BROKEN PROMISES
In their busy few weeks since Donald Trump and South African immigrant Elon Musk took the Oval Office, the White House has branded their hectic daily antics as “Promises Made, Promises Kept”.
“Promises Broken” is more like it. Here’s a sampling:
- Trump promised to have the backs of people in law enforcement.
He broke that promise when he granted a “full, complete, and unconditional pardon” to every convicted criminal who planned and carried out assaults and murders of law enforcement officers on January 6, 2021.
Our nation’s largest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, which had previously endorsed Trump, along with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, furiously denounced his pardons of cop killers and assailants: “When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe, potentially emboldening others to commit similar acts of violence.”
- Trump promised increased government transparency.
He broke that promise when he allowed unelected billionaire Elon Musk to secretively target and stop work by federal agencies, contractors, and employees. Musk’s DOGE minions are creating confusion and chaos instead of clarity throughout our government operations by seizing access to data about millions of Americans, setting up illegal servers, placing expert employees on administrative leave, and randomly firing thousands of recently hired workers.
States and federal employees have sued to block Musk’s DOGE actions, including the freezing of federal funds, accessing of agency data, and takeover of agencies. Plaintiffs argue acts of Musk, DOGE, and Trump have violated the Appointments Clause and the separation of powers principles in our US Constitution. Federal judges have blocked some DOGE actions while litigation proceeds.
- Trump promised an end to government censorship.
He broke that promise when he directed the National Institutes of Health to flag and halt federal funding of research containing words he banned, including “female”, “minority”, or “underrepresented”. And he ordered the Dept. of Health and Human Services to delete content he labeled “gender ideology”. Health agency websites online since the 1990s disappeared. Removed public webpages had data on HIV, youth health risks, and assisted reproductive technologies, along with guidance for researchers on how to increase enrollment of females in medical clinical trials and interpret sex specific data.
Health-care providers, public health experts, and researchers strongly condemned his newly imposed government censorship of scientific research and knowledge.
The nonprofit advocacy group Doctors for America, whose members practice medicine in all 50 states, sued to get back the public information. A federal judge ordered online access restored while litigation proceeds, finding the health agencies probably violated federal laws.
- Trump promised merit-based government employment.
He broke that promise with his unqualified Cabinet nominees, including Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., all of whose confirmations were opposed by Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the former majority leader and longest-serving Senate leader in our history.
He broke it again with every immediate firing of seventeen independent inspector generals, done in violation of federal law requiring advance notice to Congress and only allowing dismissal for cause.
- Trump promised to end politicization and weaponization of the Dept. of Justice.
He broke that promise when he directed the Acting Deputy Attorney General, who previously was his personal criminal defense lawyer, to suspend the corruption prosecution of New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams for so long as Mayor Adams enacted Trump’s preferred policies toward immigrants.
More than a half dozen experienced and respected federal prosecutors resigned rather than carry out the politically motivated order to dismiss charges.
- Don’t forget Mr. Trump promised lower costs of living and unleashed prosperity.
He broke that promise for our health care costs when he ended initiatives to reduce drug prices for people on Medicare or Medicaid, and when he shortened time periods for people to enroll in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans.
Nonpartisan analysists and economists warn his threatened tariffs on US imports will increase American consumer and business costs across the board, including by raising the prices of food, clothing, shoes, electronics, appliances, fuel, automobiles, home construction materials, farm machinery, and manufacturing equipment. They also advise his tariffs will hurt the US economy by reducing profits for US companies and reducing returns to shareholders of US companies, as well as by reducing US job numbers and lowering US worker wages.
And already in Trump’s term the average US city price for a dozen eggs hit a record high of $4.95 by the end of January 2025, while at the end of Biden’s term that cost was $3.65. This past week in Hudson WI grocery stores, a dozen eggs cost as much as $12.49.
These are just a few of Mr. Trump’s promises made and broken so far. Regrettably, there are many more. Demand that he be held accountable.