To the editor:
One of the cottage industries during the Trump 1.0 was counting the number of lies coming from his mouth. Without a deep dive into how his lies were operationally defined, by some accounts, the Washington Post lie meter needle for Trump 1.0 moved past 30,000.
In Trump 2.0 counting lies is no longer the ‘novelty’ it was in Trump 1.0. In 2.0 the lying is a given, “normalized.” With P47, the more dangerous count is how many times will that administration trash/ignore the Constitution, challenge/ignore the rule of law, or simply break the law.
A few examples cherry picked from the first couple of months:
1. Shortly after the inauguration, Trump fired 18 Inspectors General. By law (the Inspector General Act of 1978), the president must give “written explanation for removal of at least 30 days in advance” to Congress. Trump 2.0 ignored the role of Congress.
2. Executive Order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” Tries to overturn Birth Right Citizenship, which is guaranteed in the 14th Amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” If P47 wanted that right overturned, there is a process…not simply signing an E.O.
3. Due process is a constitutional guarantee found in the 5th and 14th amendments. It guarantees due process to a “person” not only to “citizens.” The reach of those guarantees is clear. Citizenship is not required. It appears that Trump 2.0 is simply trashing those parts of the Constitution as they round up and deport undocumented immigrants.
4. On March 20, 2025, Trump 2.0 issues an Executive Order, under a title that gave the appearance of Improving Educational Outcomes, that ultimately would result in the abolition of the Department of Education. According to Article 1, Section 1, Congress has the power to create, modify and abolish Federal Departments.
Just four examples to start the critical count of the Trump 2.0 administration.
Tom Kinsey
Athens, Ohio
