A Complete Analysis Of Trump’s 101st Unpresidented Week As POTUS

As the government shutdown continues, President Trump reminded the American people that his incompetence isn't the only reason he's unfit for office.
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by: Ahmed Baba on December 31, 2018

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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 his every move. This is week 101.

The last week of 2018 was like many others: more corrupt behavior from an unchecked petulant president and more cruel tragedies perpetrated by his administration—corruption and cruelty Donald Trump has yet to be held accountable for. But that’s about to change.

This week, President Trump and the Republican Party continued to hold federal funding hostage for an unpopular, unnecessary, and xenophobic wall. This effort to appeal to a fearful minority of voters is having a real-world cost on federal workers.

The 2nd migrant child this month died in custody of U.S. Border Patrol. 8-year-old Felipe Alonzo-Gomez died late on Christmas Eve just as 7-year-old Jakelin Caal, who died earlier this month, was about to have her Christmas Day funeral. After this, President Trump decided to blame Democrats and the father of Jakelin Caal for the death of his daughter.

Although many have grown to normalize this behavior, we at Rantt Media have chosen not to. One thing Trump’s presidency has done is given too many people cover to unleash their depravity. It used to be common etiquette to at least pretend to be decent, but now that the president is immoral, many people (especially on the right) are revealing what we’ve always known: they have indecent intentions.

It took a blatantly depraved president to unmask the moral rot at the core of the Republican Party. And now, as we watch a segment of the population excuse a president who has already been implicated in two felonies, systematically separated children from their parents, and degraded our national discourse, we recognize how much work we have ahead.

Luckily, 2019 is upon us. The year that will bring us a return to checks and balances. The Democratically-controlled House is sworn in on January 3rd, a day that will change President Trump’s life.

With the scrutiny of numerous House Committees digging into his lifetime of corruption, his administration’s corrupt and cruel practices, and the at least 17 known investigations plaguing him, Donald Trump may finally experience the consequences he’s avoided throughout his career.

This comprehensive column sources great reporting from top news organizations, but it’s also built on brilliant analysis from my team at Rantt Media. If you like the work we do, please consider supporting us by making a one-time donation or signing up for a monthly subscription.

Christmas Eve Weekend

Day 702, 703, and 704: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – December 22, 23, 24

President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017, to spend the weekend at Camp David in Maryland. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017, to spend the weekend at Camp David in Maryland. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

On Saturday, The New York Times dropped a report about Trump’s state of mind that should worry every American:

Now, the president who once declared that “I alone can fix” the system increasingly stands alone in a system that seems as broken as ever. The swirl of recent days — a government shutdown, spiraling scandals, tumbling stock markets, abrupt troop withdrawals and the resignation of his alienated defense secretary — has left the impression of a presidency at risk of spinning out of control.

At the midpoint of his term, Mr. Trump has grown more sure of his own judgment and more cut off from anyone else’s than at any point since taking office. He spends ever more time in front of a television, often retreating to his residence out of concern that he is being watched too closely. As he sheds advisers at a head-spinning rate, he reaches out to old associates, complaining that few of the people around him were there at the beginning.

That report also mentioned how President Trump has discussed firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the last few days. Then, on Sunday, Steve Mnuchin sent out a statement claiming that he called bankers to check on their liquidity, which would lead to even further market volatility on Christmas Eve.

As the President sat in the White House alone, he took to Twitter confirming the reports about his mental instability.

Those are just a few of many of his impulsive tweets. I responded to one of them reminding him that real human beings are being affected by his actions.

By the end of the trading day, the Trump-triggered market slump made history, but not the good kind…

Can’t forget this important development.

Look on the bright side, at least we can all say Merry Christmas again.

In other news…

A Tragic Christmas For Migrants

Day 705: Tuesday, December 25

Mariel Mendez, 28, sits with her son at a park in downtown El Paso on Christmas Eve 2018. The asylum-seekers from Honduras, who ate food provided by volunteers, were part of a group of hundreds ICE released at a bus station. (Julián Aguilar/The Texas Tribune)

Mariel Mendez, 28, sits with her son at a park in downtown El Paso on Christmas Eve 2018. The asylum-seekers from Honduras, who ate food provided by volunteers, were part of a group of hundreds ICE released at a bus station. (Julián Aguilar/The Texas Tribune)

While many Americans safely celebrated Christmas with their families, the situation wasn’t so pleasant for those desperately seeking a better life in our country. Rantt Contributor Nancy Levine wrote an excellent article on the events:

And just before the news of Felipe Alonzo-Gomez’s death spread, President Trump was ranting about the government shutdown and how he wouldn’t budge on his demand for a wall.

President Trump also had a warm and fuzzy Christmas message.

In other news…

  • President Trump sent out more lying tweets.

Trump Shutdown Day 5

Day 706: Wednesday, December 26

President Donald Trump poses for a portrait in the Oval Office in Washington after an interview with The Associated Press. April 21, 2017 (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Donald Trump poses for a portrait in the Oval Office in Washington after an interview with The Associated Press. April 21, 2017 (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

As the President’s shutdown entered its fifth day, President Trump continued his demand for the wall, and his lies about federal workers were put to the fire. Rantt Contributor Nancy Levine reported:

Trump told reporters on Christmas, without offering any evidence, “Many of those workers have said to me — communicated — stay out until you get the funding for the wall,” he said. “These federal workers want the wall.”

But the head of the country’s largest federal workers’ union, The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents more than 700,000 federal employees, said there “should be no confusion” about whether its members want the government to reopen.

AFGE President Jeffrey David Cox Sr. said in a statement, “They are eager to get back to work,” adding, “They unequivocally oppose using shutdowns as a means of resolving policy disputes. This is not about a wall, this is about 800,000 real people with real families and real bills to pay.”

People who are experiencing repercussions of the Trump Shutdown are using the hashtag #ShutdownStories to discuss its consequences.

In other news…

Trump Shutdown Day 6

Day 707: Thursday, December 27

On Thursday, President Trump sent another series of tweets about the shutdown. This time, he sent false claims that most of the federal workers who aren’t being paid are Democrats (which might be why he’s prolonging the shutdown), once again attacked the 9th Circuit Court, and again tried to blame Democrats for the shutdown he was once proud to own.

In other news…

Trump Shutdown Day 7

Day 708: Friday, December 28

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, Wis., Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, Wis., Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Another day, another set of threats. Rantt Contributor Nancy Levine reported:

On Friday morning, as the government shutdown entered its seventh day, President Trump tweet-stormed threats if Congress doesn’t fund a border wall. Trump threatened to “close the Southern Border” and to withdraw aid from Central American countries. He tweeted:

Fox News’ judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said last month that Trump can’t legally follow through with his threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump has vowed to continue his shutdown unless Congress accedes to his demand to fund a border wall. The shutdown affects 800,000 federal workers — many of whom are missing their paychecks.

This is also important to note:

In other news…

New Years Eve Weekend

Day 709, 710, and 711: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – December 29, 30, 31

Over the weekend, President Trump sent his most depraved tweets.

This came as the shutdown fight continued.

In other news…

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Unpresidented // Donald Trump / Government / Immigration / Republican Party
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by: Ahmed Baba

Ahmed Baba is the Co-Founder and President of Rantt. Writer of Unpresidented, Ahmed documented and analyzed every day of the Trump presidency. He's also a columnist at The Independent and his work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed, The New York Post, The Huffington Post, Yahoo News, Blavity, Newsweek, The Telegraph, and more. He can be reached at [email protected] or found on Twitter @AhmedBaba_.

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