One of Donald Trump’s marketing slogans declares, “Trump was right about everything.”
But in reality, as anyone with eyes can clearly see, Trump has been wrong about most everything. His “business leader” instincts have proved ill-advised and catastrophic time and again. His economic policies are disastrous for the economy. Even his immigration crackdown is disliked by a majority of Americans. And while campaigning on lowering prices of consumer goods, the exact opposite is his legacy.
Trump is doing more harm than good. He sees the world only through the distorted vision of a demagogue without restraint or accountability. He lusts for recognition as the “Peace President,” but he is a warlord.
“Behind all his nefarious actions lies one consuming emotion: Hate.”
Behind all his nefarious actions lies one consuming emotion: Hate. His undisguised hatred and disrespect for others is almost universal. For a decade, Americans have listened to Trump call almost everyone he encounters as “evil” or “stupid.” Don’t fail to notice he uses the language of war to normalize treating Democrats the way he treats drug dealers and the leaders of other nations.
An array of writers has cataloged Trump’s worst actions in his second term. “Harm” is the theme of these lists.
Gary Blumenthal offers an exhaustive list in his Substack: “The 300 Most Egregious Acts of Trump’s Second Term — So Far.” MSN offers the “Top 10 Worst Things Trump Has Done in His Second Term. The New Republic catalogs “The Nine Worst Trump Scandals of 2025.”
My list of Trump’s failures
In no particular order, here’s my representative list of Trump’s most harmful actions, examples of how he has been wrong about nearly everything:
- Hegemonic masculinity pushed by “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth
- ICE’s war on U.S. citizens. Trump’s goons are not going after the “worst of the worst” as he says but after law-abiding, taxpaying people.
- The economy: The checking accounts and pocketbooks of citizens of millions of Americans are now worse off than five years ago. Affording groceries, seeing a doctor, keeping the power on, paying the rent have become a center of harm. Trump now calls “affordability” a Democratic hoax.
- The corruption. The United Arab Emirates crypto bribe. His enriching of himself, his friends and his family. The scale of corruption is off the charts. His alignment with fellow billionaires (17 in his administration) is so obvious even loyal MAGA supporters are beginning to break away.
- A series of corrupt pardons from J6 insurrectionists to Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was serving a 45-year sentence in a U.S. federal penitentiary for drug trafficking and weapons offenses, and Changpeng Zhao, the disgraced former CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The dismantling of USAID. Food and medicine have been cut off from children in Africa. The cruelty has no bounds. - Regime change in Venezuela
- Trump’s attacks on universities
- Blowing up speedboats with high-tech U.S. military equipment in the alleged war on drugs. Ironically, Trump has insisted the drug cartels are a “clear and present danger,” when he himself is the clear and present danger.
- The lunacy over wanting to acquire Greenland and Canada.
- His war with Iran. As this war unfolds, the potential for harm will be at its highest. A president capable of getting away with disobeying the Constitution in his use of war powers is unhinged.
- His ongoing attempt to destroy American trust in the anchor institutions of democracy: the press, the universities, our health care system, the judiciary, the government
- The Justice Department being destroyed and used for investigations of Trump’s perceived enemies: the chair of the Federal Reserve, Gov. Tim Walz in Minnesota, Mayor Frey of Minneapolis, minded prosecutors and judges
Tariffs on our allies and a shifting on tariffs like an unpredictable mad man. - FBI raid of Georgia Board of Elections to bolster Trump’s false claim of winning in 2020.
- Refusing to follow the orders of federal judges.
- Policy moves alienating allies and insulting them.
- Stopping federal research on climate change.
- Cutting funding for Meals on Wheels (senior children), SNAP benefits (the poor and hungry), funding for the World Food Program, defunding elder abuse programs, ending school lunch expansion and hundreds of other programs where the only motivation possible is cruelty.
- Reduced Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pandemic preparedness programs.
- Approving pesticides banned in other countries.
- Removing limits on payday lenders’ interest rates.
- Posting and reposting vile memes and videos, such as the one depicting the Obamas as apes.
The disaster zone
“What Trump has wrought may be the leading edge of the collapse of civilization in apocalyptic terms.”
All the lists of Trump’s follies point to a few basic conclusions:
Trump has been wrong about the economy. His “yo-yo” tariff policies have disrupted international trade. American working people are struggling to pay bills while the very, very rich get very, very richer.
Trump’s domestic policies have turned into war policies. He has put troops in our streets. ICE officers and Border Patrol agents have killed American citizens. This alone makes our self-proclaimed “Peace President” a war monger. E.J. Dionne reminds, “There have been police killings, but the country has never seen an entity like ICE operate completely outside the law in this way.”
Trump’s immigration policies have spread fear across the nation. Matt DeMateo, chief executive of New Life Centers of Chicagoland, described the impact of Operation Midway Blitz on the immigrant community he serves succinctly: “I’ve been doing this work for 25 years, and I’ve never seen such fear.” And the fear has also fueled an outburst of nativism and racism aimed at brown people with the same intensity it has historically aimed at Blacks.
Trump’s foreign policies have been a disaster. He has coopted the name of God, with the blessing of his evangelical horde, to legitimate the violence he calls “peace.” The war in Ukraine continues. Our current war with Iran has already witnessed the bombing of a girl’s school killing as many as 100 students. Yet 79% of Americans oppose this war.
Trump’s health policies are a disaster. The retreat from scientific research on global warming, vaccines and pandemic preparedness puts the entire nation into a state of precarity.
America is being bamboozled by a man who promised no more foreign wars and now seems to have a list of countries he will take out. I maintain hope in the ideals of democracy. Americans will not forever tolerate a president who is creating a world where criminals, gangsters and thugs can thrive without restraint. The people who gave us Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Obama will not allow us to be long ruled by tyranny and falsehood.
