As we all know, our nation is divided, the likes of which we have not seen since the Civil War.  And the reasons for this divide are fairly clear:

1. Over the last several decades, the middle class in America has eroded away. In the 1950’s and before, the middle class was the general working class – artisans, businessmen, shop owners, factory workers, skilled tradesmen, etc., and the American Dream was alive and well.  If you worked hard and applied your God-given talents, you could become almost anything you wanted to be.  But that changed – the rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the middle class got ripped in half, generally moving to one side of the ledger or the other.

Moreover, our wealthy citizens naturally had more opportunities to influence the direction of the country and to secure their positions in society.  This capability was further enhanced by the proliferation of large corporations and associated mergers.  The end result was that a large segment of our population became disenfranchised, their prospects for improving their lives and those of their families dimmed, and their frustration with America grew as they felt increasingly betrayed.

2. Matters were further exacerbated as our Congress became increasingly partisan and dysfunctional. In recent years, the American people as a whole have come to believe that Congress no longer represents them or even understands their needs.  The concept that “We the People” are in charge and can chart our destiny now appears to be decidedly untrue.

3. The globalization of commerce, the information explosion, and the advancement of technology, while generally considered good occurrences, have created new tensions, confusion, and uncertainty. With so many moving parts in our society these days, the conditions have become ripe for the proliferation of false narratives that are passed off as truths, and for previous “truths” to be seen as lies.  Add to this the erosion of core moral values, due at least in part to sensationalism in reporting and an increased hunger for “reality” programming, and we are left with a confused and susceptible society.

There are probably other reasons for our divided society, but these are at least some of the key ones.  Regardless, it is within this context that Donald Trump made his appearance onto the world stage.  He laid out a simple plan that many found appealing – Make American Great Again; return us to the good days; restore the American Dream; drain the swamp of Washington D.C. from the corrupt and self-serving politicians; restore morality and American Values; take pride in America and reject foreign influences; kick the outsiders out and keep us safe.  Given the points made above, we can easily see the draw that such sentiments would have.  And in fairness, some of the proposed solutions for implementing Trump’s plan are probably long overdue.

But here is the thing – we cannot listen only to the words of the plan with the hope that, at last, someone has the vision to make our nation healthy again.  It is absolutely essential that we also look at the actions that follow the words.  Are those actions helping or hurting the United States, both home and abroad?  Are they consistent with the values and principles outlined in our Constitution?  While none of us has a crystal ball, we can at least examine Donald Trump’s last Presidency and look at his current plans for the future.  In doing so, we need to honestly ask whether or not he has the character, wisdom, and integrity to lead this country selflessly and in good faith, representing the fundamental principles of our democracy.

I will admit from the start that I have very strong feelings about Donald Trump.  But I will try to represent my findings below as honestly as I can.  Much of what is written below are not my words.  They are the words of various sources, which I will cite as appropriate.  I believe these sources are credible, but I acknowledge that some people may not consider them so.  Nevertheless, please try to look at the totality of these findings and the picture they portray before passing judgment.  The fate of our nation, and perhaps the world, is literately in your hands this November.

Trump and the Truth

By almost any measure, Donald Trump is not known to correctly characterize events or accurately state facts.  This tendency was seen on numerous occasions during his past Presidency.

One clear example was during the COVID pandemic.  Admittedly, in the beginning of the pandemic everyone was confused about how to address this new threat.  And Trump deserves credit for supporting Operation Warp Speed, which enabled us to find the most promising cures very quickly.  But he was also guilty of ignoring the threat for far too long while thousands of Americans died in the worst possible ways.  The graph below shows some of the President Trump’s early statements about COVID as the number of cases increased in the U.S. over time.

Only when the World Health Organization declared COVID a pandemic, did Trump declare a national emergency, saying that he had “always known” it was a threat.  This type of backpedaling is both dishonest and unacceptable.

It is also curious to note that the concept of “Fake News” never really had much traction on the national stage until Trump become a candidate for the U.S. Presidency.  Certainly, throughout history there has always been inaccurate reporting and propaganda to sway people toward one cause or another.  But when Donald Trump took the stage, he turned it into an art form.  Look at the video clips of him throughout his Presidency.  He continually repeats that his statements are true and that those who disagree are part of a “deep state” conspiracy to cover-up those truths.  Whether you agree or disagree, please note this:  In a democratic republic, we have the responsibility to question the words and actions of our leaders.  As the famous German writer, Johann Goethe, observed in his various writings, “Those who are asleep in a democracy, wake up in a dictatorship.”

