The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Steady State | by Margaret Henoch and Jennifer Gregg

Donald Trump continues, in all his policies, all his actions, all his “alliances,” and all his statements, to demonstrate a total lack of understanding, interest in or care about the consequences of his actions, the rule of law, or the welfare of this country and its people as he desperately tries to make himself the dictator of the United States, aided and abetted by a Republican-controlled congress more than willing to carry his water.

The latest, most unmistakable illustration of this is the destruction of the East Wing of the White House to build an homage to Louis XIV, the Trump Ballroom.

The ballroom, its design, its size, its gold and gold leaf, is the perfect illustration of who Donald Trump is, who he wants to be, and who he will never, if the American people continue in peaceful and principled resistance, ever be: a king. The project is also just one more example of the corrupt behavior in which dictators routinely engage: If it is something the ruler desperately wants, he will break rules to get it, and those who fund it and build it will have special influence with him. These people might be US companies in search of lucrative government contracts. They might be foreign leaders looking to escape those vaguely legal tariffs. They might be criminals paying, in advance, for their pardons. They might be rich people who want influential positions in the US Government, who are wholly unqualified to fill those positions. And “we, the people,” for whom Trump ostensibly works, have no voice in Trump’s policies, actions, or ballroom design. No role at all. This is how autocracy works; the person at the top does not work for “we the people,” and “we the people” live and work the way the autocrat wants us to live and work.

Trump tore down a building that belongs to “we the people;” it’s not his and it wasn’t his to destroy. The East Wing was ours. And he tore it down with no warning, no hearings, no proper procedure, no approvals. Which is how he’s doing everything - taking often illegal actions –with no input from “we the people” or our representatives. He is blowing unidentified boats out of Caribbean without any evidence to justify doing so; he is establishing tariffs with various explanations, depending on the day (“great for the economy;” “a necessary foreign policy tool;”); he has violated the Hatch Act multiple times over, making himself richer to the tune of multiple millions of dollars over only the last ten months; he has fired tens of thousands of people who serve in the government; he is endangering our health and destroying our gold standard medical research and development through his ill-qualified Secretary of Health; he has launched at least three questionably legitimate legal actions against people he deems are his enemies, and on and on and on.

And throughout all of this, our representatives, put in place and paid by the votes and tax dollars of “we the people,” are doing nothing. The Republicans, who control everything the Senate and House do, are, by and large, in lockstep with Trump. They are thus complicit in supporting a move to autocracy; they must be deemed conspirators in Trump’s illegal actions and outcomes. They could stop this. They could say no. They could stand up to Trump’s constant rule-breaking and system-busting.

Instead, they are aiding and abetting. Most of them appear to have no courage, no moral compass, and no spine. Most have not even had the basic decency to publicly address the seven-week (and counting) paid vacation that Speaker Johnson has given them. Steve Bannon once said of Paul Ryan, House Speaker from 2017-2019, during Trump’s first term, that Ryan was so spineless he had to be carried from meeting to meeting in a bucket. It seems that the lack of spine has overtaken the entire Republican-controlled Legislative Branch.

Meanwhile, the dictator wannabe worries - not about feeding the people he leads, not about guaranteeing their travel safety, not about keeping them out of war, but about his gilded Ballroom.

Which brings to mind the Disney rendering of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in the first Fantasia movie. Our wannabe, single-mindedly power-hungry “King” is establishing his takeover with no seeming concern for the consequences of his actions and, abetted by a brigade of cowardly congressional water-carriers, is destroying government institutions, denying the history of the United States, risking war, and, currently, hosting lavish dinner parties while willingly letting those in need in our population go hungry. Turns out the gilded Ballroom is symbolic of the whole Trump program, not just Trump.

Cue The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. But don’t expect Mickey Mouse’s depth of understanding and remorse from our leading characters when the curtain closes.

Margaret Henoch served in the Clandestine Service of the CIA for 25 years, at Headquarters and in the field, focusing on operations and counterintelligence and retiring as a Senior Intelligence Officer. She is a member of The Steady State.

Jennifer Gregg is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who served in the Clandestine Service for 29 years, mostly in the field, focusing on operations and counterintelligence and retiring as a Senior Intelligence Officer. She is a member of The Steady State.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 360 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.