World War Trump

by Hall Gardner

  3. Drew DeSilver, “Trump's Victory Another Example of How Electoral College Wins Are Bigger than Popular Vote Ones,” Pew Research Center, Washington, DC, December 20, 2016, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/20/why-electoral-college-landslides-are-easier-to-win-than-popular-vote-ones/ (accessed May 26, 2017).

  4. Jonah Engel Bromwich, “Felony Charges for Journalists Arrested at Inauguration Protests Raise Fears for Press Freedom,” New York Times, January 25, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/business/media/journalists-arrested-trump-inauguration.html (accessed May 26, 2017).

  5. On January 19, 2017, Trump promised that he would cut funding for a large number of governmental programs. For the sixty-six programs he proposed to cut in May, see Niv Elis, “Here Are the 66 programs Eliminated in Trump's Budget,” Hill, May 23, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/finance/334768-here-are-the-66-programs-eliminated-in-trumps-budget (accessed October 23, 2017).

  6. Andrews Wilson, Kenan Davis, Adam Pearce, and Nadia Popovich, “What Trump's Tax Proposal Will Cost,” New York Times, April 26, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/26/us/politics/what-trumps-tax-proposal-will-cost.html?_r=0 (accessed October 23, 2017).

  7. “Economic Impact of Immigration: Why Is Labor Important to Farmers?” American Farm Bureau Federation, http://www.fb.org/issues/immigration-reform/agriculture-labor-reform/economic-impact-of-immigration (accessed October 23, 2017).

  8. Devin Henry and Timothy Cama, “Trump Using Executive Orders at Unprecedented Pace,” Hill, April 29, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/331134-trump-using-executive-orders-at-unprecedented-pace (accessed May 26, 2017).

  9. “Global Inequality,” Institute for Policy Studies, http://inequality.org/global-inequality/ (accessed October 23, 2017).

  10. Lawrence Misahl and Alyssa Davis, “Top CEOs Make 300 Times More than Typical Workers,” Economics Policy Institute, June 21, 2015, http://www.epi.org/publication/top-ceos-make-300-times-more-than-workers-pay-growth-surpasses-market-gains-and-the-rest-of-the-0-1-percent/ (accessed October 23, 2017).

  11. Tim Mullaney, “Why Corporate CEO Pay Is So High, and Going Higher,” CNBC, May 18, 2015, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/18/why-corporate-ceo-pay-is-so-high-and-going-higher.html (accessed October 23, 2017).

  12. Bill Allison, Mira Rojanasakul, Brittany Harris, and Cedric Sam, “Tracking the 2016 Presidential Money Race,” Bloomberg, December 9, 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2016-presidential-campaign-fundraising/ (accessed May 26, 2017).

  13. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have each received top secret security clearances for their work in the White House, but purportedly they omitted to mention their meetings with Russian officials in their security-clearance application forms. Nor did they mention their friendship with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and his wife, who have close ties to Putin. Eliza Relman, “Kushner Omits Contacts with Russian Officials in Application for Security Clearance,” Business Insider, April 7, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/kushner-omits-contacts-with-russian-officials-in-application-for-security-clearance-2017-4 (accessed May 26, 2017); Marvin Zonis, “The Strange Case of Jared and Ivanka Trump and Their Friendship with Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova and Their Top-Secret Security Clearances,” Marvin Zonis, May 12, 2017, http://www.marvinzonis.com/posts/the-strange-case-of-jared-and-ivanka-trump-and-their-friendship-with-roman-abramovich-and-dasha-zhukova-and-their-top-secret-security-clearances (accessed May 26, 2017).

  14. Jay Solomon, “Military Brass Fill Donald Trump's National Security Council,” Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/military-brass-fill-national-security-council-1485478127 (accessed May 26, 2017).

  15. Morgan Chalfant, “Worries Mount about Vacancies in Trump's State Department,” Hill, May 21, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/international/334327-worries-mount-about-vacancies-in-trumps-state-department (accessed October 23, 2017).