It is generally held that Donald Trump’s most egregious lies came during the 2020 election, when he relentlessly tried to overturn the election’s legitimate results.  The following is a brief summary of his efforts as presented by CNN on January 24, 2021, in the article entitled, “Chronicling Trump’s 10 Worst Abuses of Power:”

After Trump lost the election, he falsely claimed victory and pressured election officials in battleground states to fraudulently throw out millions of votes for President Joe Biden. The most memorable example was Trump’s hour-long call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, when he harangued the GOP official to “find” just enough votes to nullify Biden’s narrow victory in that state.

Trump’s legal team filed dozens of lawsuits alleging fraud, which were rejected by a bipartisan array of federal and state judges, and the Supreme Court. When these efforts failed, Trump unsuccessfully tried to coerce then-Vice President Mike Pence to unlawfully override the Electoral College process and block Biden’s victory in Congress.

Trump’s attempts to cling to power reached a horrifying crescendo on January 6, when he incited his supporters in Washington to attack the US Capitol while the electoral votes were being counted.  Prior to that day, Trump called on crowds from across the country to travel to Washington D.C., urging them on in his December 19^th tweet by stating:  “Be there, will be wild!”

At a rally itself before the attack, Trump directed supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell,” telling them, “You’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength.” The protests quickly transformed into a violent mob, which overran police barriers and stormed the building. The occupation led to five deaths.  Throughout this sad chapter in our history, Donald Trump denied all responsibility.

We, the citizens of this United States, would do well to review the key findings of the January 6th Select Committee on the Insurrection.  In their report they noted that “… in the two months between the November election and the January 6th insurrection, President Trump or his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either State legislators or State or local election administrators, to overturn State election results.”  This pattern of behavior strongly suggests a likely criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Now, we are approaching another Presidential election.  The stakes could not be higher, and Donald Trump’s sense of the truth continues to be checkered at best.  Some recent examples include the following:

• Rebuilding the Military – On a number of occasions, Trump has claimed that he “…fully rebuilt the U.S. military” in terms of equipment upgrades. At best, this is wild exaggeration.  Daniel Dale of CNN noted that the military has tens of thousands of pieces of equipment, and the process of acquiring new equipment for the military takes many years. It is not remotely possible to replace even half of the military’s inventory of equipment in one Presidential term.
• Classified Documents – After Trump was charged with illegally retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, he proclaimed in an October 2023 speech in Florida, “I come under the Presidential Records Act” and so “I can do whatever I want.” This statement is blatantly false, according to Daniel Dale of CNN who researched the claim.  According to Dale, the Presidential Records Act says that all presidential records belong to the federal government the moment the president leaves office.  Specifically, the Act states that “the Archivist of the United States shall assume responsibility for the custody, control, and preservation of, and access to, the Presidential records of that President.”

Other fabrications by Donald Trump also abound.  On March 14, 2024, the Washington Post noted several as follows:

• He created the greatest U.S. economy in U.S. history (not by any metric).
• He passed the biggest tax cut in history (it ranks 8th).
• He did more for Black people than any president but Abraham Lincoln (not by any metric).
• He defeated ISIS in four weeks (it took the United States and coalition partners more than two years after he took office).
• He was the first president to impose tariffs on China (China has faced U.S. tariffs since George Washington first enacted them in 1789).
• He increased government revenue even though he cut taxes (simply false).

Although many other examples exist, I will end this part of the discussion by focusing on the first Presidential Debate of 2024, where CNN reported that Trump stated over 30 falsehoods, while Biden was guilty of about 9.  Some of Trump’s more creative statements included:

• On Abortion, he said, “Some Democratic states allow execution of babies after birth.” Fact:  This is illegal in all states.

• On a woman’s right to choose, he said, “Everyone wanted Roe vs. Wade overturned.” Fact:  According to polls, two-thirds of Americans did not want it overturned.

• On the Budget Deficit, he said, “The U.S. currently has the biggest Budget Deficit ever.” Fact:  The biggest budget deficit ever happened under Trump in 2020 ($3.1 trillion under Trump vs. $1.27 trillion under Biden).

