Editorial: When, should we start taking Trump seriously?

When looking back at past presidents, it’s pretty hard to find one that has been as liberal with his word choice. It’s in no way a shock that Donald Trump is where he is now because of his willingness to say whatever comes to his mind. But looking at what Trump has said in the past and what his actions actually show, his word hasn’t carried much weight in this presidency. 

Look at what he just said about DACA. At the beginning of the month, the U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a statement saying the president was going to rescind the Obama-era program. After a few days of backlash and support for “Dreamers,” on both sides of the aisle, Trump tweeted this…

“For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6-month period, you have nothing to worry about – No action!”

So, what even happened? Did the President just decide to send Jeff Sessions out to say that because he thought he would receive praise from his base and the Republican party? And just like this administration has been, it moves onto the next constant thought or tweet the president spews out.

This week seems to bring along another unscripted head-turner. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime,” Trump said, referring to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. This came right after he told the United Nations the United States would “have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

To put this into more context the president was talking about cutting off trade with North Korea and speaking with the U.N. support in their effort to stop the “band of criminals,” as Trump calls them.

When does it become time for U.S. citizens to take his word seriously? The building of the wall hasn’t started, healthcare reform and replace is a nightmare at best, and when looking at what this President has said, promised or threatened; it has a shelf life of a week.

Thankfully he hasn’t acted on what he has said on issues like removing 15,000 transgender soldiers from our military or making cuts to Medicare. It very well could be that he just simply forgets the next day. He is the oldest president in our country’s history and has promised so much, to a base that rightfully expects results.

But you know who is not forgetting all of these comments? The also irrational Kim Jong Un, who has continually ramped up his effort to build and clearly use North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.  With comments like, “we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” there is no telling how far this measure of ego and inferiority will go.

Just last night, Un commented on the president’s rhetoric by calling it “mentally deranged behavior.” This coming from a man who is actively shooting off nuclear weapons.

Trump’s manic tweets and comments have already alienated so many of the U.S. allies and now he is willing to throw the U.S.’s power around with most likely no action to back it. But the issue is North Korea doesn’t realize that. A country completely isolated from the rest of the world has no idea that their country is apparently on the verge of being “totally destroyed.”

The fate of 25 million people is just being thrown around, over angry irrational tweets and unscripted speeches. At some point someone in Washington or in the White House needs to sit the president down and say that the U.S. doesn’t just wipe a country off the map when diplomacy may be an option.

Something does need to be done about Un and his tyranical actions as well. But the death of 25 million naïve people is not the answer.