The presidency of Donald J. Trump has been the rockiest one in history. His national leadership was born out of controversy questioning whether or not he actually won the election. All of his campaign promises have failed to materialise in the face of the reality of actually running a country. His bombast and petty behaviour have brought lowered the pubic’s view of the White House to historic levels. At this moment he faces mass protests to his leadership with a dismal approval raiting[1] while still in the honeymoon phase of his presidency.

He has been a disgrace in the eyes of the global community who see him at a tremendous low of only 22%.[2] The public image of Trump has reduced global opinion of the Untied States. The world sees him as almost half of what Obama was during his reign of terror with drone strikes upon civilians. He has alienated long-standing US allies like Germany with his terrible behaviour. They’ve said they can no longer ‘fully rely’ on the US.

Almost every time Trump speaks he embarrasses himself before the world. If he isn’t calling women names on Twitter, he’s making thinly veiled threats of violence towards CNN. On a recent trip to South Korea, he blamed the trade deficit on the national debt – two things that have nothing to do with each other. He embarrassed himself with his lack of knowledge on basic macroeconomics.

The domestic policies of Trump are just reactionary, but a terrible threat to the United States in general. His policies are causing a great deal of concern among the capitalist class. The prospect of throwing tens of millions of Americans off their health insurance threatens to cause another civil rights movement. One that would seemingly be based on the right to live, much less a conception of rights. The dismantling of all manner of environmental protections may be pleasing one section of the industrial capitalists – but others are gravely concerned with the consequences of doing so.

Most terrifying of all is his utter hatred of science in general. Trump is censoring climate scientists, and others, for merely disagreeing with him. Scientific investigation, rational thought, and analysis are under threat from the Trump administration. In a move that can be considered nothing less than an insult, Trump appointed the former attorney general of Oklahoma, Scott Pruitt, as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.[5] Pruitt is known for his outright hatred of the department.

The US is terrified of the prospects of Trump having the ability to declare war on countries. his pro-war rhetoric reeks of total ignorance and complete disregard for human life. At least Obama pretended to care about the lives that were going to be lost. He at least didn’t threaten to charge head on into what would be a disaster. Already Trump has completely ignored reports from US intelligence that said they had no evidence Syria had used sarin gas to attack a rebel-held town when he ordered the bombing of the Syrian Shayrat Air Base. With this act, Trump has proven that he will act irrationally and without considering the consequences.

With this tremendous threat he poses to the world, a section of the capitalist class represented by the Democratic party has voted to curb much of the war powers that the President holds. Several days ago a key House committee approved an amendment that would limit the ability of the president to authorise military force without congressional approval.[7] They want to pull the post-9/11 Bush-era Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) from Trump. The committee’s voice vote approving the amendment was nearly unanimous. There was next to no disagreement from most Republican representatives who also fear the President’s irresponsible behaviour.

Actions to stop the president do not end there. Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer has introduced a bill in the House “to empower former presidents and vice presidents of both parties, in coordination with the sitting vice president, to determine if a president is fit for office.”

“It is hard to imagine a better group to work with the vice president to examine whether the president is able to discharge the duties of the office. When there are questions about the president’s ability to fulfill his or her constitutional responsibilities, it is in the country’s best interest to have a mechanism in place that works effectively,” Blumenauer said in a statement.

A whole major section of the capitalist class is concerned about the president’s ability to represent them. I doubt they have any real concern over his mental state. But they do have a major concern over his ability to lead the country in the right direction. Trump has already proven to be childish, erratic, and ignorant. If there is anything capitalism needs to thrive its stability in society, confidence in leadership and the market, and a consistent rule of law.

With Trump’s inability to provide this to the capitalist class, it may very well be time for him to be removed from power by those same capitalists. Their first and only concern is the ability to generate profits. Trump it seems, is beginning to present a threat to that, to a significant enough portion of the capitalist class.

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Notes:

[1] Trump’s approval rating is 37% as of July 1st, 2017 as cited by Gallup Poll. http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx

[2] Trump’s global approval rating is 22% as of June 26th, 2017 as cited by Pew Global Research http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/06/26/u-s-image-suffers-as-publics-around-world-question-trumps-leadership/