailed, sensitive information about imminent strikes on Yemen, and information regarding targets, U.S. weapons and attack sequencing should not be considered “classified”? The Dems continued the pressure. They used Gabbard’s own words against her, by quoting back her own descriptions of what information should be identified as “classified”. She and Ratcliffe were frequently asked about the weapons and targets mentioned in the conversation. And they frequently (and conveniently) answered, “I can’t remember” and “I can’t recall”.

In a press conference later in the day, President Trump repeated the official line that “this information was not classified” because if it were classified, he and his senior staff would appear to be seriously incompetent. The official party line is “Deny, Deny, Deny!”: deny that the information was classified, deny that the breach was serious, or deny that lives were put at risk.

Sooner or later, the administration will have to admit the information was (and should have been) considered “classified” OR that it was not classified and now should be made public. Either way, the administration should admit its serious mistake. Truth will win out in the end. We, the people, deserve the truth. We also deserve public officials who are mature enough to admit their errors and improve our government. We deserve accountability. In my blog postings earlier this year, I questioned the inferior qualifications of many of the Cabinet nominees. Sadly, many of these “leaders” have demonstrated their incompetence. At the very minimum, Hegseth and Waltz should be fired.

Trump’s Plan to End the War in Ukraine: Concessions and Non-negotiables

On the campaign trail, Trump promised that he would end the war in Ukraine BEFORE he took office on January 20. Of course, no sane person believed that promise and of course, Trump did not fulfill his pledge. Nevertheless, Trump does deserve some credit for attempting to end the war. Last night, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian “president” Putin in a preliminary meeting to suggest a temporary ceasefire. It is in everyone’s interest (Ukraine, Russia, United States, Europe) for this war to end and a “just peace” to  emerge in which both Ukraine and Russia are in agreement with the terms.

This will not be easy. A poll came out overnight in which 59% of Americans believe that a just peace is unlikely or very doubtful. Both countries have non-negotiables and both sides will have to make significant concessions. Here are the most important issues.

Territory integrity – I believe Ukraine is right in demanding territory integrity, that is, the boundaries be the same as prior to the war: Russian occupied lands in eastern Ukraine should be returned.  Although Ukraine would also like Crimea to be returned, this wish list item might need to be sacrificed. One option is for the United Nations to study and vote on the status of Crimea some time in the intermediate future.

Membership in NATO – Ukraine wants to join NATO for its future security. Of course, Russia does not want an additional large, NATO member as its next-door neighbor for its own security reasons. Although desiring to join NATO is a legitimate goal, I would be willing to see this deferred for 5-10 years in order for a peace agreement to take place.

Putin’s Responsibility – It is obviously clear to sane people that Putin started this war. He was the aggressor. His reckless invasion has caused the deaths of many thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and civilians. Justice requires that Putin make some financial remuneration for the deaths that he caused and for the rebuilding of Ukraine. It is doubtful that Putin would admit any guilt. Tyrants seldom acknowledge any mistakes. (Trump knows this all too well.) My suggestion is that Europe and the United States magnanimously and jointly offer to pay for much of the rebuilding of Ukraine. This would be a more economical option than continuing to finance an unnecessary war.

Trump has chosen a difficult challenge: Bringing about a just peace. I hope he can achieve the “art of the deal”.

Trump’s State of the Union Address: Some Good Points, but his Lies should Worry all Americans

In Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening, he was preaching to the choir. His MAGA base loved it. Republican leaders who were present got plenty of exercise as they stood up and applauded dozens of times during his 99 minute speech. He was disciplined in sticking to his text instead of his more typical going off script. He highlighted his “successes” and generally omitted his failed promises. Nevertheless, he made many claims that were totally false. I lay out some of the evidence below. I ask my readers, especially MAGA folk, to pursue the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If the following information is inaccurate in any detail, please let me know. If Trump communicated false information, please speak truth to power.

