Opinion: In 1933, the U.S. faced a real emergency, but today the country faces a series of phoney emergencies cooked up by the Trump administration
In 1933, as he started his first term as U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt called a special session of Congress, and in a period of a little over three months, helped to get 15 pieces of major legislation aimed at bringing the United States out of the Depression. These laws helped to stabilise the banking system, ended Prohibition (giving the U.S. a much-needed chaser), established the Civilian Conservation Corps, created the Tennessee Valley Authority, bringing electricity and prosperity to largely forgotten sections of America, and stabilised a chaotic system for trading stocks and securities.
On the 100th day of his presidency, Roosevelt gave the first of his famous fireside chats, explaining the actions and priorities of his government. The process of recovering from the Depression was long and bumpy, and the U.S. did not fully recover until World War II, but the 100 days of vigorous legislative activity and Roosevelt's frequent chats with the country (11 fireside chats in all) changed the psychology of the country, giving hope to the downtrodden and optimism to the country.
We are approaching 100 days in the second Trump administration, and it is fair to say that this set of 100 days will also be remembered in history, but perhaps in a very different way. In part this is because of a difference in circumstances. In 1933, the U.S. faced a real emergency – i.e., a crippling depression. Today, the U.S. faces a series of entirely phoney emergencies that the Trump administration cooked up to rule by decree (Trump has issued more than 120 Executive Orders covering topics ranging from removing Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness from government agencies to the flow rate of shower heads) rather than legislation.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Democrats face critical decisions after 100 days of Trump
At the very beginning of his administration, Trump declared an energy emergency despite the fact that the U.S. was a net energy exporter and one of the world's largest producers of energy at the time. Subsequently, he declared an economic emergency, despite the fact that the U.S. economy was, at the end of the Biden Administration, the envy of the world.
You might wonder why the world’s strongest economy (at the time) and one of the world’s largest energy producers was facing economic and energy emergencies. The explanation is simple: Under the U.S. Constitution, the power to pass laws, to create taxes and to levy tariffs rests entirely with the legislative branch, and the President cannot univariately set aside laws (e.g. legal restrictions on drilling for oil in protected lands) or set tariffs. However, Congress created a series of laws allowing Presidents to act quickly in emergencies, with the provision that they report to and seek long-term permission from Congress within a short period. Trump, who has never been a fan of doing the hard work to get legislation passed, has much preferred to rule by fiat rather than passing laws that will enforce his policies.
The U.S. Congress, now firmly in the hands of a terrified and abased Republican Party, seems entirely willing to let Trump have his way. In a striking piece of cynicism, the Speaker of the House of Representatives has decreed that the passage of time can be stopped by deciding that a legislative day (emergency powers all, theoretically, time limited) can last for months so that Congress will not be forced to vote on Trump’s executive actions.
What has been accomplished so far by the Trump administration? Democrats and Republicans will probably answer this question differently, but some things are beyond dispute. Our relationships with allies who have stood by the U.S. through thick and thin are in the toilet. Our trading relationships are in tatters. Tariffs have been imposed on more than 100 countries using a formula that has drawn widespread ridicule. Scientific research and key health infrastructure is disappearing at an alarming rate. The U.S. has a Secretary of Health and Human Services who has actively spread false and destructive claims about vaccines and modern medicine.
Read more: How US tariff war will affect the price you pay for petrol and electricity
Immigrants have been hauled off to foreign prisons without the opportunity to defend themselves against sometimes flimsy charges, and the administration seems contemptuous of a Supreme Court decision to undo the damage. Our Department of Defense has succeeded in purging hundreds of books from the U.S. Naval Academy Library that deal with race, gender and other DEI-tainted topics, on the apparent theory that the officers being trained to lead the Navy of the future cannot be exposed to ideas that do not fit with the views that seem to be gaining ground in the Administration. Finally, the U.S. almost certainly go into a recession and pull much of the rest of the world down in the process.
In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt took to the radio to comfort the nation. In contrast, Trump routinely uses the media to air his grievances. In his Easter tweet, he told the nation "Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country," Mr. Trump said, going on to wish a happy Easter to the "WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue."
It's not too soon to conclude that this 100 days will stand as the opposite to Roosevelt’s 100 days. Franklin Roosevelt worked within the legal system to lift the country from a crippling depression. Trump will certainly make a mark with his first 100 days, and he has certainly secured his place in history. At the end of his first term as President, Donald Trump was already rated as the worst President in U.S. history. As the band Bachman Turner Overdrive memorably said "you ain’t seen nothin’ yet".
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
