Donald Trump hit two milestones this past week: his first 100 days in office, and his first quarter of negative G.D.P. growth. True to form, he celebrated the first of these with a rally, while blaming the second on Joe Biden. He even tried to front-load any bad economic news in the second quarter as Biden's fault too. Oh, and for good measure, Trump expressed a desire to become the next pope. Which would probably be fine with plenty of Americans -- as long as he quits his current job in order to do so.

Of course, nobody's really buying Trump's economic blame-shifting, since it's pretty obvious that he is the sole reason why the American economy is stumbling. The trade war he started with the entire rest of the world (except Russia, of course) continues to be a big drag on the economy, and the fallout has really only just begun. Trump had to walk back part of his tariffs on automobiles (which he announced at his Michigan rally this week), but he shows no signs of backing down in his pissing match with China.

Red flags are popping up all over the place, but Trump is not concerned. Consumer confidence has dropped by 32 percent since January, in "the sharpest three-month decline since the U.S. was rocked by a recession in 1990." Prices are going up sharply, in response to the 145 percent tariff on goods from China. China shows no sign of backing down either, and is in fact using Trump's trade war to make propaganda for the rest of the world (where they promise to "never kneel down" because "bowing to a bully is like drinking poison to quench thirst").

The trans-Pacific supply chain is grinding to a halt. American ports are already feeling the impact of fewer ships arriving, and this is only going to spread throughout the rest of the economy in the coming weeks. Experts are predicting empty shelves in American stores in the very near future, but Trump doesn't care (at least so far). His answer to the looming crisis was to channel his inner Marie Antoinette (or, perhaps more fittingly, his inner Grinch), in one of the most tone-deaf things we've ever heard a politician say:

You know, somebody said, "Oh the shelves are going to be open." Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know? And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.

[insert a chorus of: "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"]

It's only the start of May, and already Donald Trump may be ruining Christmas -- that's a pretty stunning thing to contemplate, really. But while toys have gotten a lot of media focus (since virtually all of them sold in America are made in China), the shelves are going to be bare of a whole lot of other (and more serious) products as well. Sooner or later Trump is going to have to face this reality, unless he backs down in record time (which doesn't seem likely, at this point). If hardware and drugstore shelves across the country are either empty or filled with products now selling for more than twice what they used to, Trump won't be able to dismissively laugh it off as costing "a couple of bucks more than they would normally." Consumers won't be laughing at all, of course.

It's going to be tough to blame nightly news stories showing empty shelves on Joe Biden, but it's a pretty safe bet Trump will somehow try to find a way to do so (since he never accepts a shred of blame himself, for anything). There was a flurry of polling released for Trump's 100 day milestone, and it all told exactly the same story: Trump is unpopular, and his trade war is really unpopular. And those polls happened before seeing empty store shelves -- which will be monumentally unpopular with the public. Trump can try to pin the blame on Biden all he wants, but the public isn't buying it.

The bad economic news (the G.D.P. shrinking by 0.3 percent in the first quarter) didn't even take into account the trade war, since Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs weren't announced until the start of April -- the first month of the second quarter. The White House tried to spin the numbers as somehow being positive, which fooled precisely no one. To put it bluntly, Trump broke the economy, and now he owns it. This is the Trump Slump. A Trumpcession. And it looks like it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better, that much seems obvious.

Of course, singlehandedly turning the economy from good to bad isn't the only thing Trump has been up to. We wrote a two-part review of Trump's first 100 days this week, but the most scathing review we read was from Salon. Here's just the opening of it (emphasis in original):

[Donald Trump] said he would end the war in Ukraine on the day after he was elected. It rages worse than ever with Trump openly selling out Ukraine. He has produced a ludicrous tariff policy which every economist, hedge fund manager, CEO, small businessman and stock trader knows is virtually designed to cause inflation, if not stagflation and recession. (He's saying that gas and grocery prices have come way down, but he's lying.)

His immigration policy, driven by the increasingly unhinged Stephen Miller, is far more draconian than he even said it would be, randomly hitting foreign students, tourists, scientists and business people and the brutal deportations to a Salvadoran gulag have brought shame and dishonor on America around the world.

And then there's Elon Musk, the wealthy weirdo nobody in America voted for, to whom Trump gave the keys to the federal government and told him he could fire anyone he wanted to. That resulted in pandemonium in the U.S. and all over the globe as life-saving services have been abruptly ended, people have been fired and programs that Americans depend on are no longer functioning. All of that in the name of saving money which doesn't appear to be materializing.

