Donald Trump does not appear to have any idea how to govern, and that has become increasingly obvious. He wanted to assassinate the Syrian leader, fist pumped on the sacred ground where heroes brought down their jet on 9/11, and did not realize Puerto Rico was part of the United States. The latest stunner to fall out of Bob Woodward’s book, Fear: Trump In The White House, was even more appalling.
POTUS met with his former director of the White House National Economic Council to discuss the national debt, after Trump pushed it over the trillion-dollar mark. This is what the president told Gary Cohn:
‘Just run the presses — print money.’
Woodward wrote that Cohn was:
‘Astounded at Trump’s lack of basic understanding.’
The economic adviser replied to Trump:
‘You don’t get to do it that way. We have huge deficits and they matter. The government doesn’t keep a balance sheet like that.’
At another point, the man sitting in the Oval Office had another less-than-brilliant idea:
‘We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money.’
The president has not been “thrilled” with the people he posted to top positions. Rather than let Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, a President Barack Obama appointee, continue for another term, which has always been the tradition, he let her go.
Instead, he installed Jerome Powell in her position. Yet, as soon as the Federal Reserve raised its interest rates to reflect the improving U.S. economy, Trump went sour on his new Fed chair. He told CNBC last July:
‘I’m not thrilled. Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again. I don’t really — I am not happy about it. But at the same time I’m letting them do what they feel is best.’
Then, the president turned to Cohn and told him that he would not choose his chief economic adviser to replace Powell. Cohn’s response may have surprised POTUS:
‘That’s fine. It’s the worst job in America.’
When Trump was running during the 2016 presidential election, he promised to balance the federal budget, cut taxes, and lower the national debt. Never mind that he only cut taxes on corporations and the wealthiest of the wealthy. He has a track record of trying to fulfill his campaign promises even as he dismantled each of President Obama’s accomplishments.
Not surprisingly, the man sitting in the Oval Office called Woodward’s book a “scam” full of “made up” quotes.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