  16. Jim Tankersley and Ana Swanson, “Donald Trump Is Assembling the Richest Administration in Modern American History,” Washington Post, November 30, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/30/donald-trump-is-assembling-the-richest-administration-in-modern-american-history/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.6a6dc4b308fa (accessed May 26, 2017). George W. Bush's disastrous cabinet in 2001 possessed an inflation-adjusted net worth of about $250 million—which is roughly one-tenth the wealth of Donald Trump's nominee for commerce secretary alone or $2.5 billion.

  17. Christopher Hayes, Twilight of Elites: America after Meritocracy (New York: Crown, 2012).

  18. Ismael Hossein-zadeh, The Political Economy of US Militarism (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

  19. Bouree Lam, “Trump's Promises to Corporate Leaders: Lower Taxes and Fewer Regulations,” Atlantic, January 23, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/trump-corporate-tax-cut/514148/ (accessed October 23, 2017).

  20. As Trump claimed that he would not cut entitlements, he will most likely run yet another US government budgetary deficit, as the costs of social services payments mount along with rising interest payments on the national debt, which had crossed over 100 percent of US GDP in 2012. By the end of FY2017, the total government debt in the United States, including federal, state, and local, is expected to reach $23.2 trillion, if not more. David Lawder, “No Cuts to US Entitlement Programs in Trump Budget: Mnuchin,” Reuters, February 26, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-economy-idUSKBN1650LL (accessed October 23, 2017).

  21. Mike Lillis, “Dems, Not Trusting Trump, Want Permanent ObamaCare Fix,” Hill, April 30, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/house/331172-dems-not-trusting-trump-want-permanent-obamacare-fix (accessed October 23, 2017); Kate Fritzsche, Sarah Masi, et al., How Repealing Portions of the Affordable Care Act Would Affect Health Insurance Coverage and Premiums (Washington, DC: Congressional Budget Office, January 2017), https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/52371-coverageandpremiums.pdf (accessed October 23, 2017).

  22. A major issue in the new dynamic workplace means that moving from one job to another can not only result in a loss of insurance, but the issue of preexisting conditions will be reintroduced in the new job—even if one had already paid into insurance premiums at the previous job. Peter Sullivan and Rachel Roubein, “Republicans Go to Battle over Pre-Existing Conditions,” Hill, May 26, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/335218-republicans-go-to-battle-over-pre-existing-conditions (accessed October 23, 2017).

  23. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: American Health Care Act (Washington, DC: Congressional Budget Office, March 9, 2017), https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/costestimate/americanhealthcareact.pdf (accessed October 23, 2017); Peter Sullivan, “GOP Hits the Gas on ObamaCare Repeal,” Hill, March 6, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/322609-gop-releases-bill-to-repeal-and-replace-obamacare (October 23, 2017); Niall Stanage, “THE MEMO: Trump Faces Long War on Healthcare,” Hill, May 6, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/332169-the-memo-trump-faces-long-war-on-healthcare (accessed October 23, 2017).

  24. Drew DeSilver, “What the Unemployment Rate Does—and Doesn't—Say about the Economy,” Pew Research Center, Washington, DC, March 7, 2017, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/07/employment-vs-unemployment-different-stories-from-the-jobs-numbers/ (accessed May 26, 2017).

  25. Graphics, Reuters, “Anxieties about Racism,” Reuters, http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/USA-TRUMP-POLL-RACE/010040W71X6/index.html (accessed May 26, 2017).

  26. According to an eyewitness, it was the white supremacists and neo-fascists, who were shouting “blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us,” who initiated the violence against peaceful counterprotesters promoting antiracism, feminism, LGBTQ rights, and equity. See Jason Wilson, “I Was in Charlottesville. Trump Was Wrong about Violence on the Left,” Guardian, August 16, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/charlottesville-violence-right-left-trump (accessed November
5, 2017).

  27. Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Brian M. Rosenthal, “Man Charged after White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville Ends in Deadly Violence,” New York Times, August 12, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/us/charlottesville-protest-white-nationalist.html?mcubz=1 (accessed October 26, 2017).

  28. Editorial Board, “Steve ‘Turn on the Hate’ Bannon, in the White House,” New York Times, November 15, 2016. Bannon was removed from his position as National Security Advisor to Trump in April 2017, but he remains a confidant of the president. Roberta Costa and Abby Philip, “Stephen Bannon Removed from National Security Council,” Washington Post, April 5, 2017.