Meanwhile, weirdo #2, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has taken another wrecking ball to the American health care system, ending decades of medical research, firing the scientists who know what they're doing and replacing them with cranks determined to chase conspiracy theories down the rabbit hole. Following up that demolition of the medical system, Trump himself has decided to destroy the education system including some of the most prestigious universities in the country by dictating they change their policies and curriculum or lose the funding that has made the United States the leading nation in the world for scientific research.

Throughout it all, Trump has continued to lie his face off. He gave an interview to Terry Moran of ABC News this week where he insisted (repeatedly and quite cringeworthily) that an image which had been altered was actually real -- a stunning reminder of just how dense Trump truly is. Trump also completely undermined his administration's legal argument by agreeing that he could in fact just call up the leader of El Salvador and get any prisoner he wanted sent back to America. Can't wait for that clip to be used in court filings against the administration!

Speaking of courtroom immigration fights, a federal judge in Texas -- one appointed by Trump himself, mind you -- issued a permanent injunction on the government not to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport anyone in his district, period. The judge rightly noted that America is not currently at war with Venezuela, therefore the provisions of the act simply do not apply. This was the largest legal setback to Trump's deportation plans to date, although it certainly won't be the last.

Trump hit one more milestone this week, by firing his first aide. He booted Mike Waltz from his position as national security advisor, but then appointed Waltz to be the U.N. ambassador as a booby prize -- which will require Senate confirmation, where Democrats will doubtlessly grill him over the addition of a journalist to a group chat where national security information was discussed on a nonsecure phone app. So there's that to look forward to!

Half of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice (more than 100 lawyers) have now walked off the job, since under Trump they won't be allowed to investigate or prosecute actual civil rights cases any more. The department is being remolded to (you can't make this stuff up) focus on "anti-Christian bias."

As immigration cases are now actually appearing before judges, some of the higher profile prisoners are being released -- since the Trump administration cannot prove any of their wild allegations in an actual court of law. Meanwhile, American citizens are being deported.

The Trump administration is apparently trying to make big lists of everyone in the country who is autistic and is sending out emails to university professors asking if they are a Jew or not. What they intend to do with these lists is anyone's guess.

And finally, Donald Trump pardoned a woman this week who is obviously a kindred spirit. Here's the disgraceful story:

President Donald Trump has pardoned a former Republican Las Vegas City Council member convicted last year of using money meant to honor a slain police officer for plastic surgery, rent and her daughter's wedding -- one of several pardons the president has granted to his supporters since the start of his second term in office.

She had been found guilty of six counts of wire fraud and faced up to 140 years in prison. But hey, who hasn't embezzled money donated to a fallen police officer and used it for plastic surgery, right? Nothin' wrong with that! Not in Trump's eyes, at any rate.

Slowly, a few Democratic leaders are beginning to speak out against Trump. J.B. Pritzker gave a fiery speech in New Hampshire this week, and Kamala Harris spoke to a group in California. Al Gore showed some real fire of his own recently, which was heartening to see.

Both Pritzker and Harris are, of course, eyeing a 2028 bid for president, but the first Democrat who openly spoke of jumping into the race was Gina Raimondo (perhaps to boost her name recognition, since few know who she is).

A representative from Michigan introduced articles of impeachment against Trump this week, but it was really nothing more than a performative stunt to boost his chances of re-election after Justice Democrats announced they would be backing a much younger challenger in his district.

Instead of any of these, however, we're going to give a rather unusual award, since it isn't technically for any Democrat and it isn't even in this country.

Canada held an election this week, and the Liberal Party pulled off a stunning upset. Mark Carney, only a few months ago, looked like he was heading for a stunning defeat, which wouldn't be all that unusual since his party had held power for three straight terms. But Carney tapped into the deep anti-Trump feelings Canadians have been having, ever since Trump started talking about subsuming their entire country as America's "51st state." Carney explicitly ran on this as a platform, and it worked wonders for him at the ballot box:

A key pitch to Canadians that worked in [Mark] Carney's favor at the ballot box was that he was exactly the right leader to navigate the reordering of global trade and security prompted by [Donald] Trump.

. . .

Mr. Carney's framing of his campaign around Mr. Trump's threats to Canada has elevated him to a global anti-Trump figure. He is the first major leader to be elected on an explicitly anti-Trump campaign since Mr. Trump's re-election.

"As I've been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water," Mr. Carney told supporters gathered in Ottawa, Canada's capital, in the early hours Tuesday to celebrate his victory. "President Trump is trying to break us so he can own us. That will never happen," he added as the crowd booed.

But the best quote to emerge came from a Canadian voter-on-the-street, interviewed during the election. Here's what she had to say about why she voted the way she did:

I think who I voted for would be the best to take care of Trump. Because Trump is, I'm sorry to say, an asshole, and he shouldn't even be president of the United States. But because he is, we need a strong person so that we can stand strong.

