Donald Trump's failed attempt to force a government shutdown on Biden's watch foreshadows years of chaos ahead [View all]

Two discarded wives and multiple bankruptcies ago, Donald Trump had occasion to produce out a book ghostwritten in his name. “The Art of the Deal” became a bestseller and reputation maker. It was also Trump’s first big lie.

The book portrayed Trump as a disrupter. We’ve seen the latest demonstration of that this past week, as Trump axed a bipartisan government appropriations agreement overseen by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who he helped install in the job. Congress relented, kicking the can down the road with a three-month continuing resolution.

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The President-elect doesn’t care two cents about the prospect of a partial government shutdown, even though it would have furloughed 850,000 federal workers at Christmas time and disrupted the economy. He triggered a thirty-five-day shutdown in his first term, to get his way, saying at the time: “I’ll be the one to shut it down. I will take the mantle. And I will shut it down for border security.”

Trump is lazy, and unwilling to learn. During his previous term, he spent hours watching FNC from the executive dining room at the White House. Oligarchs are now moving to exploit Trump’s shallow mind and self-absorption. Elon Musk preceded Trump in calling for the rejection of the budget deal. Johnson came out of a Republican caucus meeting to relate that he had talked with Trump and then called Musk.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2024/12/donald-trumps-failed-attempt-to-rig-up-a-government-shutdown-on-bidens-watch-foreshadows-years-of-chaos-ahead.html