Trump Destroyed Our Soft Power Primacy, Here’s How the Rest Goes

It’s been some past couple of weeks. Americans are divided into two camps, either the blissfully ignorant (thinking that their enemies are going to get clobbered while believing that they will miraculously emerge unscathered) or the depressed. If you’re a Democrat you’re in the latter camp. And then there is a third group, and the peoples of the world comprise this subset, and that is the simply stunned. If you’re anywhere from the arctic reaches of Canada to the interior of Africa, if you’re the slightest bit politically aware, then you are looking at American politics with your jaw open. Perhaps we should add a fourth group, Putin and Russia. They are as happy as clams as they view Nikita Khruschev’s prophecy come to life, “We will take you over without firing a shot. We will take you over from within.” Lincoln Project has done an analysis, which I suggest you bookmark and/or tape to your computer.

TO: Lincoln Project Supporters And Allies

FROM: Lincoln Project 

DATE: February 8, 2025
SUBJECT: Major Themes Of Trump/Musk Administration

With all the activity, it’s hard to get a handle on the Administration’s total insanity. That’s partially by design, but also partially because Trump is a chaos monkey. Here are the major themes that explain what’s happening in Washington: 

1. The chaos is making it more dangerous for America and empowering China and Russia.

   1. In a few short weeks Trump completely destroyed the nation’s soft power advantage, creating a massive vacuum China is happy to fill. See: USAID, Tariffs backlash

   2. Trump is crippling the CIA and FBI by eliminating its workforce and driving out agents. This will severely impact the nation’s ability to respond to foreign threats and intelligence gathering operations, and fighting criminal organizations.

   3. Trump’s Gaza proposal risks more attacks on US installations/troops and has already been rejected by Saudi Arabia and HAMAS.

2. Trump weakened himself.

   1. Bungling the tariffs cost Trump the confidence of Wall Street and even Murdoch’s WSJ’s Ed Board is starting to criticize him.

   2. Musk being so public is making Trump look like he’s not running things. Even Trump admitted he hasn’t met with Elon’s team of glorified interns and is letting Musk do whatever he wants.

   3. Lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits. Trump’s losing them all because of the incompetent rollout of the spending freeze. Losing never makes anyone look good to their supporters.

   4. Trump’s Gaza proposal – even if not real – the debate weakens him at home with his coalition. He ran on less foreign intervention, even having the debate on whether to go to Gaza a huge political risk.

3. Musk is dragging Trump down.

   1. He’s Trump’s weakest link, out of control and even worse, growing unpopular. Trump’s made him the Administration’s face and he’s looking worse by the day.

   2. Musk may be unelected, but he’s voted on every day by the stock market, where Tesla’s stock price makes up his wealth. That’s who Musk will work for, not the working Americans who make up Trump’s base.

   3. Musk is pursuing a tech bros vision of government. When the public feels the pain of his cuts, there will be a backlash.

4. The Hill insanity is coming and should not be overlooked.

   1. Spending: The House is looking at $1 or 2 trillion in cuts. With either, the American people will feel significant pain. Anger will only multiply once the cuts are used for a billionaire tax cut.

   2. Leftover Speaker battle: The House will look to Trump to lead, but some in the GOP have been willing to step up and challenge the prevailing wisdom – is it inevitable to happen again?

   3. GOP Senators: If they want to be President, the time to move is coming. Those making the run will need to mount up and stop a Trump 3rd term and/or wreck Vance from getting the nomination. In either case, it will be a rift worth watching.

5. The VA governor’s race will be a referendum on Trump’s plans.

   1. The mass firings of government employees and the canceling of contracts will play a huge role in the VA governors race this year. Massive unemployment could be coming to the state.

How to stop this:

1. Push the Senate from the red.

   1. If red states start to feel the pain of the cuts and the budget, the GOP will not be immune from voter backlash.

   2. At some point, Musk is going to kill off something GOP Senators don’t want to see die. Agencies do things for a reason, and they all have constituencies.

2. Dems need to get louder, more aggressive and find better spokespeople.

   1. Keep Democrats from accepting the GOP narrative. Cannot accept any of the rationale given by Trump.

   2. No bipartisan talk. Fight everything, fight it all at once. There is no common ground and Trump cannot be given any wins.

   3. Dems must take the discussion to their districts and talk up how draconian this is.

3. Expose the chaos.

   1. Hearings, hearings, hearings. Democrats need to expose what is happening behind closed doors. If they cannot get Musk in front of them, then they need to call him out for it.

   2. Dems should elevate staff voices at the agencies to put a good face on the work employees are doing and to tell how Musk is destroying the government.

4. Ignore the cultural traps while building a narrative.

   1. Democrats need to relentlessly talk about consumer prices and how the tariffs – which come back up in March – will hammer the middle class.

   2. When the GOP drops its new budget, social services will be destroyed and the public will see in their own communities real pain.

5. Promote ambitious alternative GOP voices.

   1. Anyone who wants to be President will need to start distancing themselves and/or taking down Vance. This means a fight will come.

This is all presupposing that there are GOPers who want to take down Vance. Right now all we see from that side of the aisle is people hiding in fear and confirming Trump’s worse-pick, worse-impulse people. At this point Trump could do a Caligula number and suggest that a horse be made Senator — or a higher office — and the frightened Republican rabbits would go along with it.

Democrats do need to find better spokespeople. Chuck Schumer is not the right leader for this time. Adam Schiff, whom Trump deplores, may end up leading the charge. Jamie Raskin is a good strong voice, may we hear more from him.

*********

Friends, I am forced to self-promote and ask you for money. We had a bad year compared with 2023 and the end of the year has been catastrophic. Traffic died on November 5. We are a small blog and completely self-supporting by ad revenue, donations, and subscriptions. If you can afford a monthly subscription that would help us out. If you can make a small donation, likewise. Our only goal is to stay in business and give you the best content we can generate. You are the wind beneath our wings. Thank you. Ursula

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