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There has never been a president who governed solely by threat in the United States until now. Previously, it was big news when a president would threaten to veto a bill, but domestically, that was about as threatening as a president got.
What has been revealed about Donald Trump, less than six months into his second term, is that threats are all he has in his governing toolbox.
After Elon Musk threatened to primary every Republican who votes for Trump’s tax cuts for the rich while taking food and healthcare away from over 20 million American bill, Trump responded first by threatening Musk’s government subsidies, which is within presidential bounds, but on Tuesday morning, the president escalated.
Trump told reporters before leaving for Florida when asked if he was going to deport Musk:
I dunno. I mean, we’ll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know, you know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies, Peter, but, uh, Elon’s very upset that the EV mandate is gonna be terminated.
And you know what? When you look at it, even who wants, not everybody wants an electric car. I don’t want an electric car. I want to have maybe gasoline, maybe electric, maybe a hybrid, maybe someday a hydrogen. If you have a hydrogen car, it has one problem, it blows up, you know?
So I’m gonna give that one to Peter. Gonna let Peter.
Trump threatens to deport the richest man in the world, strip his government subsidies without congressional approval, then concludes by talking about hydrogen cars blowing up.
The mainstream media continues to play off Trump’s comments as normal presidential behavior.
From the moment that Elon Musk formed his alliance with Trump, the running joke has been that it would end with Trump deporting Musk.
Deporting Musk, even if Trump were able to do so, would not stop him from mounting primary challenges against Republicans who vote for Trump’s bill that Musk opposes, not for the legislation’s cruelty but because it isn’t deficit-neutral cruelty.
The Senate still doesn’t have the votes to pass Trump’s desired legislation and is currently stuck in a quagmire of its own making.
Donald Trump is the weakest president in modern history. A nearly 80-year-old person who can’t govern, can’t pass legislation, the legislation that he has on the table is historically unpopular, and has been reduced to unhinged threats.
Senate Democrats have been teeing off on the chaos on the Senate floor to set up their 2026 campaign.
Trump isn’t just paralyzing the Republican Party. His decline is paralyzing the country.
What do you think about Trump governing by threat? Share your opinion in the comments below.