So to both Mark Carney and to everyone in Canada who voted for him, we hereby award a special Most Impressive Liberal Of The Week award, for sending a clear and unmistakable message about how the rest of the world now sees America.

[Due to the foreign nature of our special award, we decided not to provide contact information. If you know any Canadians, however, be sure to thank them for electing the most anti-Trump leader they could.]

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer once again appeared with Donald Trump this week, as he travelled to Michigan for his "first 100 days" rally. She did so to thank him for providing money for an Air National Guard base near Detroit.

And she didn't even hide her face behind a binder, this time.

That's really all that needs be said, we think. For helping Trump celebrate his first 100 days in office, Gretchen Whitmer was the obvious choice for Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week.

[Contact Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on her official contact page, to let her know what you think of her actions.]

Volume 794 (5/2/25)

Here is our "100 daze" edition of talking points for the week. It's a mixed bag this time around, with a fun one at the end (just because).

   Promises unkept

Remind everyone exactly how disappointing those first 100 days were.

"Donald Trump made a whole bunch of promises in order to get elected. After 100 days, he's now got a string of broken promises to his record. He did not end the war in Ukraine on Day One, and he was no closer to doing so on Day One Hundred. He did not tame inflation and bring prices down for everybody on everything, instead he voluntarily started a trade war which is going to hike prices for all Americans. He is singlehandedly making America look weak and dangerous to the rest of the world, to the point where tourists don't want to visit and students are afraid to attend universities here. He has undermined medical research to a jaw-dropping degree, further diminishing America's standing. In fact, everything he has done, contrary to his biggest promise of all, has made America less great, both here at home and abroad."

   Downturn, thy name is Trump

Hang it like an albatross around his neck, since he certainly deserves it.

"The economic argument shifted this week from: 'Is a recession imminent?' to: 'Are we already in a recession?' Donald Trump took a growing economy and made it shrink. And you know how he loves to slap his name on everything, so let's all be sure to do so when we discuss how the Trump Trade War and Trumponomics in general has led us all into a Trump Slump, if not an outright Trumpcession. He owns this one in a big way."

   It's not just toys

Use that quote every chance you get.

"Donald Trump isn't going to care if store shelves will soon be empty. He thinks you and me and everyone else should just suck it up and pay 'a couple of bucks more' for everything, and if there isn't anything even on the shelf to buy, then that's just tough cookies for you. The irony of Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies preaching austerity to America is pretty thick, you've got to admit. But that's exactly what he's telling us all. But you know what? If there are any products left on the shelves, they won't be going for just 'a couple of bucks' more, their prices will be sky-high due to the Trump Tariffs. And Trump won't care one bit."

   Trump's gotta blink

This is the real problem, so point it out.

"Donald Trump expected China to come crawling to him begging to end the trade war, but he has finally met his match. Trump keeps lying that the Chinese leader has called him up, but in fact there are no discussions or negotiations taking place. China has time on its side, and is simply not going to blink in this standoff. The more it all affects the American economy, the more pressure there's going to be until it becomes too much and Trump will be the one who has to blink. There's just no other way out of this -- Trump has to realize what a gigantic mistake he has made and he has to put out the fire he lit. The only question at this point is how much pain Trump is going to put average Americans through before he backs down."

   We're not at war with Venezuela

Doesn't matter if Trump says so or not....

"A federal judge -- one that Donald Trump himself appointed -- just permanently barred the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act in his district to deport anyone they feel like for any reason under the sun. Trump insisted that Venezuela was at war with America, but the judge strongly disagreed. There is no Venezuelan army invading us or trying to take over America. There just isn't. We are not at war with Venezuela, no matter how many times Trump says we are. Since the Alien Enemies Act only applies during wartime, it cannot be used to deport people willy-nilly without any judicial hearing (or any justifiable reason, for that matter). Period. Because we just aren't at war with Venezuela."

   Stop deporting citizens!

Yet another illegal thing Trump and his henchmen are doing.

"Can we all agree that deporting an American citizen to a foreign country where they've never lived is a monstrously bad idea? Not to mention the fact that it is illegal and unconstitutional. Donald Trump and Marco Rubio seem to think they can just kick anyone out of the country they feel like. But American citizens have rights, and one of them is the right to exist in America without Trump's thugs kicking them out for no reason. So stop deporting American citizens! I mean, it's disgraceful that I even have to say something like this, but this is the point we've gotten to under the Trump regime."

   Your brain is full of spiders...

We know it's the wrong season, but it still seems like a good idea to review the lyrics now anyway.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch,
You really are a heel,
You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch,
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch,
Your heart's an empty hole,
Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch,
I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole!

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground