Opinion | The Incompetence of Trump 2.0

It’s easy to feel like the Trump administration is implementing a perfect master plan of authoritarianism. But often it is difficult to tell what is misconduct or simply carelessness. Let’s take a brief tour of the Trump 2.0 administration. Carelessness is everywhere. Take what happened in El Paso. The FAA announced it would close airspace over a major American city for 10 days, then rescinded the closure just eight hours later. Management claimed it was a drug cartel drone they neutralized with high-tech lasers, but insiders say it was probably just a party balloon. The real threat turned out to be the agencies’ refusal to talk to each other before shooting. “Failure to communicate is unacceptable.” Meanwhile, internal ICE records released this week show the agency has eliminated several courses from its officer training program, including a course called “Use of Force Simulation Training.” There is also the Ministry of Justice. The team tasked with releasing the Epstein files to expose the perpetrators instead uploaded unredacted photos of the victims online. And let’s not forget the labor minister’s husband, who reportedly assaulted two of his wife’s co-workers. He was banned from entering the office building. Our federal officials have repeatedly failed to fulfill the true responsibilities of government. But in this administration, incompetence is generally not a fireable offense. It’s just part of the job.