As part of the ongoing project to catalog every awful thing the Trump Administration has done as a reference for future political arguments and whatever few posterity survives to see 2020, here’s everything awful the Trump Administration has done this week.
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1740. Dramatically escalated the threat of war with Iran by assassinating a top military commander, Qassim Soleimani
1741. After the assassination, Trump posted a number of baiting tweets claiming Iran "never won a war"
1742. Escalated tension with Iran further by immediately launching another strike against a medical convoy of an Iranian aligned militia
1743. Threatened to commit a war crime by targeting 52 Iranian cultural sites
1744. In retaliation for the strike in 1740, Iran lifted all uranium enrichment restrictions
1745. As a consequence of the strike in 1740, the Iraqi parliament voted to expel the US military from Iraq
1746. Instructed federal agencies to not take climate change into account when they attempt to calculate the impact of new policies
1747. Cut Congress out of the strike and ensuing crisis with Iran to an extent that senators found "insulting"
1748. Failed to regulate the autonomous vehicle market in any sort of way that would be adequate for ensuring public safety
1749. Moved to block a women's rights amendment
1750. Began to deport asylum seekers to Honduras
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Sometimes it’s very frustrating covering the Trump administration, as things often develop so fast you’re often caught flat footed. Only a few hours after I posted the last weekly update to the Trump omnibus, Trump went and nearly instigated WWIII by assassinating a top Iranian military figure! But now, about a week later, the crisis seems to have passed (but who the hell really knows). The whole episode has helped illustrate the truth, and foibles, of the fact that the Trump administration may be too lazy and incompetent to run a truly bad foreign policy. Starting a regional war with Iran ostensibly requires more focus and commitment than Trump’s gnat-like attention span allows, but he still might do it anyways.
As always, I don’t expect to catch everything, so let me know if there’s anything you think I’ve missed. The full omnibus is being maintained here (a spreadsheet version can be found here). For an overall summary, click here.