One of the most frustrating things about the Trump administration is that it offers too much nuttiness to process.
Not long ago, the discovery that the president doesn’t know what the Declaration of Independence is would have consumed the country for months. Today, it barely registers because the Trump White House pumps out similar stories two or three times a week.
When you compare such stories to the trade war with China or President Trump’s claim that he doesn’t know whether he’s required to uphold the Constitution, it’s tempting to view Trump’s recent brainstorms on movie tariffs and reopening Alcatraz as mere distractions. That would be a mistake. They are evidence of something much darker than Steve Bannon’s call to “flood the zone with s---.”
First, the ideas themselves. Trump announced on TruthSocial that he has decided the federal government is going to reopen a “substantially enlarged” Alcatraz because it needs more prison space.
Contemplate, for a moment, how utterly bizarre this is. In an actual, functioning government, if you decide you need more prisons, you have people work out the best, most cost-effective way to do it and then make an announcement through official channels. That’s not what happened here. Instead, Trump came up with an idea on a Sunday afternoon and then issued an order about opening a specific facility, apparently without discussing it with anyone at the Bureau of Prisons, let alone having it properly vetted.
How do we know this? Because it is such a terrible idea.
Alcatraz was closed down in 1963 because it was too expensive to run and too expensive to renovate. Currently, it’s a museum run by the National Park Service. Nor can it be “substantially enlarged” because Alcatraz Island is only 22 acres. If you want a new prison for the worst of the worst, Alcatraz would be the last place you would choose.
About 20 minutes later, Trump decided he is going to impose a 100 percent tariff on foreign movies — apparently, “Bluey, the Movie” will be a “national security threat.” Trump seemingly made this decision based on a garbled understanding of a conversation he had with Jon Voight, on his own with no vetting and no discussion. Again, we know this because his plan is both patently ridiculous and actively dangerous.
The idea is unworkable and betrays no understanding of how movies are made. What, exactly, is a "foreign film?" Many films are made in multiple locations both inside and outside the U.S. What about content made for television and streaming? And what would you impose a tariff on? The cost of shooting overseas? The movie’s budget? Ticket sales?
Apart from all the practical issues, any plan to impose a tax on foreign films is almost certainly an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. If it isn’t constitutional to impose a 2 percent tax on newspapers, it’s hard to see how it could be constitutional to impose a 100 percent tax on movies. This goes double, since Trump’s “order” makes it clear he is imposing this tariff, in part, as a content-based restriction based on the “messaging and propaganda” in foreign films.
But the idea of a tariff on movies is also dangerous because it raises the specter of imposing taxes on services. This would be a phenomenally bad can of worms for the U.S. to open, since we are a huge net exporter of services. Had Trump discussed this idea for five minutes with anyone who had any expertise at all, this would never have seen the light of day. But that’s not how Trump’s White House works.
The ravages of old age take many forms. Joe Biden began to struggle with his speech. Trump is losing whatever inhibitions he once had, along with his judgment. Alcatraz and movie tariffs are only the latest examples.
Just in the last month, he started a trade war by impulsively attempting to punish China for defying him, repeatedly insisted that Abrego Garcia had “MS-13" actually tattooed on his knuckles in the Microsoft Office default font, and wandered into a discussion of how many dolls and pencils people should own. Trump’s decline is only going to get worse over the next three years and eight months.
And there are no guardrails. Trump is surrounded by sycophants — have you seen one of his Cabinet meetings? — who care more about holding onto their jobs than they care about the country. Congressional Republicans are no better.
Everyone can see that Grandpa Trump has become a menace, but no one is doing anything to limit the damage, much less to take his car keys away. Sooner, rather than later, there’s going to be a terrible accident.
Chris Truax is an appellate attorney who served as Southern California chair for John McCain’s primary campaign in 2008.
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