 Trump – “The presidential election of November 5th was a mandate like has not been seen in many decades…. We won the popular vote by big numbers.”

The Truth – Trump truly won the election, but it was not a mandate. He did not even receive a majority of the popular vote, just 49.8% of those who voted. In fact, it was the smallest margin of victory since the year 2000.

Trump – “Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction — in fact it’s an astonishing record, 27-point swing — the most ever.”

The Truth – “Thirty-four percent of Americans say that the country is headed in the right direction, compared to 49% who say it is off on the wrong track. When it comes to several specific issues, Americans are more likely to say things are off on the wrong track than going in the right direction: cost of living (22% right direction / 60% wrong track), the national economy (31% right direction / 51% wrong track), national politics (33% right direction / 50% wrong track), American foreign policy (33% right direction / 49% wrong track), and employment and jobs (33% right direction / 47% wrong track). Immigration policy is the only specific issue where more Americans say it is going in the right direction (48%) than off on the wrong track (39%).” (most recent Reuters/IPSOS poll)

Trump – “It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency, it’s our presidency, is the most successful in the history of our nation. By many. And what makes it even more impressive, is that you know who number two is? George Washington. How about that? I don’t know about that list but we’ll take it.”

The Truth – We should be cautious when politicians (or anyone else) refuse to identify their sources. Who are the “many”? Where is the list? Was Trump really ahead of George Washington? According to the FiveThirtyEight average of national polls, only 46.1% of the U.S. citizens currently approve of the job Trump is doing, a decline of over 3% in these first six weeks of his presidency. (Donald Trump : Favorability Polls | FiveThirtyEight

Trump – “The United States has spent perhaps $350 billion on supporting Ukraine’s defense.” He also claimed that Europe has only spent $100 billion in aid to Ukraine.

The Truth – “According to the special inspector general responsible for overseeing the spending related to the war in Ukraine, Congress has appropriated or otherwise made available $182.75 billion for the overall U.S. response to the war since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Of that money, about $119 billion has been for the direct benefit of Ukraine, including approximately $65.9 billion in military assistance…. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, European countries have spent around $140 billion to back Kyiv, and pledged another roughly $120 billion to the cause.” (Shannon Kingston in Fact-checking Trump’s speech to Congress)

Trump – “Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control. The egg prices are out of control. And we are working hard to get it back down.”

The Truth – Egg prices rose under Biden. They have continued to rise sharply during Trump’s first six weeks. This is the same Trump who campaigned with the promise “I will bring down egg prices on Day One.” When I was a kid, we would hear the slogan “Boys make excuses, men make good.” I hear a lot of excuses coming out of the White House. Excuses need to be quite solid in order to justify failed promises.

Trump – “the next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history is for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody.”

The Truth – During his first administration, Trump amassed the largest federal debt in U.S. history, $7.8 trillion. This does not lead to “the greatest economy in history”.  This debt was largely due to his tax cut that primarily benefited the very rich. It was not a tax cut “for everybody”.

Trump – Although barely mentioned in his election campaign, tariffs have played a large role in these six weeks of his presidency. He called tariffs a “beautiful word”, his “favorite word”. On Tuesday Trump proclaimed that due to tariffs, “we will take in trillions and trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before.”

The Truth – “The substantial tariffs that Mr. Trump is imposing on foreign products will raise revenue for the government. But total U.S. imports last year were about $3.3 trillion, meaning that tariffs would have to be incredibly high to generate the trillions of dollars of revenue that Mr. Trump claims.” (Fact-Checking Trump’s Address to Congress – The New York Times)

Trump – The specific special tariffs on Mexico and Canada (of 25%) were included in the written script of his address, but Trump (conveniently) skipped over these items in his oral remarks. Why?

