Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

In a presentation to a bipartisan group of governors at the White House last Friday, February 21, Donald Trump said so many absurd things that it is hard to fathom that anyone anywhere can take him at all seriously.

He opened his remarks by saying, “Well, we’re in a very good mood. We just had the highest poll numbers I’ve ever had, ever. And actually, a record for a Republican.”

So here are poll numbers available on that day: 

• FiveThirtyEight average: 48.7% approval, 46.2% disapproval
• CNN poll: 46% approval, 52% disapproval
• Quinnipiac University poll: 46% approval, 43% disapproval
• YouGov poll (February 10-13): 49% favorable, 48% unfavorable
• Morning Consult poll (February 9-11): 46% favorable, 53% unfavorable
• Ipsos poll (February 9-11): 46% favorable, 52% unfavorable
• Economist/YouGov poll (February 7-9): 47% favorable, 50% unfavorable

He must have some other numbers or he feels good about numbers that anyone else would consider to be mediocre-to-horrible.

Then he rolled into things including his feeling of victimization.

In late 2024 Tropical Storm Helene devastated large areas of North Carolina. FEMA has provided an array of assistance, including distributing millions of dollars to families for housing, inspecting housing, coordinating the removal of debris, and more.

Trump: “FEMA was a disaster. FEMA wasn’t there. They didn’t do the job.”

Guess he didn’t check the numbers before the presentation.

But here he goes:

“And then they actually, when they did get there, a very small group, they chose anybody with an American flag or the name Trump on the front of the house, they would sort of skip that house very nicely and it was just a disaster.”

Of course. Trump voters — and he carried the state with more than 50% of the vote — were bypassed.

His alternative to addressing a national disaster?

“It’s called ‘you fix it.’ You take care of it yourselves. You don’t have to call some faraway state and have people planed in from areas they have no idea. They come from Alaska to help you in Florida. They say, ‘boy, this is hot here.’ But the time they figure it out, everything would have been fixed.”

Things have been laid waste and somehow the people who are existing in debris are going to pick themselves by their bootstraps and fix it?

Isn’t one of the benefits of living in a country like the US that there are people from other parts of the country who can help?

What is his real beef?

“It’s very expensive You spend at least twice as much. They don’t negotiate.”

Let’s see: There is a natural disaster. Devastation. People looking for a place to go for food and shelter. The infrastructure demolished. Power lines down. Water systems contaminated by debris. Grocery stores wrecked.

What should people do?

Negotiate. Get a better deal. Who cares if the kids are tired and hungry? Make the deal!

Then, of course, he came to energy, including his beloved coal. “Clean, beautiful coal that we’re going to be using like Germany does now.”

Yes, Germany uses coal for electricity generation. But the country is reducing its reliance on it, with legislation on the books to eliminate its use by 2038. The German government is increasing its investments in renewables, including wind electricity generation.

Trump was big in his support of coal during his victorious run for the presidency in 2016.

How did that work out?

According to the Energy Information Agency:

“By the end of 2020, the number of producing coal mines in the United States fell to 551 mines, the lowest number since US coal production peaked in 2008. In 2020, 40 coal mines were opened or reactivated, and 151 mines were idled or closed. This overall decrease resulted in an 18% annual decline in the total number of producing coal mines from 2019 and a 62% decline since 2008.”

Wind, of course, is something Trump can’t abide.

During a diversion into the build-out of data centers that will have adjoining power generation facilities due to their massive electricity needs, he said:

“None will use wind because wind doesn't work. It's just terrible how an environmental person can like wind. It kills the birds. It's very expensive. It's seven, eight times more expensive than other forms of energy. Every wind turbine in the country that goes up needs massive subsidies.

“It's really the only energy that needs subsidy, essentially. The solar is doing OK. So it's the only one. But to combat inflation, I declared that national energy emergency and we're going to unleash the liquid gold under our feet to bring the prices way down. That's going to happen. And again, we're going to have a big part of that is going to be natural gas, which is very, very clean and clean coal.”

According to his very own Department of Energy:

• Wind power creates good-paying jobs. There are nearly 150,000 people working in the U.S. wind industry across all 50 states, and that number continues to grow. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, wind turbine service technicians are the fastest growing U.S. job of the decade. Offering career opportunities ranging from blade fabricator to asset manager, the wind industry has the potential to support hundreds of thousands of more jobs by 2050.
• Wind power is a domestic resource that enables U.S. economic growth. In 2022, wind turbines operating in all 50 states generated more than 10% of the net total of the country’s energy. That same year, investments in new wind projects added $20 billion to the U.S. economy.
• Wind power is a clean and renewable energy source. Wind turbines harness energy from the wind using mechanical power to spin a generator and create electricity. Not only is wind an abundant and inexhaustible resource, but it also provides electricity without burning any fuel or polluting the air. Wind energy in the United States helps avoid 336 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually — equivalent to the emissions from 73 million cars.
• Wind power benefits local communities. Wind projects deliver an estimated $2 billion in state and local tax payments and land-lease payments each year. Communities that develop wind energy can use the extra revenue to put towards school budgets, reduce the tax burden on homeowners, and address local infrastructure projects.
• Wind turbines work in different settings. Wind energy generation fits well in agricultural and multi-use working landscapes. Wind energy is easily integrated in rural or remote areas, such as farms and ranches or coastal and island communities, where high-quality wind resources are often found.

And, yes:

• Wind power is cost-effective. Land-based, utility-scale wind turbines provide one of the lowest-priced energy sources available today. Furthermore, wind energy’s cost competitiveness continues to improve with advances in the science and technology of wind energy.

This sounds like it is the absolute MAGA energy miracle.

How long do you think that web page is going to stay up?

While rhapsodizing about the wonders of DOGE, he said this:

“$50 million for condoms for Hamas. They [meaning the U.S. government] gave $50 million; it worked out so well they gave another $50 million a little bit later. Condoms, $100 million for Hamas.”

This has been debunked for weeks, but Trump keeps saying it, lack of evidence notwithstanding.

Then there’s Social Security.

“We have 4.7 million Social Security numbers, people from the age of 100 to 109. So, if you're 100 to 109, we have 4.7 million people on our Social Security rolls, right?”

And while this is a bit hard to understand:

“From 110 to 119, you have 3.6 -- these are the people on the rolls. Now we're looking to see whether or not they've been paid, because if they've been paid, then you're just using those numbers to take out the money, all the money that's paid to those people. 3.47 million people from the age of 120 to 129. 3.9 million people aged 130 to 139. 3.5 million people aged 140 years old to 149 years old.”

That’s more than 19 million people who are rather old.

The implication is that these people are (a) probably dead and (b) getting Social Security benefits.

If Elon and his minions can save the spend on that, it is even better than not providing Hamas with condoms.

And it is equally fanciful.

According to the Social Security Administration, the number of people who received Social Security benefits in December 2024 who are age 99 and over is 89,106.

There is much, much more in Trump’s presentation to the governors.

Why is it that he can say such nonsense and not get questioned?

It used to be that even if it required a grain of salt, what our leaders told us was generally true.  But Trump’s riffs are often readily identified as being otherwise. Were Obama to have said these things he would have been called a liar. Were Biden to have, he would have been described as senile.

But Trump?