Donald Trump is no longer
even doing his job as president. He spends 20% of his time golfing.
He holds fundraisers for himself, using his official position to
reward acolytes. He skips most of the daily intelligence briefings to keep him informed [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/09/trump-intelligence-briefing-frequency-00338946]. When asked questions about what his administration
is doing he either says he doesn't know, or refers the questioner to
another official. For instance, when asked whether he planned to
send migrants to Libya, he responded “I don't know. You'll have
to ask the Department of Homeland Security.” Even when asked about
the most important aspect of being president, “[D]on’t you need
to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Once
again, Trump answered, “I don’t know.”
[https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/-dont-know-problem-trump-leaning-new-favorite-phrase-rcna205546]
Trump generally skips the daily intelligence briefing. Apparently he can't afford the time or brain power needed.
When the need arises to
fill an important vacancy in his administration, he does not take the
time to find the most qualified person. Instead he searches in his
head through people he already knows and decides which one of them
will best fit the slot. This is laziness and dangerous for the
country.
This is called dereliction
of duty. It means we do not really have a president. We have a
golfing self-promoter disguising himself as president.
Dereliction of duty is
defined as “a person’s purposeful or accidental failure to
perform an
obligation without a valid excuse, especially an obligation attached
to their job. In the 1991 U.S.
Court of Military Appeals case
, U.S. v. Powell ,
the Court stated that a person is guilty
of the offense
of dereliction of duty
when he or she willingly or negligently
fails to perform his or her duties or by performing such duties
in a culpably
inefficient manner.”
[https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/dereliction]
Trump
is about to turn 79 years old. It may be that his age is catching up
with him and he has trouble maintaining a knowledge of what is going
on in his administration. In this case, it would not be dereliction
but inability. In either case it is a danger to the country and must
be remedied immediately. Congress has the ability to impeach and
remove the president, though with a Republican majority at this time
that is highly unlikely. There is also section 4 of article 25 of
the Constitution, which allows “Whenever the Vice President and a
majority of either the principal officers of the executive
departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,
transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,
the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of
the office as Acting President. “
Whether
Trump is deliberately failing to act as president or he is becoming
mentally feeble, there are remedies, and they must be acted upon.
Our country demands a president who is capable, competent, and
willing to perform his duties.