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Sunday, December 14, 2025

Paul Waldman: Honeymooners

Paul Waldman: Honeymooners

President Donald Trump has never been one for honeymoons. Just seven days into his first term, he signed the executive order barring entry for refugees and residents of seven Muslim-majority countries. Protests broke out at airports, public opinion soured and Democrats in Congress shifted to a more antagonistic footing.

Now, he’s ruining another honeymoon.

When Trump won and billionaire SpaceX owner Elon Musk moved into Mar-a-Lago for the presidential transition, some Democrats decided to extend a hand of bipartisanship. Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna said he was eager to work with Musk's Department of Government Efficiency — or “DOGE” (har har, get it) — on its stated mission of improving efficiency. Even Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent Musk a list of recommendations.

It’s not unusual to hear members of the opposition — at least when they’re Democrats — say they’re willing to work with a new president. He just won, after all, and new presidents often get a little bump in public opinion, so the opposition may not want to look like it is being too obstructionist. And government efficiency is, or ought to be, a liberal goal. After all, liberals want a government that works. 

Some progressives criticized Democrats for these moves. But it turned out that even the most skeptical progressives who torched Democrats online underestimated the sheer malevolence of both Trump and Musk. In just two weeks, the billionaire duo has frozen government payments, scapegoated minorities for an air crash, purged officials deemed insufficiently loyal, seized the government's payment system and potentially shut down congressionally created agencies. Wherever you look, it’s worse than you could have imagined.

There are times when one can engage constructively with one’s opponents and win real policy gains. Even if the other side just wants a veneer of bipartisanship, that can create an opening to negotiate for a better outcome. But that is not what we’re seeing now. Trump and Musk are in a hurry to destroy everything they can get their hands on. To paraphrase Kyle Reese describing the Terminator: They can’t be bargained with. They can’t be reasoned with. And they absolutely will not stop until they lay waste to our government as we have known it. Anyone who thought otherwise ought to understand by now.

 

 

 

TRUMP’S WEEK IN REVIEW

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Trump’s second week in office included his first big legislative achievement and his first big setback.

In signing a bipartisan bill that expands immigration officials' powers to deport undocumented people who are suspected but not convicted of minor crimes, such as shoplifting, Trump secured his first durable win after a string of executive orders that can be easily overturned by the next president.

But the failure of his attempt to freeze federal spending also showed the limits of his “shock and awe” approach to his first days in office.

Here’s a not-entirely exhaustive rundown of actions by the Trump administration in his second week in office:

  • Signed the Laken Riley Act, which allows federal immigration officers to detain and deport undocumented people charged with crimes, instead of just those who have been convicted.
  • Ordered a widespread freeze on trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Rescinded a memo about the freeze after a judge blocked it.
  • Paused a U.S. foreign aid agency’s spending, placed top officials on leave, ordered workers to stay home and locked them out of their email. 
  • Purged multiple government websites of references to climate change and LGBTQ+ Americans, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Census.

Read the full list of Trump’s Week 2 actions here.

 

TODAY’S QUESTION

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A Senate committee voted along party lines to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial nomination for health and human services secretary.

VOTE HERE

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MORE FROM MSNBC

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In the latest episode of “Trumpland with Alex Wagner,” Alex heads to Newark, New Jersey, where one of the most public ICE raids just occurred. She’ll speak to Mayor Ras Baraka about the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown and strategies from community organizers to help those whose lives have been turned upside down.

Listen now, and subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening.

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