In another sign of his out of control malignant narcissism, vindictive sociopath Donald "Dear Leader" Trump is willing to withhold equipment and support from two states whose governors haven't been sufficiently "nice" to him. Governors Jay Inslee of Washington, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan were the targets of Dear Leader's ire for simply criticizing the delays in getting ventilators, masks and other personal protective equipment to their states. As with everything, it's transactional and petty with Dear Leader, especially now that he wants public praise despite the inadequate and incompetent job he's doing because elections are coming:
"All I want them to do, very simple, I want them to be appreciative. I don't want them to say things that aren't true. I want them to be appreciative. We've done a great job."While avoiding responsibility for his bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump wants to take credit for the $2 trillion relief package that he signed yesterday. There are reports that he's even insisting on having his name on the checks going to individual Americans, rather than the routine practice of having the Secretary of the Treasury or the Treasurer of the U.S. sign them:
"Mr. Trump has told people he wants his signature to appear on the direct payment checks that will go out to many Americans in the coming weeks, according to an administration official. The White House didn’t comment.Accept no responsibility, but take the credit because it's all about him and his personal and political fortunes and not the people of this country.
Normally, a civil servant—the disbursing officer for the payment center—would sign federal checks, said Don Hammond, a former senior Treasury Department official." (our emphasis)
BONUS: Not surprisingly, he's also refusing to go along with the transparency provisions of the law regarding the $500 billion corporate slush fund. If "good faith" was assumed during the negotiations, it was a big (and foreseeable) mistake.
