There is no doubt that Donald Trump operates more like the head of a criminal syndicate than a former president, and he should be treated as such.
In Maryland, a state seemingly energized by political resolve, prominent figures are speaking out strongly against the Trump administration’s actions. A few weeks ago, Senator Chris Van Hollen took a stand against the unlawful imprisonment and deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. This week, Congressman Kweisi Mfume weighed in with pointed criticism of the administration’s willingness to flirt with suspending habeas corpus rights. “It is a shame to see what is happening to our nation under the guise of this Trump administration and his Department of Government Evil,” Mfume said. “He and Elon Musk, really in my opinion, deserve to be arrested and charged with assault on the Constitution.”
Speaking honestly about the Trump era often feels like sounding alarmist. Mfume acknowledged that his calls for arresting the former president and his close allies may seem extreme. But like the myth of Cassandra, whose dire warnings were proven true, Mfume’s assessment rings accurate. Trump is not a typical political figure but the leader of a criminal enterprise, and that requires appropriate accountability both now and when he leaves office.
The current Trump administration has quickly descended into a new level of lawlessness. Compared to his first term—when he incited an insurrection and faced two impeachments—this new period has been even more reckless. Previously, one might have thought George W. Bush’s presidency caused more damage. That is no longer the case. As documented by The New Republic’s Alex Shephard, Trump’s recent trip to the Gulf States was a seamless exercise in personal enrichment, stacking corrupt deals at a rate few politicians match.
This week’s headline-grabbing scandal is just one of many. Jeb Lund at The Nation compiled an extensive list of offenses committed within Trump’s first 100 days back in power. The administration has illegally accessed millions of Americans’ private data, fired thousands of federal employees without cause, extorted law firms and media companies, manipulated markets through crypto schemes, kidnapped individuals, and deported them without due process. Lund’s assessment is blunt: the question is not whether crimes were committed, but how many.
The administration has also stopped the FBI from investigating white-collar criminals, signaling a disregard for justice. But if those crimes are too abstract, consider the human toll. As Matt Ford at The New Republic reported, Trump’s public health policies will likely cause the deaths of many children. This is unsurprising, given Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s well-known role in a controversial open-air eugenics experiment in Samoa that resulted in the deaths of 83 children. Ford writes that these policies make the United States a far more dangerous place for children to be born and grow up.
Internationally, the administration’s policies echo this harmful approach. James North of The New Republic highlighted the dismantling of PEPFAR, the Bush-era HIV/AIDS program that has saved millions of lives in Africa and enjoys widespread praise globally. The gutting of this program has already led to tens of thousands of deaths and, as the program remains in limbo, many more will follow.
This decision aligns with a broader strategy that risks ceding influence to China and other powers willing to fill the humanitarian void in developing nations. The worst-case scenario is millions of needless deaths. Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times quantified the cost of Trump’s foreign aid cuts: 1.65 million AIDS-related deaths, 500,000 deaths from lack of vaccines, 550,000 from food insecurity, and approximately 300,000 deaths each from malaria and tuberculosis.
Such staggering numbers raise difficult questions about the scale of suffering and whether terms like “holocaust” are appropriate. This is not intended as shock value, but rather to underline the gravity of the situation. Corrupt misrule of this magnitude demands consequences: tribunals, trials, punishments, prison, and dismantling the Trump operation.
Pursuing justice will take courage. It requires breaking from a long-standing status quo that has often let powerful figures escape accountability—from the Bush administration’s torture programs to Wall Street’s financial recklessness and endless foreign wars. The “look forward, not backward” attitude has failed the nation, leading us to the current crisis.
Real accountability is unlikely to be embraced by much of the mainstream media or the disconnected pundit class, who often lag behind public sentiment on Trump’s corruption. They have long advocated for letting powerful wrongdoers go free. Still, those who seek justice for the countless victims of this administration must prepare to face criticism and accusations of being heretics.
We hear much about the “rule of law” but rarely understand that it depends entirely on our actions. It is not an automatic force running in the background; it lives or dies based on our willingness to confront injustice, sometimes with harsh resolve. It is time for those who value justice to summon that courage and act.
2 comments
I don’t disagree with anything you said. But a sitting President cannot be indicted let alone tried & convicted. We’ve barely began this 2nd Trump administration, it’s going to be a long rough road to travel. The way Washington works, he will have to do things that Really hurt his base and the American people before the politicians stop fearing his retribution for opposing him. Crazy things like going against the 2nd amendment, trying to confiscate guns. Four years is a long time, realistic I think this country is in big trouble unless Trump has a fatal coronary or stroke.
That’s why we need to go the route of South Korea. You have to dismantle his support system. Republican Governors, Senators, Members of Congress, the cabinet members. These are the people we need to start taking down and his rule will topple.