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An Excerpt from All the Yellow and Red Cards issued to Donald Trump from January 20, 2017 to January 19, 2018
by Richard Kraft
On January 20, 2017
Trump delivered an inaugural address rife with inaccuracies, infused with anger, and lacking in grace and dignity.
He purged White House web pages that address climate change, LGBTQ issues, and civil rights in general.
He appointed incompetents to his cabinet, including but not limited to Ben Carson (housing), Betsy DeVos (education) and Rick Perry (energy).
He appointed Steve Bannon, a white supremacist, as his chief strategist.
He appointed his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to high-ranking White House advisory positions despite the fact that they have no relevant experience.
He ignored Justice Department warnings that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had been compromised by holding (and lying about) discussions with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the transition.
He signed an executive order to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
He refused to place the Trump Organization into blind trust.
He refused to release his tax returns.
On January 21, 2017
Trump delivered a rambling, nonsensical speech at CIA headquarters.
He falsely said that he had not criticized the CIA over the agency’s public assertions that Russia had meddled in the general election, and that the media had fabricated his criticism.
He lied about the size of his inaugural crowd. Then he boasted about the inflated size of his inaugural crowd.
He lied about the weather during his inaugural speech, asserting that it had not rained. It had.
He lied about the number of times he had appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
He said that the media “are among the most dishonest people on earth.”
On January 22, 2017
The White House described its accounting of Trump’s inaugural crowd as “alternative facts.”
On January 23, 2017
Trump reinstated the policy prohibiting federal funding to NGOs that offer abortion counseling and support the legalization of abortion.
He falsely claimed that millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally, depriving him of a popular-vote majority in the election.
On January 24, 2017
Trump greenlighted the completion of the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone pipeline.
On January 25, 2017
Trump ended the “catch and release” policy for undocumented immigrants caught entering the U.S., and promised (again) to build a wall on the Mexican border.
He threatened to prohibit federal funding to “sanctuary cities.”
He called for an investigation into voter fraud to justify his loss of the popular vote.
He claimed that “two weeks ago,” while President Obama was speaking in Chicago, “two people were shot and killed during his speech.” There were no homicides in Chicago on that day.
On January 26, 2017
In order to justify his image of “American carnage,” Trump lied about the number of people shot in Philadelphia.
He threatened to impose a 20 percent tariff on Mexican goods if Mexico refused to pay for the border wall.
He falsely claimed that immigrants to the U.S. aren’t vetted: “They can say they vet them. They didn’t vet them. They have no papers. How can you vet somebody when you don’t know anything about them and you have no papers?”
On January 27, 2017
Trump suspended entry to the U.S. of all citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.
He failed to mention Jews in his Holocaust Memorial Day statement.
He phoned the head of the National Park Service to complain about the release of photos which prove that his inaugural crowd was smaller than President Obama’s.
He released agendas for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to the U.S., on which her name was misspelled multiple times.
He begged Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto not to publicly say that Mexico would not pay for Trump’s border wall. (“I have to have Mexico pay for the wall—I have to.”)
On January 28, 2017
Trump reorganized the National Security Council to include Steve Bannon and reduced the roles of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Director.
He tried to wriggle out of an immigration deal with Australia made by President Obama. He said to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull: “I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country… This deal will make me look terrible… This shows me to be a dope.”
He falsely claimed that the New York Times had apologized to him for the manner and tone of its coverage.
On January 29, 2017
Trump claimed that his ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the U.S. was not a Muslim ban.
On January 30, 2017
Trump lied about the number of people detained at U.S. airports as a result of his Muslim ban. (746 were detained. He claimed it was 109.)
He blamed problems at U.S. airports caused by his Muslim ban on a Delta Airlines computer outage which actually occurred two days later.
He fired Sally Yates as acting attorney general because she voiced her opposition to the Muslim ban.
He mocked Chuck Schumer for weeping during a speech decrying the Muslim ban and blamed Schumer for the chaos caused by the ban at the country’s airports.