  29. Donald Braman, “Stop-and-Frisk Didn't Make New York Safer,” Atlantic, March 26, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/03/stop-and-frisk-didnt-make-new-york-safer/359666/ (accessed October 24, 2017); Christina Sterbenz, “Donald Trump Claims Stop-and-Frisk Had a ‘Very, Very Big Impact’ on New York City's Crime—Here's What the Data Really Says,” Business Insider, September 27, 2016, http://uk.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-stop-and-frisk-debate-2016-9?r=US&IR=T (accessed October 24, 2017); David F. Greenberg, “Studying New York City's Crime Decline: Methodological Issues,” Justice Quarterly 31, no. 1 (2014), http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07418825.2012.752026 (accessed May 29, 2017).

  30. Trump is on the record for banning assault weaponry: “I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun. With today's Internet technology we should be able to tell within 72-hours if a potential gun owner has a record.” “Donald Trump on Gun Control,” On the Issues, last updated June 15, 2017, http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Donald_Trump_Gun_Control.htm (accessed May 29, 2017).

  31. Trump: “I'm very much in favor of making all concealed-carry permits valid in every state.” Ibid.

  32. Lois Beckett, “‘Our Moment to Go on Offense’: NRA Makes Big Plans for Trump Presidency,” Guardian, November 28, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/28/nra-gun-control-donald-trump-republicans (accessed October 24, 2017);

  33. Jessica Schulberg, “Trump Sought Military Equipment for Inauguration, Granted 20-Plane Flyover,” Huffington Post, January 19, 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-military-equipment-inauguration_us_58811f4ae4b096b4a23091f7 (accessed October 24, 2017).

  34. Donald J. Trump, “Remarks of President Donald J. Trump, as Prepared for Delivery, Inaugural Address,” Washington, DC, January 20, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/inaugural-address (accessed November 13, 2017).

  35. South Front, “Trump's Vice President Mike Pence Wants War against Syria and Russia?” Global Research, November 13, 2016, http://www.globalresearch.ca/trumps-vice-president-mike-pence-wants-war-against-syria-and-russia/5556752 (accessed May 26, 2017).

  36. America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again (Washington, DC: Office of Management and Budget, 2018), https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf (accessed October 24, 2017).

  37. Obama administration's Omnibus Spending bill sought over $1.1 trillion, split more or less evenly between defense and domestic spending. William J. Broad and David E. Sanger, “Race for Latest Class of Nuclear Arms Threatens to Revive Cold War,” New York Times, April 16, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/world/europe/atom-bomb-nuclear-weapons-hgv-arms-race-russia-china.html?emc=edit_th_20160417&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=70196410&_r=0 (accessed October 24, 2017); in addition, Kingston Reif, “Fact Sheets & Briefs: US Nuclear Modernization Programs,” Arms Control Association, August, 2017, https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/USNuclearModernization (accessed May 23, 2017); Fred Kaplan, “Obama's Whopping New Military Budget: Forget What the GOP Says. Obama Loves Big Military Budgets,” Slate, February 9, 2016, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2016/02/president_obama_s_military_budget_is_still_one_of_the_biggest_ever.html (accessed May 23, 2017); Maj. Gen. James F. Martin, “Department of Defense Briefing by Maj. Gen. James Martin on the Fiscal Year 2016 Air Force Budget in the Pentagon Briefing Room,” news transcript, United States Department of Defense, February 2, 2015, http://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=5586 (accessed May 23, 2017); James Drew, “Concept of a Nuclear-Armed F-35C Divides Opinion,” FlightGlobal.com, August 4, 1970, https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/concept-of-a-nuclear-armed-f-35c-divides-opinion-415353/ (accessed May 23, 2017); James Drew, “US Conducts First Flight Test of Guided B61-12 Nuclear Bomb,” FlightGlobal.com, July 10, 1970, https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-conducts-first-flight-test-of-guided-b61-12-nuclear-414484/ (accessed May 23, 2017).

  38. Amy F. Woolf, The New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, February 1, 2017), https://fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R41219.pdf (accessed October 24, 2017).