• On Ukraine, he said, “The U.S. provided way more aid to Ukraine than Europe.” Fact:  It is actually the opposite.  Since the war began, the U.S. has contributed $107 billion of direct aid for Ukraine; Europe has contributed $110 billion.

• On the 2020 Presidential Election, Trump continually asserts that the election was rigged. Fact:  His assertions have been fully debunked by the evidence, the courts, and his own people and appointees.  

At this point, it seems fair to conclude that the truth to Donald Trump is what he wants it to be, regardless of the actual facts.

Trump and the Power of the Presidency

Trump’s lack of reverence for the truth is disturbing, especially if he is to become our next President.  But even more concerning to our democracy are his beliefs in the power of the Presidency.  Trump often claims that his actions are in defense of our Constitution.  That plays well with his supporters; but if he truly believed in the Constitution, he would believe in its bedrock principle of the Balance of Power – but he does not.

As early as July 23, 2019, during a rally in Washington D.C., Trump stated that Article II of the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want as president.”  Article II gives the President the following limited powers and duties:

1. Defend the Constitution
2. Act as Commander-in-Chief of the military
3. Grant pardons
4. Make treaties with foreign states (with Senate consent)
5. Appoint all officers of the U.S. (with Senate consent)
6. Periodically brief Congress on the State of the Union

These were never meant to suggest total power over the nation.  In fact, the Constitution itself does not even grant the Federal Government total power over the nation.  This was made clear by James Madison, one of our founding fathers and the fourth President of the United States.  He wrote, “”The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite” (written by Madison in The Federalist Papers).

These limitations to the Federal Government appear to be irrelevant to Donald Trump.  For example, on April 13, 2020, in a briefing with reporters during the pandemic, he stated, “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total” (reported by NBC News, April 16, 2020).

This attitude fueled a number of Trump’s actions during his term in office which many would consider to be flagrant abuses of power.   Among these are his chronic lies and the weaponization of government institutions.

One of Trump’s favorite ploys is to accuse his opponents of committing the very abuses that he himself is actually committing.  He often uses accusations of “fake news” to cover up the lies that he is passing off as truths.  He accuses the current Biden administration of weaponizing the Justice Department so it can pursue him as a potential felon, even though it was initially Trump who weaponized his own Justice Department to help him deny the results of the 2020 election. Specifically:

• He fired and replaced his Attorneys General when they did not support his agenda. William Barr replaced Jeff Sessions in 2019, and Jeffery Rosen replaced William Barr in 2020.  When Rosen refused to support Trump’s claims of wide-spread fraud in the 2020 election, Trump considered replacing him in January 2021 with a junior official named Jeffrey Clark, who was more sympathetic to Trump’s claims.  Trump backed away from this plan only when he was told that Clark’s appointment would prompt massive resignations within the Justice Department.

• Trump also pressured the Justice Department to investigate his political rivals, most notably Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, over allegations related to their activities in Ukraine and China.

And now, with his sights on the Presidency for a second term, it appears that Donald Trump is intent on weaponizing the Office of the President itself.  The following information is taken in part from an article by CNN on January 24, 2021, entitled, “Chronicling Trump’s 10 Worst Abuses of Power:”

• Loyalty Oaths: A recurring theme of the past Trump presidency was the personalization of government, with Trump regularly blending his interests with those of the nation and demanding personal loyalty from his subordinates.  Richard H. Pildes, one of our country’s leading scholars of constitutional law, stated, “Trump’s demand that government actors pledge loyalty to him, as opposed to the law or to the constitution, is a corruption of the rule of law, and it’s a corruption of government institutions.”

Most notably, former FBI Director James Comey revealed Trump’s demand of loyalty from him during a private meeting in early 2017 – an inappropriate request from any sitting President to an FBI chief. As the years went on, it became clear that Cabinet members and top officials could only survive if they showered Trump with praise and platitudes.

• Firing Whistleblowers: Trump did not react well when officials disagreed with him, either publicly or privately. Officials often lost their jobs if Trump felt that they were not aligned with his wishes.  He relentlessly attacked whistleblowers who spoke out against him, including the anonymous intelligence official whose complaint triggered his impeachment, as well as Dr. Rick Bright, the former public health official who publicly criticized Trump’s failed pandemic response in early 2020.

In addition, he has used his endless tweets to intimidate witnesses while they were testifying, and demeaned the character of civil servants who have had sterling reputations (e.g., Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, who was dismissed by Trump for testifying at his impeachment hearing).

