Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

The government shutdown continues.

If a functioning government is a good thing, then why isn’t Donald Trump trying to get it up and running rather than simply claiming that the Democrats want to fund the healthcare of illegal aliens?

Never mind the absurdity of that claim, but aren’t all of those ICE agents supposed to be ridding the country of illegal aliens? 

Then there is the whole question of putting the National Guard in the streets of American cities even though governors like Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker have said they don’t want them. 

Conservatives used to believe in the sanctity of state’s rights. This is crushing that with a boot. 

Rather than providing substantive reasons for troop deployments, Donald Trump simply makes unsubstantiated claims about the amount of crime that’s occurring and calls those two governors insulting names.

Is this how the president of the country should deal with governors?

Ironically enough, in the Federalist No. 46 James Madison wrote:

"Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of."

Which seems to indicate that Newsom and Pritzker, not Donald Trump, should have control over the National Guard in the states. 

But should we expect those who govern the country to be familiar with what are arguably founding documents of the country?

On September 1 on his site Donald Trump posted:

"Pam, nothing is being done!!! What Comey, Sh’ Schiff, Letitia??? They all guilty as hell, nothing is to be done. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, indicted me 5 times OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!"

Presumably the “Pam” in question is the US Attorney General.

Subsequently James Comey and Letitia James have been charged, the former for making false statements (rich in the context of the Donald Trump Administration) and obstructing a congressional investigation, the latter for mortgage fraud (rich in the context of Donald Trump being convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree).

Adam Schiff is under investigation for fraud (mortgage, bank, and wire) and for making false statements to financial institution’s (rich in the context of Donald Trump’s felony convictions in New York for inflating and deflating the value of properties to either get better loans or to decrease tax exposure). Schiff has yet to be charged (though by the time you read this. . . .)

Is the post directed to Ms. Bondi the sort of thing that a president should be writing? Didn’t the Supreme Court rule in Coffin v. United States (1895) “It is a maxim of law that every person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty”?

On October 10 China announced it would restrict the exports of rare earths, materials that are essential for the production of everything from electric motors to smart phones. China has an estimated 60% of all the rare earth mining in the world and performs 90% of the processing (after it is dug up it needs to be processed to become useful).

Donald Trump immediately took to his social media site and said he would put 100% tariffs on Chinese imports as “immediate and full retaliation” for what he considers “hostile and monopoly behavior.”

It should be noted that the US does have rare earths, as do Brazil, India, Australia, and Canada. It is interesting to note that the US’s once very good friend Canada has 15.2 million tonnes of rare earths in the ground — and the US has 1.9 million. Wouldn’t it be advantageous to try to rebuild the relationships that Donald Trump wrecked?

Anyway. . .there is no monopoly. 

The US markets had a negative reaction to Trump’s post — on the order of $2 trillion — so a week ago Sunday the tone changed to “the US would like to help China, not hurt it. Don’t worry about China, it will be all fine!”

Is this how diplomacy is carried out: by a series of social media posts that include unfounded information?

The Administration has struck a deal with EMD Serono that, in part, will have the division of Merck provide in vitro fertilization medications to American women at a deep discount. The drug company will be relieved on Section 232 tariffs as long as it puts in more US manufacturing and performs more research here.

While this is certainly a good thing for the women who are considering IVF, which is exceedingly expensive, it does seem to be a bit of a shakedown for the company – again, something that conservatives are not in favor of.

In order to access these drugs it will be necessary to go the TrumpRx.gov website.

What seems to be forgotten in what is going on is that Donald Trump is serving the American people. The citizens are paying for that website, Donald Trump isn’t. If there is a governments website for prescription drugs, shouldn’t it be something like “AmericaRx.gov”?

How Conservatives can find any of this behavior acceptable is a mystery.

As Russell Kirk wrote:

“A state in which an individual or a small group are able to dominate the wills of their fellows without check is a despotism, whether it is called monarchical or aristocratic or democratic.”

He is undoubtedly rolling in his grave in Mecosta, Michigan.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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Commentary on Saturday’s No Kings from a contributing pundit, who, unlike Stephen Macaulay, is not a never-Trump conservative -- A great reminder to rewatch Nixon's "Silent Majority" speech on Saturday! –RJ Caster

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MONDAY 10/20/25