Is Trump a RINO?

One of President Trump’s most frequent and favorite epithets for his Republican antagonists is “RINO” — that is, “Republican in name only.” But the evidence suggests that the president should be mindful of the old adage: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”

Nearing the midpoint of his second term, Trump has turned his back on long held Republican principles which have glued together the conservative movement for decades. This is very different from his first term, when he used his business acumen to produce solid economic growth through tax cuts and deregulation.

In February 2020, Trump’s approval rating stood at 49 percent and reelection prospects looked good. That was when COVID severely disrupted to everyday life and its economic wreckage soured voters on the party in charge.

Four years later, Trump put his name into the history books alongside that of Grover Cleveland, the only other president to serve two non-consecutive terms . But from the start of his second term, Trump pursued his publicly announced revenge agenda and allowed his insatiable ego to drive policy decisions aimed to please only his MAGA base.

Thus, there was no overriding governing philosophy. The principles of conservatism were left on the cutting room floor as the self-proclaimed “ very stable genius ” mode of operation became focused on the accumulation of power to the executive. Damn the courts! Full speed ahead.

Trump routinely attacks judges who issue a decision he does not like, throwing on the trash heap of governance our constitutional doctrine that the federal government consists of three co-equal branches. Even judges appointed by Trump himself are not exempt from his late-night tantrums on Truth Social. Ask Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Starting trade wars with multiple longtime allies is nowhere to be found in previous Republican Party platforms. Trump’s renewed spite for Canada may end up costing Republicans control of the Senate as voters in Michigan and Maine take out their frustration by voting for clearly inferior Democratic Senate candidates . Perhaps Trump will explain why he did not wait until after the midterm election to economically attack America’s neighbor and longtime ally.

America’s commitment to freedom lies in tatters as Trump has weakened our commitment to NATO and cozies up to the murderous dictator Putin, even inviting him to the G20 meeting at Trump’s Doral Country Club. Now Trump wants to fund Putin’s war machine in exchange for diesel fuel , which is in short supply and now comes at an exorbitant cost. How many innocent Ukrainian civilians will die as a direct result of Trump’s ill-planned attack on Iran? May Lindsey Graham’s Russian sanctions legacy rest in peace .

Those actions are a very long way from “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

America’s level of debt is beyond comprehension. Six years of Trump and four years of Biden has taken America’s debt from $20 trillion to $40 trillion with more than half of that increase on Trump’s watch. There was a time when conservatives were opposed to increasing the debt.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget tells us that when the Social Security fund hits zero in 2032, current law requires a reduction in benefits of 24 percent for every senior citizen receiving payments. Trump could responsibly lead as Reagan did in 1982 to implement reforms that would stabilize the system. Instead, he chose to join the ostrich caucus with Biden and adopt a position of “No changes; Not now; Not ever.” Shame on both of them.

Trump’s pettiness and impetuousness has combined to literally put former high ranking American officials in physical danger. He removed the security details of former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, even though the world, and specifically Iran, knows that they were involved in planning the Trump-ordered assassination of high-ranking Iranian military officials.

Think about that. The president publicly orders that former high-ranking American officials who helped carry out his orders should be placed in physical danger because … why? Is that an acceptable action to you as an American citizen?

Trump has also recently taken to labeling certain Democrats as socialists. Undoubtedly, some of them are. But for the leader of a party that has taken partial ownership in 31 private corporations it is indeed rich to castigate others as socialistic. You may recall a principle of socialism: government ownership of the means of production. Trump has apparently adopted it as his standard mode of operation.

True conservatives are realizing that Trump is using the Republican Party for his own convenience. Trump’s presidency seems rooted in a policy du jour mindset which responds first and foremost to pleasuring his insatiable ego.

America will survive this “all about me” presidency. If my beloved Republican Party wants to survive it, it must return to its conservative roots of small government, personal freedoms, peace through strength, moral leadership of freedom-loving people and especially respect for our constitutional principles.

Kevin Igoe is the former deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee and former executive director of the Maryland Republican Party. He served as chief of staff of the Maryland Department of Budget and Management and was a Reagan White House appointee.