“I fucking dare you.”
I spent the morning thinking of how I would summarize the first month of Donald Trump’s 2nd term. And those four words are what I came up with.
(Sidebar: Apologies to my mother-in-law who hates when I swear.)
Consider those four words in regards a whole slew of things Trump has done:
Cabinet picks. Remember two months ago when there were whispers of how Trump wasn’t going to get Pete Hegseth and RobertF. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel confirmed? The first three are already confirmed; Patel will be confirmed later today. Because Trump told Republican Senators: “I effing dare you” to block them.
Foreign policy. Tariff threats to Canada and Mexico. Lecturing Europe about its suppression of free speech. Greenland. Blaming Ukraine for the war Russia started. Because Trump told the rest of the world “I effing dare you” to do something.
Executive power/DOGE. Trump — with a major assist from Elon Musk — has seized from Congress the ability to dole out (or restrict) federal funds allocated to government agencies. Because Trump told Congressional Republicans “I effing dare you” to fight me on it.
Birthright citizenship. Trump ignores the 14th Amendment entirely and seeks to ban birthright citizenship via an executive order. Because Trump told the court system “I effing dare you” to block it.
Expanding in vitro fertilization. Ten years ago the socially conservative base of the GOP would have gone ape about expanding the procedure. Why not now? Because Trump told them “I effing dare you” to oppose me publicly.
Media. Call it “The Gulf of America” or else. Moving legacy media out of the Pentagon. Because Trump is saying to the collective media “I effing dare you” to do something about it.
Over and over and over again, the same four words.
Here’s another way to think about the Trump presidency. He is playing a game of chicken with his opponents — whoever they may be. And he is pressing down as hard as he can on the gas pedal and steering straight for them — knowing that they will swerve away before the two cars run head on into each other.
And, yes, all of my relevant references come from “Footloose.”
Trump is governing like he has lived his life — with an implicit threat sitting just below the surface. You want to come at me, he is saying, you better be ready for what will blow back on you. Or, in the words of Omar Little: You come at the king, you best not miss.
For the first month at least, all of Trump’s would-be opponents have swerved out of his way. He’s not going to stop now.
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