  39. Michael R. Gordon, “Russia Deploys Missile, Violating Treaty and Challenging Trump,” New York Times, February 14, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/world/europe/russia-cruise-missile-arms-control-treaty.html (accessed November 5, 2017); Franz-Stefan Gady, “Russia Tests Topol-M Intercontinental Ballistic Missile,” Diplomat, September 28, 2017, https://thediplomat.com/2017/09/russia-tests-topol-m-intercontinental-ballistic-missile/ (accessed November 5, 2017).

  40. “Highlights from the 2017 Index,” 2017 Index of Military Strength, http://index.heritage.org/military/2017/assessments/ (accessed October 24, 2017).

  41. Here, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has discussed the possible deployment of tactical nuclear weaponry with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, who told his parliament that he had requested that the United States consider the return of tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. No further information was provided. Tara Copp, “Mattis: Use of Tactical Nuclear Weapons Discussed with South Korea,” Defense News, September 18, 2017, https://www.defensenews.com/news/your-military/2017/09/18/mattis-use-of-tactical-nuclear-weapons-discussed-with-south-korea/ (accessed November 5, 2017).

  42. For Trump proposals: Brendan McGarry, “Trump Unveils Plan to Boost Military with More Troops, Weapons,” Military.com, September 7, 2016, http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/09/07/trump-unveils-plan-to-boost-military-with-more-troops-weapons.html (accessed October 24, 2017).

  43. Secretary of Defense Mattis was cited as stating that the BCA and sequestration have “done more damage to our readiness than the enemies in the field.” “DoD Releases Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Proposal,” Release No: NR-192-17, May 23, 2017, https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1190216/dod-releases-fiscal-year-2018-budget-proposal/ (accessed November 5, 2017).

  44. Adam Taylor and Laris Karklis, “This Remarkable Chart Shows How US Defense Spending Dwarfs the Rest of the World,” Washington Post, February 9, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/09/this-remarkable-chart-shows-how-u-s-defense-spending-dwarfs-the-rest-of-the-world/?utm_term=.1df2b5f8eebd (accessed October 24, 2017).

  45. Nan Tian, Aude Fleurant, Pieter D. Wezeman, and Siemon T. Wezeman, Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2016: SIPRI Fact Sheet (Solna, Sweden: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, April 2017), https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/Trends-world-military-expenditure-2016.pdf (accessed October 24, 2017).

  46. Hossein-zadeh, Political Economy.

  47. For details of budget, see Neta C. Crawford, US Budgetary Costs of Wars through 2016: $4.79 Trillion and Counting Summary of Costs of the US Wars in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan and Homeland Security (Boston: Watson Institute, International & Public Affairs, Brown University, September 2016), http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2016/Costs%20of%20War%20through%202016%20FINAL%20final%20v2.pdf (accessed October 24, 2017).

  48. After major tax cuts, Alan Greenspan had dropped US interest rates in 2001–2002 after the dot-com 2000–2002 crisis, instead of raising them, and those rates were kept low from 2002 to 20
04, which assisted US borrowing for the military interventions after September 11, 2001, while also providing additional cheap money for China's boom. For the view that the crisis was Greenspan's fault for not raising interest rates in 2002: Susan Lee, “It Really Is All Greenspan's Fault,” Forbes, April 3, 2009, http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/02/greenspan-john-taylor-fed-rates-china-opinions-columnists-housing-bubble.html (accessed May 26, 2017). For the view it was China's fault: Heleen Mees, “How China's Boom Caused the Financial Crisis,” Foreign Policy, January 17, 2012, http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/01/17/how-chinas-boom-caused-the-financial-crisis/ (accessed May 26, 2017).

  49. Yochi Dreazen, “Trump Says He's Boosting Defense Spending by $54 Billion. The Real number Is $18 Billion,” Vox, February 28, 2017, http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/28/14765492/trump-pentagon-budget-billion-state-department-misleading-54-billion (accessed May 26, 2017); Kristina Wong, “Trump's Navy Build-Up Comes with Steep Price Tag,” Hill, January 16, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/defense/314311-trumps-navy-build-up-comes-with-steep-price-tag (accessed May 26, 2017).

  For options to cut budget deficit: “Chapter 3: Discretionary Spending Options,” Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2017 to 2026 (Washington, DC: Congressional Budget Office, February 1, 2017), https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52142; https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/52142-breakout-chapter32.pdf (accessed May 26, 2017).