On February 1, 2017
Trump threatened to destroy Iran.
On February 2, 2017
Trump relaxed sanctions on Russia put in place by President Obama in response to meddling in the general election.
He marked the beginning of African-American History Month by congratulating Frederick Douglass, “who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more.”
He referred to the media as the “opposition party,” and thanked Fox News for treating him “very nice.”
He threatened to withdraw federal funding from the University of California, Berkeley, for cancelling a planned speech by Breitbart columnist Milo Yiannopoulos.
On February 4, 2017
Enraged by Judge James Robart’s decision to overturn the Muslim ban, Trump referred to Robart as a “so-called judge.”
On February 5, 2017
Trump continued to insult and threaten Judge Robart, saying that if “something happens,” Judge Robart and the court system would be to blame.
On February 7, 2017
In order to prove media bias against him, Trump released a list of “underreported” terror attacks worldwide. The list, which was vague and filled with errors, did not include attacks perpetrated by non-Muslims. Almost all of the events on his list had been covered by the press.
He falsely claimed that the murder rate in the U.S. was the highest it had been in forty-seven years.
On February 8, 2017
Trump continued to appoint former lobbyists to high-ranking positions in his administration, many of them making policy involving industries they used to represent (for example Michael Catanzaro, energy advisor, who has worked as a lobbyist for the oil, gas, and coal industries).
He criticized Nordstrom for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line.
On February 9, 2017
Trump tweeted “See you in court” to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after it upheld Judge Robart’s decision to strike down the Muslim ban.
He reversed an earlier threat to recognize Taiwan (if China didn’t agree to trade demands) and promised to adhere to a “one China” policy.
On February 10, 2017
After Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch said that attacks on the judiciary were counterproductive, Trump asserted that these comments were not aimed at him.
Ignorant of the fact that his family name is Abe, he referred to the Japanese Prime Minister as “Prime Minister Shinzo.”
On February 12, 2017
Trump engaged in a Twitter spat with Mark Cuban, whom he derided as “not smart enough to run for President.”
He congratulated advisor Stephen Miller for a television interview in which he insisted that “the president’s executive power shall not be questioned.”
He was briefed and held discussions about a North Korean missile test in a public dining room at his Florida resort.
On February 14, 2017
Trump attempted to deflect attention from Michael Flynn’s “resignation” from his position as National Security Advisor by complaining about “illegal leaks.”
He asked James Comey and the FBI to drop their investigation of Flynn.
On February 15, 2017
Trump said he would consider a one-state solution to peace in the Middle East.
On February 16, 2017
Trump rolled back an Obama-era policy aimed at stopping the coal-mining industry from dumping waste into nearby waterways.
He held a seventy-seven-minute press conference in which he rambled incoherently and postured in a ridiculous fashion.
He falsely claimed that had he won the biggest electoral college victory since Ronald Reagan.
He said, “We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban.”
He responded to a question about how to deal with the rise of anti-Semitic threats in the U.S. by saying, “I am the least anti-Semitic person you have ever seen in your whole life.”
He continued his response: “Number two, I am the least racist person.”
He asked April Ryan, a black reporter, if she could arrange a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus. “Are they friends of yours?”
He complained again about the “dishonest press.”
He whined about difficult questions from reporters: “See, he lied that he was going to get up
and ask a straight, simple question, so you know, welcome to the world of the media.”
He falsely claimed that Walmart would create ten thousand jobs in the U.S. as a result of his policies. (The jobs were the result of plans announced in 2016.)
He falsely claimed that his administration was “running like a finely tuned machine.”
All of the above took place during Trump’s first four weeks in office.
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Richard Kraft is a British-born artist whose multi-disciplinary works often use public spaces and converse with literature. He lives in Los Angeles and New York’s Hudson Valley. The project from which this piece is excerpted is ongoing and will continue as long as Trump is in office.