The Truth – The conservative Wall Street Journal described these massive tariffs as the “Dumbest Trade War in History”. These tariffs took effect on Tuesday. In two days, the Dow Jones level fell some 1200 points (about 3% of its total value)! Mexico and Canada announced reciprocal, retaliatory tariffs. GOP leaders and the Big Three Automobile producers voiced their concerns to the White House. Faced with this bad news, Trump caved. On Wednesday he announced a one month “pause” on automobile tariffs with our two neighbors.

I could go on and on, but these lies are enough for now. The next big event is the budget that needs to be approved by Congress and signed into law by Trump. He says he wants a “balanced budget”. He has also promised not to touch Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This is impossible. Republicans plan on cutting $880 billion from Medicaid which would lead to the closing of hundreds of nursing homes across the country and additional pain for millions of our citizens. Readers, what should we do with all these lies?

Woe to those who Call Evil Good and Good Evil: Putin and Trump

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the prophet Isaiah warned his people, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20) He was speaking God’s truth to a people who saw a moral crisis taking place in their times. Religious and political leaders were making moral pronouncements that made a mockery of God’s universal set of ethics based upon the legal equality of every human being, because all have been created in God’s image. Isaiah rightly denounced these immoral leaders as hypocrites who distorted God’s social ethics to further their own self-centered interests.

In this post, I want to consider evil actions that Russian “president” Vladimir Putin has committed and identify some of those U.S. leaders who are now enabling him. Putin is a war criminal. His evil actions were obvious when he was a KGB operative decades ago and his actions have gone from bad to worse. In early 2014 he sent his troops to invade the Crimean Peninsula which belonged to Ukraine. Russian troops occupied the Crimean Parliament and called for a referendum for Crimea’s “independence” which they rigged to win. The international community spoke with one voice to condemn this invasion and theft. The United Nations General Assembly rejected the referendum and annexation, and officially recognized the “the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders”. In addition, the members of the G8 kicked Putin and Russia out of this organization of world leaders.

Three years ago, Putin’s troops launched a massive invasion of other areas of Ukraine, without provocation. Putin again committed various war crimes. He launched missile strikes on civilian populations, especially targeting schools and hospitals.  His troops kidnapped Ukrainian children and deported them to Russia for “re-education”. It was for these crimes that the International Criminal Court (ICC) condemned Putin and issued a warrant for his arrest. In the United States, Republicans and Democrats spoke with one voice. They denounced Putin and they praised Ukrainian president Zelensky for his military response. Over these last three years, the U.S. Congress has sent 119 billion dollars of aid to Ukraine for its fight against the war criminal Putin. As recently as the conference in Helsinki this year, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham praised Zelensky for his heroic stand against Putin.

Putin has not had a moral conversion, but ten days ago, good became evil and evil became good. Europe brought a Resolution to the United Nations General Assembly to condemn Russia for its invasion. Like similar resolutions in the past, the world joined together to condemn Russian and its War Criminal “President”. What was different this time was that our United States Ambassador to the UN, obeying Trump’s command, voted against the resolution. We joined the “Axis of Evil” nations in defending Putin. I was not surprised by Trump’s action. Just two weeks ago, Trump lied to the US people, falsely affirming that the war had been started by Ukraine. Nevertheless, it was painful to see most Republican leaders (with a few exceptions like senators Murkowski and Lankford) do a complete about face. Perhaps out of fear of Trump’s retaliation, they supported Trump’s UN vote in defense of Putin. Speaker of the House Johnson identified the Axis of Evil countries (Russia, North Korea, Iran, etc.) but tried to avoid the obvious truth that we had joined this Axis in our UN vote. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s body language in the White House fiasco meeting on Friday tells the whole story. He hated hearing Trump’s defense of Putin and attack on Zelensky, but he had sold out his conscience to his boss.

Calling evil actions good is in itself “evil”. In this case, it is due to Republicans’ “loyalty” to Donald Trump. But giving absolute loyalty to Trump or to any other fallen human being is not good. It is idolatry. Let us heed Isaiah’s warning before it is too late.