{"id":339,"date":"2026-07-10T16:07:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T16:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=339"},"modified":"2026-07-10T16:07:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T16:07:46","slug":"a-government-of-trump-by-trump-and-for-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=339","title":{"rendered":"A Government of Trump, by Trump, and for Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tom Engelhardt created and ran TomDispatch for nearly 25 years. He was also a co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of a highly praised history of American triumphalism in the Cold War, \u201cThe End of Victory Culture.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Graham Platner\u2019s Exit From Senate Race Leaves Maine Dems \u201cHobbled\u201d in Scramble for New Nominee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I Would Have Thought You Mad<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve only recently passed the semiquincentennial of the United States of America. Two hundred and fifty years ago, at the moment of its founding, the U.S. was, of course, a slaveocracy. Of its founders, John Adams was essentially an oddball because he owned no slaves. But Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe did own people. So, give our current president Donald J. Trump some credit: At least he isn\u2019t a slaveowner. But that\u2019s about the best that can be said for him.<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, if you had described our world to me, I would have thought you mad. Who could have imagined that Americans would reelect the man who shoved aside Montenegro\u2019s Prime Minister Du\u0161ko Markovi\u0107 in 2017 in what appeared to be an attempt to get to the front of a photo line (because who, in any circumstance, should be photographed more than him)? This is also the same tantrum-prone president who once threw his lunch, ketchup and all, at a White House wall after his attorney general made comments he didn\u2019t like about the 2020 election. The president who, less than two years into his second term, kidnapped\u00a0Venezuela\u2019s head of state, tried to\u00a0claim\u00a0Greenland as the property of the US of A,\u00a0prepared for\u00a0a possible future war with Cuba, blown ships out\u00a0of the water in a never-ending fashion in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, has conducted staggering numbers of airstrikes in Somalia, launched a would-be forever war with Iran (brilliantly crippling\u00a0the global economy while he was at it), and \u2026 well, count on it, in the next two-plus years of Donald Trump\u2019s America, there will surely be all too many more examples of unhinged behavior to cite. Honestly, a decade ago, I would have thought you were kidding.<\/p>\n

So, what would those slave-owning Founding Fathers, memorialized on the Fourth of July just past, have thought about Trump? What would they have said about his boorish behavior, his toddler-esque tantrums, and his endless attacks and wars?<\/p>\n

Perhaps those founders, were they alive today, would visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago and share a meal with the odd millionaire, billionaire, or trillionaire (although Elon Musk\u2019s trillionaire status only lasted a couple of weeks!) lurking around the club. Or perhaps they would have been spotted on the White House lawn recently with Trump, first lady Melania, and the Trump kids, not to speak of a legion of blood-sport-loving billionaires watching a mixed martial arts spectacle in honor of Trump\u2019s 250th birthday. (Oops, my mistake, Trump is just a youthful 80, which, when \u2014 or is it, if? \u2014 he finally leaves office, will make him our oldest president ever but hardly the oldest among the almost 200 world leaders of the present moment.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a question that those Founding Fathers might ask about Donald Trump\u2019s America: \u201cWhat kind of -ocracy is the United States today?\u201d And the answer, of course, would not be a democracy, or even a theocracy (though The Donald does love to be worshipped), but a Trumpocracy: a government of Trump, by Trump, and for Trump; a government dedicated to the enrichment of the president and his cronies. And it\u2019s a vengeful one at that. After all, on Truth Social last year, he reposted an AI-generated video of former President Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office (as Trump looks on in glee) before he\u2019s thrown into prison. A Black man seized (in a house built by slave labor, no less) and held in bondage is something of a nod to America\u2019s past \u2014 and wouldn\u2019t be unfamiliar to America\u2019s founders.<\/p>

Read more It\u2019s Time for Maine to Ditch Platner \u2014 But Not the Politics That Won Over Voters<\/a><\/p>\n

But honestly, if you were to offer an account of Trump\u2019s America to George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, what would either of them have thought? Can you even imagine their reaction? Their dismay? You found a country and just over 250 years later, you have Donald J. Trump running it into the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps if the Founding Fathers could do it all again, they might have chosen to remain a colony of the British king, George III (whom Donald Trump makes look remarkably good).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coming from a largely rural land, the founders would undoubtedly find it interesting that Trump\u2019s long solid support in the heartland finally seems to be on the verge of collapse. But then, so much of his world (and sadly, ours, too) seems to be on the edge of ruin these days.<\/p>\n

The founders might wonder if the United States could survive another two and a half years. Or if the world can? If, that is, he doesn\u2019t try to remain in power. After claiming to have won the last three presidential elections, Trump asked\u00a0an Iowan audience ominously: \u201cShould we do it a fourth time?\u201d (George Washington would no doubt be disturbed, having been committed to a two-term maximum.)<\/p>\n

In two and a half years, much less six and a half, Trump is potentially all too capable of taking not just this country but also the planet down with him.\u00a0And I\u2019m not just thinking about his ability (if that\u2019s faintly the word for it) with\u00a0allies like Israel\u00a0to turn parts of this world into hell zones of war.\u00a0I\u2019m thinking instead about the climate disaster to come (as my city recently hit the 100-degree mark on an early July day) and the president who has\u00a0called climate change\u00a0\u201cthe greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world\u201d and a \u201cgreen scam,\u201d and is prepared in his own fashion to heat this planet to the boiling point. Now, I\u2019m sweating and, of course, with Donald Trump at the helm of state, it\u2019s only going to get hotter, and hotter, and hotter.<\/p>

Read more The People Who Stood By Graham Platner \u2014 Until He Was Accused of Rape<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A very special guest post from Tom Engelhardt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA Government of Trump, by Trump, and for Trump - New Home America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=339\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Government of Trump, by Trump, and for Trump - New Home America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A very special guest post from Tom Engelhardt.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=339\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New Home America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T16:07:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6dccdd362db9863d640780d262d0dc25.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"648\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/?p=339#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/?p=339\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3b2fb75bd3a94256636ac75160bfd623\"},\"headline\":\"A Government of Trump, by Trump, and for Trump\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T16:07:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/?p=339\"},\"wordCount\":1073,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/?p=339#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e6fe06732be9a756cea32ef992830868.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/?p=339#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/?p=339\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newhomeamerica.com\\\/?p=339\",\"name\":\"A Government of Trump, by Trump, and for Trump - 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