No one knows how much Donald Trump’s second presidency will harm America’s national security, global leadership, social fabric, and material well-being. But we should expect much worse than the first time around.
Two months before returning to the Oval Office, the president-elect has already inflicted fresh damage upon our country. His public pronouncements and Cabinet choices make a mockery of the government he will lead.
He would place Matt Gaetz, a wildly irresponsible lawmaker who, like Trump, has faced investigations over sex offense allegations, atop the Department of Justice; Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host bearing tattoos associated with Christian extremism who has also faced a sex assault allegation, in charge of the vast, diverse Department of Defense; Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman who shares Trump’s suspicious affinity for the interests of Russia, as director of National Intelligence; and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a conspiracist crank at war with medical expertise, as overseer of the public health system. ….more
