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Trump’s first major typo after winning the election was spelling Unprecedented incorrectly. He infamously tweeted “Unpresidented.” This typo is a personification of his administration: An impulsive, frantically thrown together group of characters with virtually no oversight. After Trump was sworn in, I started writing the weekly “Unpresidented” column, analyzing Trump’s presidency day-by-day. 156 weeks (1,093 days) and thousands of cups of coffee later and here we are. This is the culmination of three years of work. Enjoy.
Today is the 3rd anniversary of Donald J. Trump’s inauguration as the 45th President of the United States. Tomorrow is the first official day of his Senate impeachment trial, the 3rd in American history. How did we get here? How did one con man successfully transition from defrauding customers in his businesses to defrauding the American people while occupying the highest office in the land? How did one demagogue so effectively tap into the dark underbelly of botched Reconstruction America and twist the party of Lincoln into a state of such corrupt sycophancy that they’re willing to bring America to the brink of authoritarianism for the sake of maintaining power?
After analyzing and documenting every day of the last 3 years, my assessment of this era is blunt: The story of the Trump presidency is one of a privileged, unstable, ignorant, power-hungry egomaniac who has eroded the office the presidency and American norms with such ferocity that he’s undermined the very fabric of Western democracy in less than 3 years. President Trump’s corrupt, divisive, self-centered style of government has revealed the failures of America’s education system, the fragility of our institutions, and exposed the wide decency gap that has been hiding in plain view since the first African slave arrived in 1619. But what President Trump has also done is galvanize the majority of the country against everything he stands for, and awakened Americans to the necessity of their participation in democracy. This is also the story of America’s collective resilience.
President Trump walked into office with a series of domestic policy initiatives that sought to overwhelm Americans with chaos, target marginalized people, serve the 1%, and undo President Barack Obama’s legacy while simultaneously taking credit for his accomplishments. From his first week’s flurry of executive orders that included an attempt to ban Muslims to his migrant family separation policy, President Trump has blatantly allowed his personal bigotry to be reflected in official government policy. For many of these policies, cruelty was the point. For others, greed was their goal. After attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act didn’t work, President Trump and the Republican Party passed a tax cut that disproportionally benefitted the top 1%. President Trump rolled back President Obama’s environmental protections, business regulations put in place to prevent another financial crisis, and healthcare cost-sharing reductions. This jealous obsession with trying to target Obama had wide-ranging ramifications, especially on the world stage.
One of President Trump’s first foreign policy moves was announcing that the U.S. would be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord. This reckless move not only undermined the global effort to combat climate change, the greatest existential threat facing humanity, it also was the first of many efforts to erode U.S. alliances. President Trump has spent the majority of his presidency cozying up to dictators and attacking NATO allies. President Trump tore up the Iran Nuclear Deal that Iran was complying with and threatened to sanction our allies that did business with them. We’ve since seen the disastrous results of that decision, as well as President Trump’s decision to abandon the Kurds and cede key positions in Syria to Turkey, Russia, and Assad. President Trump’s foreign policy has largely bent towards placating Russia and other autocracies like Saudi Arabia. President Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership and ceded the pacific to China’s influence. The trade war with China has done more to hurt the Ameican consumers and farmers than it was worth. When it comes to North Korea, President Trump has given Kim Jong-Un decades of propaganda for absolutely nothing except the appearance of peace. Really, anywhere President Trump sees personal gain, he takes an opportunity, even if it runs contrary to America’s interests. This brings us to the Trump Administration’s unprecedented corruption.
