The Arsonist Deserves No Credit For Putting Out Fires That He Started

Feb 7, 2025 07:29 PM EST, Fri

Opinion / Trump deserves no credit for putting out fires he ignites - The Washington Post

Opinion Catherine Rampell. February 7, 2025

When the arsonist demands praise for his firefighting skills Donald Trump is great at creating problems — and then pretending to fix them.

  • The article criticizes former President Donald Trump for creating crises and then claiming victory when he addresses them.
  • It highlights his trade disputes with Canada and Mexico, accusing him of using bogus numbers to inflate the trade deficit and making confusing allegations about fentanyl smuggling.
  • The piece argues that Trump lacks understanding of the facts and that the supposed concessions from Mexico and Canada were actions they were already taking.
  • It mentions a similar situation with Colombia, where a deportation flight was refused due to Trump’s aggressive approach, leading to economic uncertainty.
  • The article contends that Trump’s actions have damaged trust with international allies and hurt U.S. businesses.
  • It also points out domestic issues, such as the false claim about California’s water supply and the negative impact of Trump’s executive order on local farms.
  • The author criticizes Trump’s administration for purging and defunding important programs, causing disruptions in federal aid and research funding.

Colombia accepted commercial flights of deportees during the Biden administration. But when Trump insulted Colombia, Colombia refused a military jet (needlessly aggressive and expensive) with deportee.

During the Biden administration, Colombia regularly accepted commercial flights of deportees from the United States, without issue. But Colombia refused a deportation flight in January because Trump insulted our ally by sending a (needlessly aggressive and expensive) military jet instead. Tariffs and countertariffs were threatened; coffee prices spiked to record highs; and tariff threats were eventually withdrawn as both countries agreed to resume deportation flights.

There’s a principle known as “Chesterton’s Fence”: Don’t remove a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place. Perhaps it deserves a corollary: Don’t firebomb a fence, ever, even if you think it will win you some positive short-term press.

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