Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

Trump and his cult will not like this story. Why? Because it is founded in historical fact. Facts and the truth have been Trump’s biggest enemies for nearly 80 years.

HOW THE WORLD GAINS ECONOMIC SUCCESS

From the beginning of the 20^th century, also known as the “industrial age,” the world’s people experienced improvement in their quality of life.

When the United States began to flourish in the 1920’s, much of the credit belonged to leadership within America’s government combined with the success of big business.

However, when poor decisions, inspired by greed, resulted in the 1929 Great Depression, there was a lesson to be learned. However, in a desperate effort to repair the damage, President Hoover placed excessive tariffs on imported goods. This made matters worse.

THE RISE OF THE “WORKING MAN’S PRESIDENT”

In 1932, a young Democrat rose to power. His name was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Unlike his Republican predecessor, his economic policies were focused on the success of the majority, not the minority.

His “New Deal” combined controls on the failed policies of the banking industry, and Wall Street, with programs to make jobs available to anyone who wanted them.

[FDR moved toward freer trade, particularly through the 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (RTAA), but not pure, unrestricted free trade. He viewed lower tariffs as crucial to recovering from the Great Depression, but his approach was pragmatic, using bilateral, negotiated tariff reductions to boost American exports.]

FDR used common sense and selected advisors whose expertise in economic success was unrivaled in the mid-1930’s. He knew that a form of Free Trade would not only result in a growing economy for America, but also around the world.

SKIPPING AHEAD TO THE 1980’s, AND THE END OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Ronald Reagan was victorious in 1980 over incumbent Jimmy Carter. After his inauguration on January 20, 1981, he immediately revealed himself. He was not a conservative or a Republican. His policies and philosophies included absolute loyalty from his entire party, refusing to negotiate with Democrats, support for the establishment of Christianity as America’s one, true religion, keeping women “in their place,” and serving the wishes of the super-rich while declaring a war on the working class. His economic policy of “trickle-down economics” increased the wealth of the five percent wealthiest Americans and decreased the quality of life for the working class. When he left office in 1989, the national debt had risen to more than 153 billion dollars.

Possibly the worst result of Reagan’s failed presidency was the beginning of the end of the Republican Party.

REPUBLICANS CONTINUED THEIR FAILED ECONOMIC POLICIES WHILE DEMOCRATS WERE FORCED TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE

Over the next 37 years, one situation recurred constantly. George H.W. Bush adopted the failed policies of Ronald Reagan. He was voted out of office after a single term.

In 1992, Bill Clinton became our nation’s 42^nd president. When he left office in 2001, America’s economy was the strongest it had been since the Roosevelt administration. He had encouraged a policy of Free Trade and the world was more secure.

In 2001, our nation’s first illegitimate president, George W. Bush, used the same failed policies of his two Republican predecessors. Placing our nation in two unwinnable wars, and an economic policy of serving the super-rich, combined with little or no oversight of Wall Street, our nation faced the Great Recession, and in 2009 the deficit had reached nearly 1.5 trillion dollars.

Between 2009 and 2017, Barack Obama and his extremely qualified administration placed our nation on a path leading to economic prosperity. However, to save Wall Street from economic disaster, although they were complicit in the Great Recession, he left office with the national debt reaching 665.7 billion dollars.

I SAVED THE WORST FOR LAST: ALMOST

Donald Trump won a rigged election in 2016. With zero experience and a lack of knowledge related to world economics, he, too, adopted the failed policy of trickle-down economics. Then he forced congress to pass even larger tax cuts for the super-rich.

When he was warned about a potentially deadly health emergency in December of 2019, he ignored it. When Covid-19 began to move west in January of 2020, he told the American people that it “would just go away.” In March, Americans began to die and the coronavirus was spreading quickly across the nation.

When Trump was evicted in January of 2021, America was moving towards a second Great Depression and more than one-million Americans had died. The national debt experienced a huge increase. Total debt held by the public at that time was $22.3 trillion. The fiscal year 2021 budget deficit was approximately $2.8 trillion.

IT WAS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT

Not only had Trump nearly bankrupted our nation, his failure to act in a timely fashion was directly responsible for about 10 percent of total deaths from Covid-19, roughly 100,000.

To make the situation even worse, he had no plan to distribute the lifesaving vaccine created by the pharmaceutical industry.

President Joe Biden took office on January 20, 2021. He and his administration quickly developed a plan which made the vaccine available to all Americans.

Biden’s fiscal policy, including Free Trade, returned economic security to America. Thousands of small businesses were saved and the unemployment numbers rapidly declined.

When he left office, the national debt had increased by 2.2 trillion dollars.

TRUMP AGAIN? GOD SAVE US

Today, March 4, 2026, America is suffering from Trump’s failed economic policies, combined with his extreme waste of taxpayer money for his personal pleasure. During 2025, the national debt increased by more than 4 trillion dollars.

Inflation continues to rise, and Trump’s insistence on placing “doomed to fail” tariffs on every nation in the world, are moving our nation towards financial failure faster than Trump can physically destroy the East Wing of the White House.

His lies are no longer effective, even among MAGA loyalists. He is living the life of a king while the average American is struggling. Trump is not an American President. Trump is a tyrannical dictator.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Follow my blog and be informed

Sources: dailykos.com: Trump’s economic lies are catching up to him

Dailykos.com: Trump’s Iran war gets cold reviews from MAGA-friendly influencers