As a Candidate, President Trump welcomed foreign election interference from Russia to help his 2016 campaign. As President, Trump attempted to extort foreign election interference from Ukraine in an effort to help his 2020 campaign. These corrupt acts depict a President who is eager to subvert American democracy for personal gain. President Trump has also blatantly used the presidency to profit his personal businesses in violation of the emoluments clauses of the Constitution. Corrupt Trump Administration officials have misspent taxpayer dollars, sought to benefit industries they once lobbied for, and sought to damage the very agencies they were appointed to. Throughout Trump’s presidency, his private life of corruption has taken center stage as his family business history of fraud has been exposed by multiple investigations. President Trump has run the Oval Office much like he ran the Trump Organization: like a mob boss, constantly seeking quid pro quos and abusing his power to bend non-complying parties to his whim.
Looking to make a difference? Consider signing one of these sponsored petitions:What we have seen from President Trump has been nothing short of authoritarianism. Attacks on the press, calls to jail his political targets, investigations into his political targets, obstructing multiple investigations, and declarations that Trump is above the law have run rampant under this administration. This was made significantly worse with the 3rd year entry of Attorney General William Barr. A firm believer in the conservative unitary executive theory, Barr has twisted the Justice Department into President Trump’s personal fixer apparatus, helping Trump wage an assault on the U.S. Constitution. Barr lied about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings and tried to clear him of obstruction of justice. Barr’s Justice Department buried the criminal referral from the Intelligence Community Inspector General about President Trump’s July 25, 2019 call with President Zelenksy. And as we speak, Barr is investigating America’s own intelligence agencies as he seeks to undermine the Mueller investigation.
This regime has had their corruption hidden in plain sight through a war on truth facilitated by the Republican Party and right-wing media. While President Trump has told his base not to believe honest outlets, Fox News has operated like state-run TV, ignoring the very real corruption of the Trump Administration and spreading outright lies and conspiracy theories to villainize Democrats. President Trump has lied over 16,000 times according to The Washington Post, but if you’re a viewer of Fox News you’d believe that there is no more honest man on the planet than President Trump.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his Republican colleagues have done everything they can to protect this lawless president while they confirm conservative judges and Supreme Court justices, and continue to engineer minority rule through gerrymandering and voter suppression initiatives at the state level. Republicans have sold their already degraded souls for short-term power, allowing the manifestation of their decades-long Southern Strategy to eat their party whole. But these attacks on American values have not gone uncontested.
3 years ago, President Trump’s inauguration was followed by one of the largest demonstrations in American history with the Women’s March. In 2017, special elections around the country proved that Democratic opposition to President Trump is very real. The 2018 midterms brought with it a blue wave of historic proportions not seen since the Watergate era with Democrats winning 41 seats. In 2019, under the steady leadership of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Democrats successfully navigated challenges ranging from the government shutdown to the successful impeachment of President Trump, making him the 3rd in history and finally showing him some form of accountability. If there’s one thing these 3 years have proven, it’s that the American people will not give in to authoritarianism without a fight and that Trump’s opposition should not be underestimated.
As I’ve written many times before, the beauty of America is that despite who we were as a country yesterday or who we are today, we as a people have the power to choose who we will be tomorrow. But before we can move forward, we must look back and learn. Facts without context aren’t nearly as useful as facts put into perspective with analysis. What follows is an index of contemporaneous articles analyzing every week and documenting every day of the Trump presidency so far. This account of recent history seeks to remind Americans what’s at stake as we approach the most consequential election in modern history. Our team here at Rantt Media hopes you find this to be a useful resource as we embark on what is hopefully the final year of Trump’s presidency. It will surely be another Unpresidented year.