Sadly, these characteristics that manifested during Trump’s past Presidency will likely grow more pronounced if he wins a second term.  So ask yourself, is this the behavior we would expect from the President of the United States?  Is this the profile of a man who is supposed to represent the very best values of our nation?

Trump’s Personality Profile

There is a great deal of damning evidence against Donald Trump and the way he behaves.  So, it might be appropriate to investigate why he behaves the way he does.  One logical approach is to consider who influenced him in his earlier years.  Other than his mother and father, the name of a mentor that frequently comes up is Roy Cohn.  Cohn was an American lawyer and prosecutor who came to prominence for his role as Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during McCarthy’s investigations of suspected communists in the 1950’s.  He had a strong influence on Trump during his early career in real estate, teaching him to “attack, counterattack, and never apologize.”  This seems to fit well with Trump’s current attitude as a politician.

Trump’s behavior and personality have also piqued the interest of numerous psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts.  One of them, Dr. Vincent Greenwood, who is the Executive Director of the Washington Center for Cognitive Therapy, used the Hare Psychopathy Checklist to determine how well Donald Trump fit into the profile of a psychopath.  This checklist is based on empirical research rather than just theory.  It focuses on a person’s observable behavior to determine psychopathic tendencies.

A “perfect” score on the checklist would be 40. Hare set 30 as the cutoff for one to be deemed a clinical psychopath.  Below are the 20 items of the checklist, as well as Greenwood’s ratings for Donald Trump.  (Note:  0 = No tendency; 1 = Some tendency; 2 = Pronounced tendency)

1. Glibness/superficial charm — 2
2. Egocentricity/grandiose sense of self-worth — 2
3. Proneness to boredom/need for stimulation — 2
4. Pathological lying and deception/gaslighting — 2
5. Conning/lack of sincerity — 2
6. Lack of remorse or guilt — 2
7. Shallow affect — 2
8. Callous/lack of empathy — 2
9. Parasitic lifestyle — 0
10. Poor behavioral controls — 2
11. Promiscuous sexual behavior — 2
12. Early behavior problems — 1
13. Lack of realistic long-term goals — 0
14. Impulsivity — 2
15. Irresponsibility — 2
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions — 2
17. Many short-term marital relationships — 2
18. Juvenile delinquency — 1
19. Revocation of conditional release — 0
20. Criminal versatility — 2

Total = 32

According to Greenwood:  “Thirty-two (32) is a serious number for this instrument … In law enforcement vernacular, an individual with this score would be termed a ‘stone-cold psychopath.’”

Given his assessment, Greenwood made the following predictions with regard to Donald Trump:

1. Because of his greater than normal need for stimulation, coupled with his impulsivity, disruptions to the legal, financial, and administrative functions of our government will accumulate.
2. In the exercise of his duties, at every choice point, power and dominance will likely prevail over the welfare of others.
3. Because of his inability to process emotions related to danger, the government will be less responsive to threat situations (hello, coronavirus).
4. Because he is undaunted by fear of punishment, norms of trust and decency will continue to erode.
5. His callous and remorseless disregard for the feelings of others means that vulnerable populations will remain at significant risk.
6. The typical course for this condition? Deterioration, ending up in a dreary ending for the psychopath, and exhausted and ruined lives for so many of the rest of us.

Greenwood is not alone in his assessment of Trump’s mental state.  In the 2020 movie, Unfit, a documentary about Donald Trump, several health professionals were interviewed.  Among them were:

• John Gartner, PhD, a Psychologist (Johns Hopkins University)
• Lance Dodes, MD, a Psychiatrist/Psychoanalyst (Harvard University)
• Justin Frank, MD, a Psychoanalyst (Harvard University)

These professionals have decades of clinical experience.  Their individual assessments of Donald Trump included the following:

1. He is unfit for the Office of the President.
2. He suffers from Malignant Narcissism (Narcissism, Paranoia, Anti-social Personality Disorder, Sadism).
3. He is a Psychopath/Sociopath.

Many other mental health professionals share similar beliefs.  So it is prudent to consider that if Trump becomes the next President, he will once again have his finger on the Nuclear Button.  Also realize that on August 2, 2019, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the INF treaty and resumed intermediate-range missile testing.  In addition, during his term as President, he withdrew the U.S. from three nuclear disarmament treaties.  When asked if he would ever consider using nuclear weapons, he claimed that the nuclear option was the option of last resort.  But, given his existing mental state, how will he define “last resort?”

