Trump Is Nobody's Fool

The president's latest "travel ban", which still primarily impacts Muslims, is politics and deception in its fullest form. 

By Nida Khan

One of the biggest critiques we hear about President Donald Trump is that he is crazy, unhinged – even mentally deranged. Cable news networks have done entire segments about his mental stability (or lack thereof) and fitness for office, with journalists, pundits and analysts sitting around playing the role of psychologists. When it comes to this president and this administration, one thing everyone should keep in mind is that despite the outbursts, offensive statements, ridiculous tweets and antics, he isn't some clown. Rather, he and his team are a cold, calculating and opportunistic bunch that have perfected the art of deception while quietly mastering the political game behind-the-scenes. The latest example of this dichotomy is no other than the newly revised travel ban.

While everyone's attention was focused on the Graham/Cassidy bill, Republicans' latest failed effort to repeal Obamacare, Trump's outrageous comments about athletes who exercise their First Amendment rights, the tragedy in Puerto Rico and other stories, this president quietly signed a new executive order, adding additional countries to his banned list. Sunday's order bans most people from Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, Libya, Iran and North Korea, as well as some Venezuelan government officials and others. It conveniently came as provisions of the previous ban expired, and right before the Supreme Court was set to hear the case next month. By adding countries like North Korea and Venezuela, the Trump administration has cleverly thrown a monkey wrench into the argument that this is a Muslim ban. But let's not be fooled by the political games: This was, is and will still be an initial ban on millions of Muslims entering the United States.

 

The Supreme Court this week removed two cases from their oral argument calendar following this latest executive order: Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project and Trump v. Hawaii. The parties fighting against Trump's ban have long maintained that it violates the Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from favoring one religion over another. 

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Source: U.S. News & World Report