Trump’s searing edicts burn many, including my family
When a Mongol outsider, Kublai Khan, ruled China from 1279 to 1368, the Chinese came up with a saying that resonates even today in parts of the country – and maybe in other parts of the world. It goes like this: “Heaven is high, and the emperor is far away.”
This was how ancient Chinese suggested that they could live relatively untouched by the dealings of their distant leader.
For many of us in the U.S., however, that saying doesn’t seem to apply to Donald J. Trump and Washington. Our would-be-emperor is already having troublesome – or even tragic — effects on many families.
Friends, forgive me for getting a bit personal in this commentary. Usually, I avoid writing in first person and leave out family details. Today, however, I will depart from this to tell you about some of the effects this president is already having on my family.
Understand that these effects are far from the worst that many others in the U.S. are suffering or are about to. And some of these, for now, reflect mainly the fears and uncertainties Trump has instilled, though we don’t know yet whether they will lead to tangible damage.
Nonetheless, these points illustrate the very intimate power that a toxic individual issuing a blizzard of dictatorial – and possibly illegal – executive orders is having on just one American family. No doubt, his reach is touching many more such families across our country in similar ways.
Few may be spared it seems.
Let me start with a daughter who has someone from abroad who helps mind her children. In her words, the young fellow “is now scared that he will be deported for jaywalking, even though he is here legally and hasn’t done anything wrong.”
His fear is not baseless. Minor crimes, most notably shoplifting, can get undocumented people deported under the Laken Riley Act. And while he is properly documented, it’s not a stretch to think of how a foreign citizen could be caught up in a legal and bureaucratic nightmare over something as benign as jaywalking. Really, all it takes is one malicious police officer.
He is no criminal, but he fears he could be made out to be one just by going out for a walk.
Perhaps more tangible, though, are his fears about whether he can visit his family and get back into the U.S. Given Trump’s erratic policies with other countries, it seems reasonable to think that visas could be at risk or that overzealous border control staffers could make bad choices.
Trump also has issued an order barring transgender people from joining the military. My daughter knows several trans folks. “These are hardworking people who put their lives on the line every day for our country, and Trump believes that their very existence is somehow harmful for the military,” she says. “They are not hurting any of their fellow soldiers by being trans, which is a very real things and shouldn’t be anyone’s business but their own.”
Then there’s my daughter-in-law who is doing valuable neuroscience research at an Ivy League university where she is a tenured full professor. Because her lab is largely funded by federal grants, her work is in jeopardy.
Trump froze billions of dollars in such grants to review whether they involve a “woke” ideology. After the order sowed widespread confusion and a federal judge blocked his effort to let a lawsuit proceed against Trump’s edicts broadly, the White House hastily rescinded a memo about it from its Office of Budget and Management. But, showing how shambolic Trump’s White House is, the president’s spokeswoman came out with a statement that offered no real clarification.
“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo,” the spokeswoman posted on X. “Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction. The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”
Another daughter, who works in law enforcement, is almost certain to be taken off important legal cases to serve Trump’s anti-immigrant efforts. People she works with have been commanded to scour their files for undocumented people, whether they are victims or cooperating witnesses, for potential deportation.
A nephew, a former border patrol officer now working for a part of the Department of Homeland Security, may be affected by that command, too. Worse, he and his colleagues could all too easily be dragooned to aid in immigration enforcement efforts, which would detract from their work against financial fraud, child exploitation, money laundering, narcotics cases and other vital matters.
Of course, many who work in government are likely to feel Trump’s touch as he seeks to purge the federal workforce of anyone unwilling to kowtow to him. As Boston College historian Heather Cox Robinson reported, the Trump administration sent an email blast titled “Fork in the Road” to federal workers offering to let them resign and keep their pay until September, “a transparent attempt to clear places for loyalists.”