Trump’s End Game

Ultimately, we need to look at Donald Trump’s plans for the future of our government under his leadership.  On Monday, July 17, 2023, the New York Times reported the following:  “…the Trump team is planning a ‘sweeping expansion of presidential power,’ focusing on several specific areas: establishing more control of semi-independent agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Reserve; firing government employees at will, even those with civil-service protections; and ‘impounding’ funds allocated by Congress. Taken together, the result would be the greatest reshaping of the relationship between the executive branch and the federal government in recent American history.”

One Trump adviser, Russell Vought, the former Office of Management and Budget Director went so far as to tell the N.Y. Times: “What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them.”  This is a significant comment.  It indicates a desire to remove independence for various government entities that may legitimately need to function somewhat independently regardless of the administration in power (e.g., agencies that deal with the environment, weather events, infectious diseases, as well as the branches of Congress and the Judiciary).  It also enables the President to purge people from the government who are not loyal to him, making loyalty the requirement rather than expertise, and allowing the President to restaff the government with people who will do his bidding.

The blueprint for this new vision of government is captured in Project 2025, an initiative organized by the Heritage Foundation.  In April 2023, the foundation published its 900+ page document entitled, “Mandate for Leadership:  The Conservative Promise,” which was written and edited by hundreds of conservative thinkers, including at least 140 members from the previous Trump administration, according to CNN.

Wikipedia reports that Mandate for Leadership proposes reshaping the Federal Government and consolidating Executive power under Donald Trump should he win the 2024 election.  Specifically, “It proposes reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers as political appointees, in order to replace them with loyalists more willing to enable Trump’s policies.”  In addition, it promotes taking partisan control of the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Commerce, and the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission.  It further supports abolishing the Department of Education, dismantling the Department of Homeland Security, sharply reducing environmental regulations, reforming the National Institutes of Health to conform with conservative principles, and cutting funds for Medicare and Medicaid.

Mandate for Leadership is readily available for review on the internet, with copious credit given to its various authors and contributors.  Feel free to look it up and consider its implications.

Conclusion

In Summary, it is important for all citizens who love this country to take a hard look at Donald Trump before they cast their ballots on November 2, 2024.  Does he have the character, wisdom, and integrity to lead this country selflessly and in good faith, representing the fundamental principles of our democracy?  Don’t just listen to the words he says; consider his actions and the way he treats people in general.  Do those actions suggest that he will unite people with differing viewpoints, or divide them into enemy camps?

Remember what the evidence shows:

• He is a well-documented liar and one of the principal purveyors of fake news.
• He has stated on a number of occasions that as President, he can do pretty much anything he wants with full immunity.
• He deflects his bad actions by accusing his opponents of committing the very abuses that he himself is actually committing, such as weaponizing various government departments and agencies.
• He asks his subordinates to place loyalty to him above loyalty to the nation.
• His actions and personality profile strongly suggest psychopathic tendencies that make him unfit for the Presidency or any other public office, according to a number of leading authorities in mental health.
• As President, he would likely threaten the world with the prospect of a nuclear option, given his psychological profile.
• He promises to reshape our government with an all-powerful Presidency that will remove the balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary branches, and serve the will of one man – him. In the name of the U.S. Constitution, he will destroy that very Constitution, and along with it, everything that we Americans hold dear.

I have never seen our nation, and the world at large, more in peril (except perhaps during the Cuban Missile Crisis years ago).  The United States as we know it can only survive if we the people look beyond ourselves and beyond the noise and the rhetoric.  Democracy requires people to think, to listen, and to ask hard questions that require clear answers.  Most importantly, it requires people to continually evaluate.  If we stop evaluating, we stop thinking – and then we are at the mercy of any despot who cares to abuse us for his own personal gains.

If this article has not given you pause to think and consider your options carefully, then I suggest you look around you and consider all you have.  Look too at your children and grandchildren, if you have them.  We are not a perfect nation; in many ways, we are broken.  But it is our fundamental principles that have kept us strong and that have helped us endure.  Those principles are enunciated in our Constitution and in our institutions; and they are sacred, as this land of ours is sacred.

We are certainly in need of change; but Donald Trump is not the answer.  If he becomes President, the United States as we know it, and all the freedoms we hold dear, will not long exist.  And the world at large will truly be in jeopardy.