It’s easy to forget just how awful Donald Trump’s first presidential transition process was, but it was a cringeworthy fiasco. In the runup to Inauguration Day 2017, the Republican turned his attention away from governing and instead held a series of self-indulgent campaign-style rallies congratulating himself for having won.
Around the same time, Trump had to write a check for $25 million to help settle fraud lawsuits stemming from his “Trump University” scam. What’s more, polls showed his support slipping after Election Day — a political dynamic with no modern precedent — as he launched feuds with, among others, the U.S. intelligence community, China, “Saturday Night Live,” Angela Merkel, John Lewis, John Kasich, Meryl Streep, and the cast of “Hamilton.”
Perhaps most importantly, as Trump was sworn into office, he and his team were forced to ask dozens of Obama administration appointees to remain in their positions — not because the incoming Republican operation approved of the Democratic officials’ work, but because Trump and his aides weren’t yet prepared to maintain continuity in government.
Foreign Policy magazine published a striking report that noted Trump’s “disorganized transition” left career government officials “stunned and disheartened.” The report added, “Instead of hitting the ground running, the Trump team emerged from the election ill-prepared for the daunting task of assembling a new administration and has yet to fill an array of crucial top jobs overseeing the country’s national security and diplomacy, fueling uncertainty across the federal government.”
Foreign Policy quoted one career government official saying, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
On the legal front, this was the same presidential transition process in which federal law enforcement opened an investigation into Team Trump’s Russia scandal. Trump’s 2016 inaugural committee would also later face a criminal investigation.
Four years later, Trump was, of course, responsible for the worst presidential transition process in American history — by a wide margin — as the defeated Republican tried to overturn the election results, summoned his followers to the nation’s capital, fueled them with lies, and sat back and watched as many of his acolytes attacked his own country’s seat of government.
Trump refused to show up for his successor’s swearing in, which had to be held under the watch of thousands of National Guard troops, fearing Trump’s followers might commit additional acts of violence.
But as Trump’s third presidential transition process comes to an end, it’s worth appreciating the fact that the Republican has managed to fail for a third time. As Rachel summarized on the show last week:
Given how disastrously Trump performed during the last transition, you may have assumed this one would be better. But it looks like it’s going to be close. … What they are saying and what they are doing thus far is utterly shambolic — and none of us should be afraid to say so.
Honestly, where does one even start? The Matt Gaetz fiasco? The Chad Chronister debacle? The fact that Trump found it necessary to demote his own White House counsel because the president-elect and his team failed to do their homework? This was a transition period in which Trump became a convicted felon. And sued a prominent American newspaper for publishing a poll he didn’t like. And asked congressional Republicans to follow his lead on a spending bill, only to see them ignore him. And launched ridiculous branded merchandise. And hired ex-cons for his administration. And chose cartoonishly unqualified people for his cabinet. Did I mention the international incidents? Because Trump started a few of those, too. A recent Semafor report summarized, “Donald Trump’s second transition was supposed to be different than the first, designed to be ‘orderly’ by advisers who have more eager congressional Republican allies this time around. Yet the consistent chaos and confusion that defined Trump’s first administration are already descending on Washington.” To the extent that the Republican likes breaking new ground, I suppose he’s to be congratulated for doing something unprecedented: No one’s ever flunked three presidential transition tests before.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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