Trump’s Proudly Incompetent Cabinet
Signalgate, as the Beltway media is calling it, has all the hallmarks of a screwup from President Trump’s first term; it’s reminiscent of when, in May of 2017, he reportedly shared classified information with Russia’s foreign minister. The big difference this time around is that it wasn’t Trump himself who screwed up—unless you count the fact that he hired these bozos in the first place. But that bring us to one of two reasons why Trump’s second term has thus far been worse than the first. Last time around, he staffed his administration with Republican stalwarts who mostly had the requisite experience, but now he’s surrounded by lackeys and shills, all of whom have been picked for their loyalty (and, in many cases, have repeatedly expressed that loyalty in the right-wing media). And unlike last time, when Trump seemed entirely unprepared to win the presidency, the political right has been preparing for his return to power for four years. The result is chaos and destruction.
The group chat story reads like a modern reimagining of Dr. Strangelove. The participants are planning a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels, who are aligned with Iran; attacking them risks escalating a relatively contained conflict into a regional war. However, that wasn’t the primary concern of those on the chat, which apparently included Vice President JD Vance, national security advisor Michael Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, top White House adviser Stephen Miller, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, among others.
The strikes were intended to secure the Suez Canal, which has been routinely disrupted by Houthi rebels for years—but that would benefit America’s ostensible European allies. “I think we are making a mistake,” Vance wrote, reflecting an administration that despises those longtime allies, seeing them instead as freeloaders who rely on U.S. “3 percent of US trade runs through the [Suez]. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary.” Later, Vance got to the point: “I just hate bailing Europe out again.” (Turns out, this administration might love missile strikes even more.)
