Donald Trump lives in the moment. That may seem like an oversimplification of something perhaps obvious to a lot of people already, but it’s hard to understate how bad a habit that is for a President. As the leader of a country, you don’t get to call people names, you don’t get to just buy whatever you want — you even have to consider whether it’s okay to accept a gift from someone.
Okay, so he hasn’t abided by any of those rules, ever.
But one guideline citizens would hope the President of the United States would follow would be a simple one: Think about the consequences for others before you act.
That’s actually the one it seems that Trump has the hardest time with. From his Twitter feed to his official statements through spokespeople, from policy decisions to international relations, the one skill that eludes this President is an ability to consider the fallout from what he says or does.
Sometimes we have a laugh at his expense because that kind of behavior comes back to bite him. But sometimes we’re reminded that the real-world consequences for his rash decisions can be staggering for the people they affect.
Take the people who are literally closest to him — not his friends or advisers, but literally standing next to him. The Secret Service is a government agency. They’re among the bravest the nation has to offer, willing to put their lives on the line to protect whoever they’re charged with protecting, whether they like them or not, whether they agree with them or not — they must be willing to die every morning when they wake up. It’s the closest a civilian gets to being basically a Navy Seal.
They’re also people with jobs. Those jobs pay their bills. They feed their kids. They buy Christmas presents.
Unfortunately for the Secret Service, Trump wants them to do their job — lay down their lives for him — for free. And not just him. For his impetuous daughter. For his soon-to-be-indicted eldest son. Trump’s entire family gets the best protection in the world from the Secret Service, and if Trump forces a government shutdown over a battle he already knows he will lose, they’ll have to hope they already bought their kids some presents, because they’re going to lose their pay, along with tens of thousands of other government employees.
Maybe Trump will pay lip service to reducing the size and scope of government, and say we shouldn’t be spending all this money anyway.
I bet he won’t give up his protection, though.
Featured image via screen capture
