A MORE REALISTIC VIEW OF THE AMERICAN STATE OF THE UNION

By Mickey Skidmore, AMHSW, ACSW, FAASW

Last week Donald Trump presented a decisive vitriol to the US Congress depicting his delusional perspective on the State of the (American) Union after the first year of his second term as President. He doubled down on serving up red meat to his dwindling base (hovering around 30% approval of his regime); peppered with dark pornographic gore, tragedies and cultural war issues often with insulated, one-sided and twisted narratives that were underscored with his signature and sustained proclivity of lies, falsehoods and frankly — gaslighting.

He chided Democrats, probably thinking he was clever in his attempts to publicly shame them for not siding with the methods of implementing his administration’s policy vision. (In hindsight, I hope they embrace and endure his feigned outrage as a badge of honour). Unspoken in this effort was the implication that unless you were a US citizen, you were not entitled nor deserving of basic human rights or due process (yet his ICE goons cast wide nets to detain people based on skin colour and language despite being citizens and having no criminal background). At the time of this speech, 60% or more of the US electorate were voicing discomfort, disagreement and frankly disapproval of the state of the union in stark contrast to his rhetoric.

By now, this should not be surprising. What we saw was a window. And by peering into the window, we could see Trump insulated internally in his self-constructed feedback loop and echo chamber where he surrounds himself with only those who align with his convoluted, petulant, demented and ever self-absorbed view of the world. What might be worth paying attention to is what he did not mention in this address. 

Beyond insisting on his signature tariff position (which was struck down by the Supreme Court days before this address) and his stance on immigration (which offered only his skewed perspective while not addressing the methods of how his administration is implementing such policies); he was short on any specific policy initiatives or governing measures to address issues with the economy. The only other policy initiatives he mentioned are viewed by many as his attempt to corrupt the midterm elections. Given he has already been involved in a corrupt scheme to steal the 2020 election, this blatant and overt attempt to go there again is nothing short of audacious.

The week before this address, James Speyer wrote a compelling editorial printed in Donald Trump’s home town newspaper: the New York Daily News which I feel more accurately depicts the State of the (American) Union after only one year of Trumps second term. In this piece he offers a stark contrast:

“It is time to acknowledge what has become tragically obvious: the Trump administration is essentially acting as a massive criminal enterprise. It lies, steals, extorts and murders — all while cloaked in the awesome authority of the state (The most powerful crime syndicate in history). It is on a crime spree that puts Al Capone to shame.”

This is not hyperbole. It is a realistic depiction of the current State of the (American) Union as the facts amply demonstrate. Consider all the things omitted from Trump’s address that occurred under his administration in this term:

  • Murdered Renee Good and Alex Pertti, slandered them as “domestic terrorists” and “assassins”, and allowed their killers to walk free;
  • Unleashed thousands of minimally/poorly trained ICE agents, recruited with explicitly white supremacist messaging, to inflict terror on people of colour;
  • (Despite justifying their actions as going after “the worst of the worst criminals”) repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of citizens and non-citizens by arresting/detaining them for First Amendment-protected speech, raiding their homes without  judicial warrants and imprisoning and/or deporting them without due process;
  • Killed dozens of civilians on the high seas solely on the unsubstantiated claim that they were drug runners — without consultation or approval of Congress (not that being a drug runner would justify their summary executions without due process anyway);
  • Converted the once-independent Department of Justice (DOJ) into Trump’s law firm, with the Attorney General (Pam Bondi) as an instrument of personal retribution via the prosecution of cooked-up indictments and lawsuits against his political enemies or those who voice ideas not aligned with his own;
  • Threatens to seize the territory of a sovereign nation: Greenland (a NATO ally no less);
  • Sought to imprison US Senators simply for exercising their free speech rights and reminding military personnel of their undisputed duty outlined in the Military Code of Conduct to disobey illegal orders;
  • In a mafia-like shake down, tried to impose ruinous and unconstitutional sanctions on some of the country’s largest law firms simply because Trump doesn’t like them;
  • Violated court orders on a massive scale. (As the Chief District Judge of Minnesota recently wrote: “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence;
  • Violated the release of the Epstein documents he himself signed into law.
  • Shaken down some of the country’s oldest and largest universities by illegally threatening to withhold funding;
  • Defiled a long-held democratic principle by deploying the military to cities (Washington DC; Portland; Chicago; California; and Minnesota — all democratic mainstays) demonstrating and protesting his immigration policies;
  • Engaged in breathtaking corruption. As conservative writer has stated, “Trump’s scale of stealing and bribe-taking has never  been remotely paralleled in any democratic country before;” and
  • The most recent initiation of military action (war) against a sovereign country (Iran) espousing regime change — without Congressional approval — let alone consultation.

Interestingly enough, you will not find any of these issues/facts mentioned in Trump’s address to Congress. The justification of military action against Iran due to their killing of thousands who protested their policies smacks of hypocrisy when Trump dispatches the US military (comprised mostly of his ICE goons) to “disappear” people; terrorise communities and detain/arrests scores of US citizens and others without any criminal records (clearly not aligning with their rhetoric to arrest and deport “the worst of the worst”) protesting the manner of implementing his immigration policies (lack of due process).

MSNOW’s cable commentator Lawerence O’Donnell notes that the most powerful crime syndicate in history is underscored in all of Donald Trump’s violations of the Emoluments Clause to enrich himself, including accepting the gift of a 747 aircraft from the Middle Eastern dictatorship of Qatar; as well as, the billions of dollars he is making in cryptocurrency ventures and other rackets that he is running during his presidency. That a republican controlled congress would allow this reflects the pervasive and profound corruption that has culminated in Trump’s second regime. 

Donald Trump is aware that all of this apparent corruption could effectively investigated by congressional committees, if, and only if, Democrats win the House of Representatives and or the US Senate in this year’s coming mid-term elections. To prevent that he has instead (illegally) seized the voting  records of Atlanta voters in Fulton County, Georgia to set a precedent that he  can send the FBI anywhere he wants to seize any voting records, including ballots, at any time. He is the first (and only) president in history who wants to take the administration of elections away from states (a clear constitutional violation) and, in effect count all American ballots case in every election inside the Trump White House. Apparently, public efforts are underway to plan an election crime spree even worse that the conspiracy he was indicted for running to overturn the results of the 202 presidential election.

Trump’s view of the State of the (America) Union avoids the question of whether he will be allowed to commit election crimes all of the country to crush democracy? This not an alarmist question. The Trump regime has become a place of repression and censorship. The most powerful force available in the USA to defeat the most powerful crime syndicate in history will ultimately rest with the voters of the United States of America. Will they allow the repression and censorship of the Trump administration to spread across American society?

REFERENCES

  1. Speyer, J. The Most Powerful Crime Syndicate in History. 19 February 2026 Editorial in the NY Daily News.
  1. O’Donnell, L. MNNOW Commentator.