Welcome to the weekend edition of the Editorial Board! I’m your host, John Stoehr. Before I get to the stuff I published recently, here’s a few words about the president’s skill as the leader of the country.

Haha, just kidding. He doesn’t have any.

He’s a chaos-reaper. As I said yesterday:

“The administration says it’s going to impose tariffs on Mexico. Then it doesn’t. It says it’s going to impose tariffs on Canada. Then it doesn’t. (Any business that does any kind of international trade cannot plan anything with uncertainty like this.) Moreover, the administration says it’s going to issue an executive order to shut down the Education Department. Then it doesn’t. It fires people who are essential to running the country. Then it tries to bring them back on the job. Hell, it fires people for doing what the administration told them to do!

“The whiplash is brutal. It is everlasting.”

The New Republic’s Michael Tomasky went further. 

“Everybody knew then what’s obvious today. Tariffs are taxes. They raise prices on Americans. A lot of people said it, mostly Democrats, but Trump denied it, and the right-wing media-political complex that exists to support his every lie cranked into gear to say tariffs are great. 

“That was then. Now we’ve moved from campaign rhetoric to policymaking, and what we’re seeing is even more obvious and embarrassing than I’d imagined. Tariffs were the centerpiece of Trump’s campaign — they were his most important proposal on the most important issue to voters. It doesn’t get more central than that. 

“And now we’re seeing that it’s a joke. Trump has twice now imposed sweeping tariffs and twice now withdrawn or delayed them almost immediately in the face of criticism and the plunging stock market.”

Before I get to recent postings, a reminder from yours truly:

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HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED LAST WEEK

February 28, 2025
The deep state is real. It’s called DOGE
Elon Musk is exercising power no one alive has seen.

March 5, 2025
Are we a conquered country?
If it feels like the United States “was defeated in war and is being occupied by a hostile enemy,” that’s because, in a real sense, it was.

March 6, 2025
10 House Democrats will get nothing for betraying Al Green
Except hatred and fury from inside their own party.

March 7, 2025
Trump is eating your dreams
The criminal politics of a state on the road to failure.

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Before you go, I wanted to share this speech by French Senator Claude Malhuret. Speaking on March 5, he said what everyone’s thinking. (The translation from the French comes courtesy of Gregory Mullins.): 

Europe is at a critical turning point in its history. The American shield is slipping away. Ukraine risks being abandoned. And Russia is being strengthened.

Washington has become the court of Nero: an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, and a buffoon on ketamine tasked with purging the civil service.

Here’s the rest. Trust me, it’s worth it.

“This is a tragedy for the free world.

“But above all it is tragedy for the United States.

“Trump’s message is that being his ally serves no purpose, as he will not defend you, he will impose higher tariffs on you than on his enemies, and he will threaten to seize your territories, while supporting the dictators who invade you.

“The so-called king of the deal is demonstrating what the ‘submissive’ art of the deal is. He believes he will intimidate China by capitulating to Putin, but Xi Jinping, witnessing such a collapse, is undoubtedly accelerating preparations for the invasion of Taiwan.

“Never in history has a President of the United States surrendered to an enemy. Never before has one supported an aggressor against an ally. Never before has one trampled on the American Constitution, issued so many illegal decrees, dismissed judges who could oppose him, sacked the entire military leadership in one go, weakened all counter-powers, and taken control of social media.

“This is not a mere illiberal drift. It is the beginning of a seizure of democracy. 

“Let us remember that it only took just one month, three weeks, and two days to bring down the Weimar republic and its Constitution.

“I have faith in the resilience of American Democracy, and the country is already protesting. But in just one month, Trump has done more damage to America than in four years of his previous.

“We were at war with a dictator, we are now fighting against a dictator supported by a traitor. Eight days ago, at the very moment when Trump was patting Macron on the back at the White House, the United States voted at the UN alongside Russia and North Korea, against the Europeans who were demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.

“Two days later, in the Oval Office, the draft-dodger was giving moral and strategic lessons to the war hero, Zelensky, before dismissing him like a stable boy, ordering him to submit or resign.

“Last night he took another step into disgrace, by halting the delivery of promised weapons. What should we do in the face of this betrayal? 

“The answer is simple: stand firm.

“And above all, do not be mistaken. Ukraine’s defeat would be Europe’s defeat. The Baltic countries, Georgia and Moldova, are already on the list. Putin’s goal is to return to Yalta, where half the continent was ceded to Stalin. The global south is awaiting the outcome of this conflict to decide whether they should continue respecting Europe, or whether they are now free to trample it. What Putin wants is the end of the order established by the United States and its allies: 80 years ago, whose first principle was the prohibition of acquiring territory by force. 

“This principle is at the very foundation of the UN, where today, the Americans voted in favor of the aggressor, and against the victim, because Trump’s vision aligns with Putin’s: a return to spheres of influence, where big powers dictate the fate of smaller nations. ‘I take Greenland, Panama, and Canada; you take Ukraine, the Baltics, and Eastern Europe. He takes Taiwan and the South China Sea.’ 

“In Mar-a-Lago, golfing oligarchs party; this is called ‘diplomatic realism’. We are therefore alone. But the claim that resisting Putin is impossible is false. Contrary to Kremlin propaganda, Russia is struggling. In three years, the so-called second-best army in the world has managed to gain only a few crumbs from a population three times smaller. With interest rates at 25 percent, the collapse of foreign currency and gold reserves, and a demographic crisis, Russia is on the brink. 

…

“The risk is great. But in recent days, the public humiliation of Zelensky, and the series of reckless decisions taken over the past month, have finally stirred Americans into action. Poll numbers are plummeting, Republican representatives are being met with hostile crowds in their districts, even Fox news is becoming critical.

“The Trumpists are no longer in their prime. They control the executive branch, Congress, the Supreme Court, and social networks. But in American history, the defenders of freedom have always prevailed.

“They are beginning to rise again. The fate of Ukraine is decided in the trenches, but it also depends on those in the United States who fight for democracy, and here, on our ability to unite Europeans, to find the means for our collective defense, and to restore Europe to the great power it once was, and hesitates to become again. 

“Our parents defeated fascism and communism at the cost of great sacrifice. The task of our generation is to defeat the totalitarianisms of the 21st century. Long live free Ukraine, long live democratic Europe.”