Donald Trump takes great pride in the buildings he has constructed, and not without reason. He’s erected a number of skyscrapers in New York and elsewhere. “The thing I do best in life is build,” he says, and we can all agree that building is not the worst thing he does.
I was pleasantly surprised at the 2009 completion of the Chicago Trump Tower, which was a great improvement over the homely structure that formerly housed the city’s second-greatest newspaper. I enjoyed looking at it right up until the day when he spoiled the shimmering vertical lines by adding his name in giant letters.
It was in keeping with his destructive nature. If there’s anything Trump does better than building, it’s wrecking. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s slogan “Move fast and break things” could serve as the central theme of this presidency.
The most visible example is the East Wing of the White House. He said he would renovate it, only to decide to raze it so he could add a mammoth ballroom.
But he may not get what he wants. A federal judge ordered a halt to the construction unless and until Trump gets congressional approval — though an appeals court allowed it to proceed for the moment. Senate Republicans have rejected Trump’s demand for $1 billion to pay for supposed security enhancements on his planned party venue and bunker.
Not all of his destruction is physical, which doesn’t make it less harmful. One of his first actions in his first term was to shred the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, reached after years of arduous negotiations and signed by the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, as well as Iran. It was designed to severely restrict Iran’s nuclear activities for years to come.
Renouncing the accord was the impetus for Tehran to resume enriching uranium to a high purity and building advanced centrifuges. The prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon, of course, was one of the reasons Trump gave for launching his ill-fated war.
That war, which consisted of a massive bombing campaign, has showcased his penchant for pulverizing things. But so far peace has not risen from the ashes.
The chief consequence has been to put a stop to free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which has inflicted punishment on American consumers and the world economy. And no end is in sight. Starting a war, the president has discovered, is much easier than winning one or even escaping one.
His Department of Government Efficiency was grossly inept at promoting efficiency and saving money but good at smashing things, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Trump tried to shut down the U.S. Institute of Peace, and when courts blocked that attempt, the administration did the next worst thing — renaming it the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
He also plastered his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It was an attempt to exalt himself, but the actual result was to utterly degrade a prestigious institution.
A parade of performing artists canceled appearances. Donors also fled. He then announced that the center would close for two years, ostensibly for renovations. Last week, a federal judge ordered the removal of his name from the building and put a hold on the closure.
Trump’s response was to post one of his trademark threats: “The Kennedy Center will soon be closed, probably never to open again.” Would anyone be surprised if bulldozers showed up to knock it down?
He even wants to extinguish one of his own creations — a concert on the National Mall that was planned for June 25. After several artists withdrew, a furious Trump said the concert should be replaced with a Make American Great Again rally.
He’s done his best to cripple the Federal Reserve for failing to slash interest rates. He tried to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, and his Justice Department launched a vindictive investigation of chair Jerome Powell. It went nowhere and had to be dropped to get the Senate to confirm Kevin Warsh as Powell’s successor.
The list of other things Trump and his subordinates have undermined, harmed or ruined is long and ever-growing — including the NATO alliance, the global trade order, the Environmental Protection Agency, the nonpartisan ethos of the U.S. military and the independence of the Justice Department. Not to mention the rule of law and the Constitution.
The cumulative damage from all these attacks is impossible to measure, and Trump doesn’t care to try. His approach brings to mind the wisdom of the English writer G.K. Chesterton, who suggested that before you tear down a fence, you should consider why it was built.
Steve Chapman was a member of the Tribune Editorial Board from 1981 to 2021. His columns, exclusive to the Tribune, now appear the first week of every month. He can be reached at stephenjchapman@icloud.com.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
