My tip sheet: Making sense of the senseless

 

You're reading a preview of Marc's weekly tip sheet where he debriefs the news from the weekend and lays out the trends and stories to watch in the week ahead. Join us to always get exclusive analysis like this, invites to members-only live events, opportunities to connect with fellow pro-democracy readers and more. Become a member today and stay ahead of the curve during Trump 2.0. So much of what Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing seems senseless. It is hard to understand the purpose of firing the people who fight fires and do medical research into lifesaving treatments. Trump has alienated our allies while emboldening our enemies. In 2018, Adam Serwer coined the phrase “the cruelty is the point” to describe Trump’s first term. It was an apt description for a meandering administration that was mostly defined by incompetence. Enacting an infrastructure bill might be too big a task for Trump, but “owning the libs” by mocking Puerto Ricans suffering from a natural disaster was just his size. Already, Trump's ambition for his second term is much larger, more grandiose, than mere cruelty. This time he wants to destroy democracy and replace it with an authoritarian oligarchy. If you view Trump through the prism of a normal leader, you will see senseless cruelty. But, if you zoom out, and listen to what he and his supporters are saying — taking them literally and seriously — he is more dangerous and less senseless than ever. Trump’s goal is to… In this tip sheet, Marc dives into: Six tips on what to watch this week Trump’s two-pronged strategy to erode democracy Three big lawsuits to follow UPGRADE TO READ THE REST