I scratched my head when I heard Donald Trump was attending the funeral of His Holiness, Pope Francis. Donald Trump is not a Catholic and doesn’t regularly go to church. He cozies up to Evangelical Christians and sells Bibles. Most of us credit greed as his motivations. In essence, he is the antithesis of everything the Pope represented—a Pope who supported climate change initiatives, condemned mistreatment of immigrants, and believed that criminals could be rehabilitated. His washing of their feet was a sign of his commitment to service and the virtue of humility.
Was our President the only person in St. Peter’s this week labelled a rapist by a judge? And was there anyone credited with more lies than Trump—The Washington Post counted 30,573 false or misleading statements made during Trump’s first term as president. He likely will break that record this time around.
When it was confirmed Trump would be flying to Rome, I was disappointed. He could have sent J.D. Vance, a converted Catholic, but Vance angered the Church by having his photograph taken with his son in the Sistine Chapel, where photography is forbidden.
When Trump entered St. Peter’s, he was easy to spot. The Vatican informed persons invited to attend the funeral mass to wear black. Trump ignored the request. Was this because he knew Swiss Guards would not remove him for the etiquette violation? Or because Trump, who has made a practice of violating court orders and insulting the judges who issued them, enjoys breaking rules.
I don’t know what prompted Trump’s behavior in Rome, but I was glad to see him board Air Force One for his flight to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Yes, the President left the funeral mass as soon as it ended to get to the golf club in time to fit in 18 holes the next day.
Many words could be used to describe Trump’s behavior. Some that Trump uses himself in describing others, but I won’t repeat them here. I will only call the behavior disturbing. I worry that I see a president no longer in control of himself, a man subject to outbursts of anger, unable to distinguish truth and falsehoods, obsessed with vengeance and retribution against his perceived enemies, and devoid of any hint of empathy for anyone.
Every morning, in addition to reading a few newspapers, scanning the news on my iPad, and watching a few minutes of television news, I visit the President’s social media site and the White House press room. The social media site, I have found, is the best place to track what the President is doing and thinking. The White House online press room is where the full text of Executive Orders is posted. Want to learn why the President has banned paper straws? The answer is in the press room.
Trump’s social media posts are particularly disturbing. On Monday morning, I found a forceful attack on the press. The President wrote:
“We don’t have a Free and Fair Press in this Country anymore. We have a Press that writes BAD STORIES, and CHEATS, BIG, ON POLLS. IT IS COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT. SAD!”
Recent polls suggesting the public is souring on Trump prompted the outburst. The President has the lowest approval ratings for any president during their first 100 days in office in seven decades. Trump was also shown to have lost the public’s approval for his leadership on the economy. Credit the tariffs.
Be sure to visit the President’s social media site if you want to see more. There are more than enough unhinged posts to keep a small army of psychiatrists busy for decades. You will also find at least six photos and videos of the President travelling to Rome and two of him in St. Peter’s.
I do not want a man who wears a blue suit at the Pope’s funeral in the White House. Trump may have offended Catholics this weekend, but his actions and words are destroying America. I’ve had enough.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
