An Un-happy Birthday to President Trump

In honor of the president turning 80, examine 8 0 star moments from the 2nd Trump administration 

By: Austin Abbring

June 14, 2026

Donald Trump will be celebrating his 80th birthday with a UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House. I cannot believe these are words that I just typed. I thought the film Idiocracy was supposed to be a satirical social commentary. This birthday celebration perfectly encapsulates the American empire's downward trajectory. For my celebration, I would like to take the time to present 8 0-star moments from the 2nd Trump administration so far. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of examples I could choose from, but here are a select few.

1) Tax Cuts for the Wealthy:

There is no better place to start than the awful reconciliation bill from last July, inappropriately named “The Big Beautiful Bill”. At a time when wealth inequality is at its widest gap in decades, even rivaling that of the Gilded Age, Trump and Republicans cut taxes for the wealthiest earners in the United States. This group of elites is estimated to benefit from over $1 trillion dollars in tax cuts over the next decade. To accomplish this, there are massive cuts to social insurance programs that working-class and low-income Americans heavily rely on. It will most likely be the largest transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top this century. We have seen roughly $80 trillion redistributed from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1% since the 1970’s. This legislation will only exacerbate this dangerous trend. This is absolutely dreadful.

2) DOGE:

One of the first acts of this 2nd administration was the installation of DOGE (The Department of Government Efficiency) with the world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk, at the helm. I want to repeat that last point. Not just the wealthiest American, but the wealthiest person on planet Earth, was anointed to cut federal agencies at his whim, which will result in the deaths of millions of people around the globe over the next decades. Not only was DOGE a means for Elon Musk to further enrich himself, but it was also an abject failure. Musk and DOGE promised to find and cut $2 trillion worth of “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the federal government. Instead, it cut spending by between $1 and $7 billion, according to nonpartisan research. Ignoring the data breaches DOGE committed against citizens like you, the reader, the objectives of DOGE and any cuts it made were illegal. Congress has the power of the purse, not the Executive Branch. DOGE unlawfully usurped that power.

3) ICE Raids:

Apparently, the most dangerous individuals in this country are 3rd generation Hispanic grandmothers, or 2nd generation roofers, or 1st generation schoolchildren. Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and Republicans have waged a war on our immigrant population. A population which, quite literally, keeps this country afloat economically. Immigrant populations are why our country exists in the first place. We are all descendants of people who immigrated from all over the world to this country to make a life for themselves and for their families, and to be the best versions of themselves they could be. That was the beauty of the American experiment. That beauty has been replaced by an overweight, demented, out-of-touch ogre who instead hurls slurs, villainizes our neighbors, and has tainted the truth of immigrant populations in millions of Americans' minds for decades. This has resulted in American cities, almost the entirety of such being blue, Democrat-run cities, being invaded by a masked, badge-less, paramilitary force reminiscent of the Gestapo. Since the ICE raids began in 2025, around 50 detainees have died in ICE facilities, and two U.S. citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, have been slain. But what about the results? Surely our streets are safer, right? All of that awfulness can be avenged? No. Around 70% of ICE detainees have no criminal convictions, and only about 5% have previous violent criminal histories. Melt ICE, fuck ICE, and most importantly ABOLISH ICE. 

4) Attacking the Press:

This is a staple of any Trump presidency or campaign, but the continued demonization of the free press has done irreparable damage to one of the pillars of our democracy. As a result of Trump escalating his tirades towards journalists and the free press, the Republican Party continues to travel further and further right towards full-blown authoritarianism and fascism. The late-night Twitter and Truth Social posts directed towards Jimmy Kimmel and the firing of Stephen Colbert fully display the thin skin of our president, as well as the blatant assault on the First Amendment. 

5) Illegally Striking Venezuelan Ships:

In the lead-up to illegally invading and seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, the U.S. carried out at least 40 strikes on small craft and vessels in open waters. The Trump regime justified this behavior by labeling the members of these boats as “narco-terrorists” who were smuggling fentanyl and other drugs into the United States. This is problematic for countless reasons. These skiffs lacked the fuel capacity or ability to fully traverse these open waters and reach U.S. soil to “distribute their narcotics”. Why do we have the Coast Guard or the Navy on the receiving end of part of our $1 trillion defense budget if they cannot intercept small vessels with crews of fewer than 10 individuals? The vast majority of fentanyl and other drugs are smuggled into the country at legal ports of entry, largely by white U.S. citizens. Additionally, fentanyl deaths dropped by 35% between 2023 and 2024 under the Biden administration. Finally, all of these strikes violated international law. More than 200 people were killed during Operation Southern Spear, all of them without due process.

6) The Iran War:

Apparently, Republicans have not learned from the unpopularity and the illegality of the Iraq War. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally got the war he has been asking for for forty years. Donald Trump has been dumb enough to finally oblige him. Trump illegally began a bombing campaign of Iran, its civilian infrastructure, and other facilities starting in February. All of this in the name of a nuclear weapons program that does not exist, at a price of $2 billion per day, at the expense of at least 13 American servicepeople’s lives, at the cost of open waters being closed, and with the result of American and global gas and oil prices, and prices in general, skyrocketing. All it will really cost is Republicans the midterms, but why in the eff would Donald Trump care about that? He got his billions of dollars through personal enrichment from his position as president and, more importantly, he got his UFC fight on the White House Lawn.

7) Firing IRS Agents and Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner 

The mass layoffs of IRS workers, the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, and cuts to the BLS have been a disaster and another element of authoritarianism. Under Elon Musk, DOGE laid off over 7,000 IRS agents for “performance issues”. Watchdogs found that less than 1% of agents had any documented performance concerns. This falls under the Department of the Treasury, but is closely related; Donald Trump fired at least five inspectors general who were performing audits of Elon Musk and his companies. Another concern with the IRS layoffs is the massive loss of revenue. Every dollar invested in the IRS nets between $5 and $12 in return. In essence, Trump has lost between $500 billion and $800 billion in return on investment in tax revenue.

Under the 2nd Trump administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been cut by $58 million. The BLS provides nonpartisan data on inflation, employment, wages, and productivity. This data is vital, as it guides policymakers in setting economic policy, tracking welfare needs, and monitoring economic and business activity in the country.  If the cuts were not bad enough, following a weak July jobs report, Trump fired the BLS commissioner. 

8) Trump Pardons:

The White House is for sale. Donald Trump has pardoned over 1,600 people in his second term. Just about every single participant in the January 6th insurrection was granted clemency by Trump, and several of them have gone on to reoffend. Not only have violent rioters been pardoned, but several high-profile individuals who were guilty of fraud and other white-collar crimes have been as well. These individuals have “donated” millions of dollars to pro-Trump lobbyists, political consultants, and other well-connected figures, leaving the impression that the President can be bought. Analysis indicates that the pardons to these individuals have eliminated at least $1 billion in restitution, fines, and other penalties owed to the U.S. government and victims of the fraud. The pardon that really takes the cake is for the ex-president of Honduras, Juan Hernández. He was convicted of smuggling 400 tons of cocaine into the United States and was serving a 45-year prison sentence. So, are we fighting global narcotics or not? We kidnapped Nicolás Maduro for much less.

Un-Happy birthday, Mr. President!