One Month of a Mad King

A timeline of "arbitrary and capricious".

Checks and balances, especially judicial review, not only ensure a representative government—they also ensure policy stability, avoiding “arbitrary and capricious” changes to administrative law.

Some background information:

• Trump really hates windmills. See Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.

• Trump has run his mouth about Panamanian control of the Panama Canal for years. He got kicked out of operating a hotel in Panama, in a dispute that led to an actual police standoff.

---

January 20, Inauguration Day

• In his Inaugural Address, Trump announces that he will rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” among other things.

• Issues a memo withdrawing all offshore areas from eligibility for wind energy permits.

January 23

• Claims that China is operating the Panama Canal.

January 24

• Decides to withdraw a proposed rule that, if adopted, would have banned menthol and other flavored cigarettes.

January 25

• Buckles down on his quest to buy Greenland.

January 26

• Defense jester Pete Hegseth sends a handwritten note to his staff that says “DOD =/= DEI”.

• Trump has been threatening increased tariffs for decades, but few expected that the first concrete threat of his new administration would be targeted tariffs on Colombia.

January 27

• Jokes (“jokes?”) about running for a third term. “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100% sure,” he said.

January 29

• Court whisperer (shouter?) Elon Musk claims $50m was spent on condoms in Gaza. This was incorrect, but he was very correct when he said “Some of the things I say will be incorrect.”

January 30

• Blames DEI policies for plane collision near DCA.

February 2

• Trump once again threatens to take over the Panama Canal.

February 3

• Trump establishes a “sovereign wealth fund” to buy TikTok, despite the fact that it’s a little weird for a nation that operates on debt and deficits to have a wealth fund.

February 4

• Suggests—to the apparent shock of his Chief of Staff—that Gazans should be forcibly relocated to Jordan and Eqypt.

February 7

• Trump denounces supposed oppression of white Afrikaners in South Africa and offers them refugee status in the U.S.

February 9

• Happy Gulf of America Day!

• Treasury stops producing pennies.

February 10

• Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg, after Confederate general Braxton Bragg) is renamed Fort Bragg, after Private 1st Class Roland L. Bragg, who once, in a notable display of humility and understanding of responsibility, turned down a military promotion. With this, U.S. continues policy of not naming installations after Confederate officers.

• Bans federal use of paper straws, claiming in an official order that there is “An irrational campaign against plastic straws”.

• Names former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell the interim executive director of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

February 11

• An Associated Press reporter is barred from White House events because the AP continues to say “Gulf of Mexico", which the Administration calls “lies”.

February 14

• Fires then unfires employees responsible for maintaining the safety and readiness of the nuclear arsenal. Oops.

February 15

• Trump quotes Napoleon by announcing that “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

February 18

• Issues an executive order expanding presidential power over supposedly independent agencies.

• Secretary of Energy minion says Britain’s clean energy goals are “sinister”.

February 19

• White House announces that Trump is a King.