By Philip Yeung
Nobody lasts long with Trump. Not in his circle or cabinet. Not as his wives, not as his mistresses, much less as his buddies or business partners. In the Trump universe, loyalty counts for little, competence even less, and integrity not at all.
In less than a month, two of Trump's major cabinet appointees bite the dust—Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security Chief and Pam Bondi the Attorney General.
Like all Trump operatives, their job was, first and foremost, to carry out his personal agenda. Both are judged to have fallen short by that standard.
Trump's oily parting message for Bondi rings false, hollow, and toe-curling. He says, "We love Pam" but then he adds a transparent lie, that "she will be transitioning to a much-needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future".
In other words, no such job exists now, and no one knows what this new job is, or when it will materialize. The truth is: she has been fired so fast that there is no time for Trump to cook up an excuse or cover.
At least in Noem's case, she was given a fig leaf to cover herself—given an empty title of Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, as she rides off with her cowboy hat into the sunset.
Bondi matches Trump in shameless hypocrisy and mendacity, declaring that she is "thrilled" by the prospect of moving to a non-existent "important" private sector position, a ghost post with no title or pay.
Bondi was supposed to do two things: to prosecute Trump's enemies and to block the release of the Epstein files.
But the charges her department brought against Trump's enemies have been dismissed by the judge. As for the Epstein case, it is looming larger than ever.
Trump is calculating that by elbowing Bondi out, she might escape Congressional testimony under oath on the Epstein files, thus keeping Trump safe. Besides, it diverts attention from the ugly Iran war.
As the world's most notorious narcissist, Trump has no loyal friends and no durable devotees. He has the unique ability to turn allies into non-allies and friends into foes. Those who previously serve him are either in jail, or in the doghouse.
His list of enemies keeps lengthening because he keeps breaking the law and rubbing people the wrong way. Trump is a one-man swamp that stinks to high heaven.
This pathetic human being may not have a full deck. But his fingers are on the biggest button that can blow up the planet.
Who's next on the chopping block? This is a cabinet of clownish, shallow losers who are deep in controversies, without ability, integrity, or decency.
Pete Hegseth, the amateurish Secretary of War, a talk-show host who knows absolutely nothing about war, has fired the Army Chief of Staff in the middle of the Iran war. He may face the axe himself if the war drags on or goes sideways. So does Kash Patel, the bumbling and fumbling FBI director. Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, a political midget, is still on China's list of sanctioned foreigners. Under his watch, America's list of friends is disappearing. He may be a first-class Trump flatterer, but his spineless days are numbered.
High on the hitlist is the White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt. Trump has complained that during her tenure, 93% to 97% of Trump-related news is negative. He is wondering out loud whether she should be replaced. Her combative, lies-riddled and bullying exchanges with reporters are unwatchable. No one will shed a tear over her removal. I wouldn't bet against it.
Bringing up the rear is Robert K. Kennedy Jr., the secretary for health. Notorious as a measles vaccine skeptic, in a country where unvaccinated children have died from the childhood disease, Kennedy is an eccentric who holds the position by virtue of having the right surname. The Kennedys are virtual royalty in America. And Trump is intoxicated with its veneer.
What's the take-home lesson here? Never work for Trump, or fall under his shadow, as his lawyer, employee or supporter. Just ask his former lawyer Michael Cohen, or John Bolton, his former National Security Advisor or Marjorie Taylor Greene, his former diehard loyalist.
Bondi and Noem may be out but are not home free yet. Both are facing impeachment proceedings for "high crimes and misdemeanors". Anyone within a whiff of Trump will come to grief, sooner or later. Nothing good ever comes to anyone sucked into his orbit.
As the error-prone Trump stumbles, more of his appointees will fall like autumn leaves in reshuffles, because dumb Trump needs an endless supply of scapegoats. When they fall, they will exit with the country's curse: "Good riddance."
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