Meanwhile, a brother of mine who teaches students who are in English Language Learner programs fears that some of them could be at risk if ICE moves into schools to search for undocumented persons. For now, many local and state officials in Colorado and in some other areas plan to block such efforts, though they are at risk of prosecution for that. By contrast, Oklahoma education leaders plan to request proof of citizenship or immigration status when they enroll their kids in school, with the state superintendent of schools saying he will support immigration raids in schools.
As one family member notes, however, it may be that the threats against schools are mainly designed to sow fear to deter illegal immigration. He suggests we won’t see ICE carrying off elementary-school kids – a visual media-savvy Trump would probably want to avoid.
But is he right? Will ICE someday coming knocking, if not at elementary schools than at higher levels? I will soon begin a volunteer effort mentoring local college students, many of whom are immigrants. And I wonder whether they will disappear over time. Will they or some of their relatives be hauled off and deported, perhaps to a 30,000-person concentration camp Trump plans at Guantánamo Bay?
Finally, I’m uncertain about what plans new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will have for my son, a military officer stationed abroad. At one point during Trump’s prior term, there was real concern that he would pull the U.S. out of NATO and abandon bases in some NATO countries. So far, Trump is pressuring NATO allies to up their contributions to the cost of that organization.
But the president is also rattling NATO allies, especially Denmark, with his efforts to take control of Greenland. Greenland is a semiautonomous part of Denmark. The Danes are seeking to build support against Trump’s efforts among other NATO countries.
The vindictive president and his toady are also taking actions against retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley had the temerity to question Trump’s desire to use active-duty military forces to quell protests in America’s streets, as The Washington Post reported. The general also reassured Chinese officials that Trump wasn’t looking to attack Beijing at the end of his first term. Hegseth plans to remove Milley’s security detail, suspend his security clearance, and order an inspector general inquiry into his behavior as the Pentagon’s top officer, all with an eye toward stripping him of a star, thus demoting him in retirement.
Trump has also eliminated diversity offices in the military, claiming they “undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion.” As Military.com reported, this has led to dead websites and confusion. For a time, the Army stripped its sexual harassment and assault prevention policy from a website spelling out house rules. The head of the Navy Reserve cancelled six reserve force policies, including those on anti-harassment, fraternization, and safety and occupational health, as well as a diversity policy, an equal employment opportunity policy, and a military equal opportunity policy.
As the military news outlet reported, the services have worked for years to improve the experience for women and minorities — and most recently, gay and transgender troops — as the national recruiting pool and general population have become more diverse. That work is being undone.
Some of the policy reversals are simply absurd, as well as offensive.
For instance, in a slap in the face of Blacks, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities, along with women of all backgrounds, the Defense Intelligence Agency is putting a “pause” on all activities related to MLK Day, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Holocaust Day, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride, Women’s Equality Day, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month and National American Indian Heritage Month. A memo setting this out was leaked to journalist Ken Klippenstein. It notes that the DIA is also putting a “pause” on agency resource, affinity groups and employee networking groups affecting minorities.
All of us in my family and all Americans are likely to feel Trump’s touch on inflation and, perhaps, will have difficulties in getting foreign goods, once his tariffs are put in place. Concerned about rekindled inflation, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors has paused its efforts to cut interest rates after three rate cuts since September. After a steady downtick during President Biden’s last year in office, “[i]nflation remains somewhat elevated,” the central bank said.
Many in corporate America, moreover, are seeing the erosive effects of Trump’s campaign against diversity initiatives. For instance, Target, which earlier curbed its LGBTQ Pride merchandise line, announced it would pull back on racial hiring targets, end its Racial Equity Action and Change program and cease participation in external diversity surveys. Walmart also abandoned its diversity, equity and inclusion commitments.
Clearly, Trump’s handiwork and plans are already having noxious effects. For some, they will merely be scary or professionally limiting. For many, they will be devastating. For all of us, they will be far more personal than we’d like.
As he acts far more like a divinely anointed emperor than a president elected by a narrow plurality, Donald J. Trump is anything but high and far away.