Week 1: January 20-27
Week 2: January 28-February 3
Week 3: February 4-10
Week 4: February 11-17
Week 5: February 18-24
Week 6: February 25-March 3
Week 7: March 4-10
Week 8: March 11-17
Week 9: March 18-24
Week 10: March 25-31
Week 11: April 1-7
Week 12: April 8-14
Week 13: April 15-21
Week 14: April 22-28
Week 15: April 29-May 5
Week 16: May 6-12
Week 17: May 13-19
Week 18: May 20-26
Week 19: May 27-June 2
Week 20: June 3-9
Week 21: June 10-16
Week 22: June 17-23
Week 23: June 24-30
Week 24: July 1-7
Week 25: July 8-14
Week 26: July 15-21
Week 27: July 22-28
Week 28: July 29-August 4
Week 29: August 5-11
Week 30: August 12-19
Week 31: August 18-25
Week 32: August 26-September 1
Week 33: September 2-8
Week 34: September 9-15
Week 35: September 16-22
Week 36: September 23-29
Week 37: September 30-October 6
Week 38: October 7-13
Week 39: October 14-20
Week 40: October 21-27
Week 41: October 28-November3
Week 42: November 4-10
Week 43: November 11-17
Week 44: November 18-24
Week 45: November 25-December 1
Week 46: December 2-8
Week 47: December 9-15
Week 48: December 16-22
Week 49: December 23-31
Week 50: January 1-6
Week 51: January 7-12
Week 52: January 13-20
Week 53: January 21-26
Week 54: January 27-February 2
Week 55: February 3-9
Week 56: February 10-16
Week 57: February 17-23
Week 58: February 24-March 2
Week 59: March 3-9
Week 60: March 10-16
Week 61: March 17-24
Week 62: March 25-30
Week 63: March 31-April 6
Week 64: April 7-13
Week 65: April 14-20
Week 66: April 21-27
Week 67: April 28-May 4
Week 68: May 5-11
Week 69: May 12-20
Week 70: May 21-25
Week 71: May 26-June 3
Week 72: June 4-8
Week 73: June 9-17
Week 74: June 18-24
Week 75: June 25-July 1
Week 76: July 2-8
Week 77: July 9-15
Week 78: July 16-22
Week 79: July 23-29
Week 80: July 30-August 5
Week 81: August 6-12
Week 82: August 13-19
Week 83: August 20-25
Week 84: August 25-31
Week 85: September 1-9
Week 86: September 10-16
Week 87: September 17-23
Week 88: September 24-30
Week 89: October 1-7
Week 90: October 8-14
Week 91: October 15-21
Week 92: October 22-28
Week 93: October 29-November 4
Week 94: November 5-12
Week 95: November 13-18
Week 96: November 19-25
Week 97: November 26-December 2
Week 98: December 3-9
Week 99: December 10-16
Week 100: December 17-24
Week 101: December 25-31
Week 102: January 1-6
Week 103: January 7-13
Week 104: January 14-20
Year Three: Weeks 105-156
Week 105: January 21-27
Week 106: January 28-February 3
Week 107: February 4-10
Week 108: February 11-17
Week 109: February 18-24
Week 110: February 25-March 3
Week 111: March 4-10
Week 112: March 11-17
Week 113: March 18-25
Week 114: March 26-31
Week 115: April 1-April 7
Week 116: April 8-14
Week 117: April 15-21
Week 118: April 22-28
Week 119: April 29-May 5
Week 120: May 6-12
Week 121: May 13-19
Week 122: May 20-26
Week 123: May 27-June 2
Week 124: June 3-9
Week 125: June 10-16
Week 126: June 17-23
Week 127: June 24-July 30
Week 128: July 1-7
Week 129: July 8-14
Week 130: July 15-21
Week 131: July 22-28
Week 132: July 29-August 4
Week 133: August 5-11
Week 134: August 12-18
Week 135: August 19-25
Week 136: August 26-September 2
Week 137: September 3-8
Week 138: September 9-15
Week 139: September 16-22
Week 140: September 23-29
Week 141: September 30-October 6
Week 142: October 7-13
Week 143: October 14-20
Week 144: October 21-27
Week 145: October 28-November 3
Week 146: November 4-10
Week 147: November 11-17
Week 148: November 18-24
Week 149: November 25-December 1
Week 150: December 2-8
Week 151: December 9-15
Week 152: December 16-22
Week 153: December 23-29
Week 154: December 30-January 5
Week 155: January 6-12
Week 156: January 13-19
