With quick cave-in on spending freeze, Trump 2.0 crashes and burns

The incompetence and chaos--and the unity of Democrats--was reminiscent of the Muslim ban in Trump's first term. And we're only on week two.

Donald Trump claimed the Colombian president had caved in as Trump ramped up the threat of tariffs last weekend after President Gustavo Petro spoke out about the terrible treatment of deported migrants and turned away two planes.

In actuality, Petro got the world stage and made a mockery of Trump in a long statement he posted—a world leader finally slamming Trump—even if much of the American media bought the White House’s line.

And just two days later it was Trump who feebly caved to outspoken Democrats—and the American people—after declaring a nationwide spending freeze on thousands of programs appropriated by Congress.

A federal judge first shut Trump down, saying it would do “irreparable harm,” ordering the freeze lifted pending litigation. But even before that, many Americans woke up and were outraged to see Medicaid portals shut down, transportation service disrupted, child care programs threatened, loans and grants put on hold, and even police departments’ funds pulled. And that was the tip of the iceberg.

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Calls to Congress surged, and even Republican governors, senators, and House members were privately telling the White House to do something. Democrats—in the states and in federal office—loudly rallied, finally speaking in a unified way, lambasting the administration. Many Democratic senators vowed not to back any of Trump’s nominees any longer.

And the White House by Wednesday announced the freeze was rescinded.

Today, Democrats boycotted the Appropriations Committee vote for Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee for the Office of Management and Budget, where the orders for the freeze came from—apparently in consultation with Vought, a Project 2025 big player, before he’s even been confirmed.

As this was playing out, it was impossible for a lot of us not to compare it to the disarray and confusion of Trump’s Muslim ban in 2017 and the outrage that lit up many Americans and had Democrats forcefully slamming Trump. We all vividly remember that. This episode one week into Trump’s second presidency showed Trump is weaker and even more incompetent than before.

We were led to believe that this time around Trump would have more loyal people around him and a well-oiled machine, with no one reining him in. The latter appears to be true but just because he has more devout people working for him doesn’t mean they’re always going to be able to get things done. In fact, their zealotry hinders them, causing them to act impulsively. They are the cut-throat kind of zealots who are clearly battling with each other, exemplified by the MAGA civil war. They’re keeping one another in the dark, including the president, who is clearly not in control, and working to undermine one another.

Like I said, many of us saw it as similar to the Muslim ban in 2017, which alerted many Americans and gave Democrats a focus, and it’s rare when much of the media agrees with us. But this week many in corporate media made the comparison too. From The New York Times:

The episode, which amounted to the first significant reversal of the new administration, echoed Mr. Trump’s early-2017 effort to ban people from mostly Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. That order caused mass confusion at airports, sparked damaging headlines and was temporarily blocked in court and pared back…

..Behind the scenes, senior White House officials were caught off guard on Monday when the Office of Management and Budget released the memo, which ordered a pause in grants, loans and other federal financial assistance to ensure that federal programs aligned with Mr. Trump’s policy priorities.

But the memo did not provide detail on the scope and scale of the pause or a list of the services that would be affected. White House officials rushed to understand what had happened and what could be done to reassure people that essential services would not be affected.

There’s so much that is absolutely horrible that Trump has done in a little over a week. And much of it flew past the media’s radar in a big way. So I’m not exactly ready to say this is a major turning point—though it could prove to be—as much as that I see it as the start of something and an opportunity. People are paying attention and Democrats are getting some fire.

Add to all of this a special election in Iowa—on the same day the spending freeze was announced—in which a Democrat, Mike Zimmer, won a state senate seat by four points in a GOP-dominated district that Trump won in November by 21 points:

Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the statehouse campaign arm of the Democratic Party, said Tuesday the victory in a district where Trump won by a large margin shows Democrats have a strong path forward in the aftermath of major GOP wins in the 2024 election.

“This earthquake victory in Iowa puts Republicans across the country on notice,” Williams said in a statement. “… Tonight’s win marks the first flip of the cycle and builds on key majority-making wins in Virginia earlier this month. The DLCC is starting the new cycle strong just a month into 2025—from battlegrounds to Republican territory. We have dozens more special elections on the horizon—we’re only just getting started.”

So, things are happening. Trump is fucking up. Calls to Congress are getting heard. Democrats are speaking more forcefully—and they’re winning elections in places where Trump surged. All of it bodes well, but it’s just a start. Let’s stay focused and engaged, and definitely keep up the energy and the pressure.