Trump Rages Over Media Failure to Get in Line: ‘Hate America’

One of the near-innumerable Trump characteristics that choke off any sense of tranquility or optimism for the nation’s near future is his incessant insistence that anyone who disagrees with him or fails to fall in line to do his bidding clearly “hates America.” It is one of the most dangerous things that an autocrat can utter and is found on about page two of the “How to Implement Fascism for Dummies” playbook. This is especially true with respect to media coverage in that all self-respecting dictators insist that the media is “the enemy of the people,” all of them, and thus any coverage that fails to please the despotic one who sees himself as the nation embodied represents an enemy’s view. We have the perfect updated example below and it also forebodes serious trouble if the upcoming SCOTUS tariff case doesn’t go his way.

As you peruse, it’s helpful to know that Donald Trump’s own Treasury Department estimates that the amount taken in by tariff charges so far is about $200 billion. And yet we have this from his Truth Social account.

“We have taken in, and will soon be receiving, more than 600 Billion Dollars in Tariffs, but the Fake News Media refuses to talk about it because they hate and disrespect our Country, and want to interfere with the upcoming Tariff decision, one of the most important ever, of the United States Supreme Court. Because of Tariffs, our Country is financially, AND FROM A NATIONAL SECURITY STANDPOINT, FAR STRONGER AND MORE RESPECTED THAN EVER BEFORE. GOD BLESS AMERICA! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

I suppose it all depends on what one considers to be “soon” and whether or not the SCOTUS allows Trump to continue imposing unilateral tariffs akin to a king without any input of Congress. This is despite the fact that Article I clearly designates Congress as the sole branch in charge of taxes and spending, and if anything has been established over the course of the last six months it is conclusive that tariffs operate as a tax under any name one wants.

Now, on to the fact that Trump characterizes all media failing to report his version of the facts as due to the fact that they “hate and disrespect our Country, and want to interfere with the upcoming tariff decision.” We also have Trump’s wholly predictable conclusion that his tariffs have made the country stronger than ever, this despite the fact that no only are we losing diplomatic allies by the hour but our trading partners are doing more and more to rely far less on American goods. See Canada for example.

Some research using both Grok and Chat reveals that it expects a decision on the tariff case sometime in February-March as most likely, though given the stakes and the critical timing, it wouldn’t shock people if it came out early, sometime this month. It would probably shock people if it extended into April. Additionally, the best guess as to the SCOTUS’s ultimate decision on the matter puts Trump’s likelihood of success at a mere 25% and thus it is that we should get very used to hyperventilating such as this at the media, Democrats, and ultimately the court.

While on the subject, and talking about facist tendencies, it is worth noting that if there is a single case yet that Trump is most likely to ignore a ruling, it is almost surely the tariff case. It is doubtful that Trump would go right out and state that he’s imposing tariffs anyway. It is far more likely that he would look to some other emergency provision to state that he’s doing this legally under his inherent authority. Of course, it would be wholly illegal for a president to get around a court ruling by utilizing a law or argument that wasn’t presented by the executive branch in earlier oral arguments. If there is anything we know with certainty, it is that Trump will not let norms nor the Constitution get in his way.

So that is that, we in the media who aren’t wholly aligned with either lying about the facts of the tariff issue or in the general legality must hate America. To give Trump some credit, one does certainly have to admit to hating the American government right now, along with a segment of Trump voters – not all, maybe half – who support extra-Constitutional action, as transparently authoritarian action, and so Trump is probably partly right, there is a significant portion of the country that hates “America” (Government).

Of course, hating the current American government doesn’t equate to hating the country. Indeed, taken as a whole, one of the reasons Trump’s actions are so shocking is that they go against norms that at least attempted to offer up legitimate reasons for aggressive authoritarian actions (I am thinking Iraq as the exception, and it was noted at the time as an exception), and so it is worthwhile to still have some pride in all the good that the United States did do over the decades, one can offer up the success of South Korea, post-War Japan, and a Marshall Planned Europe as total success stories, democracy, wealth, and envious first-world lifestyles for citizens across the board.

Trump is proving that he can be so bad as to be partly right. There’s a big part of many of us that hate the current United States government, while retaining deep love and loyalty for the Constitution and the majority of American citizens. True love of the country mandates continued opposition to all we find abhorent in his current actions. It is a position he will never understand.

In his mind, he is the United States, the king, and hating him is proof of fact for hating America. Yet another clear example of dictatorial authoritarianism, the leader as the state, embodied, personalized, fattening himself by monetizing the office, rewarding big donors and friends, corruption as rampant as it is ignored, and true hatred for American citizens, the vast majority who voted for him and all opposition to what he sees as personal conquests.

The “Donroe Doctrine” equates to an announcement that “if I steal it, it is my personal trophy, to buy and sell as I wish. And there’s fuck all you can do about it.” Congress better get it together and pass a law preventing Trump from moving on Greenland, and better do it sooner than later. If they don’t, they clearly hate America’s future.

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God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and also on X at @JasonMiciak. 

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