The Trump Administration: Controversies, Scandals, and Crimes

Today is Trump’s last full day in office.

It would be extremely dangerous to sugarcoat his legacy or remember his administration as anything less than the disaster it was, but it’s easy to lose sight of past catastrophes when new ones continue to occur daily.

A complete recap would require thousands of posts for his COVID-19 response alone, so I’ve had to exclude a lot. Still, I hope this will serve as a look back at what happened during Trump’s presidency, especially while multiple senators are fighting to put him back in office.

With all of that being said, let’s recount some of the controversies, scandals, and crimes that he committed during his tenure.

Note: you can find the Twitter thread version of this article here.

June 15, 2015

Trump announces his presidential campaign by insulting Mexicans and immigrants. (source)

“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

July 18, 2015

Trump insults prisoners of war, including Senator John McCain. (source)

“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”

December 2, 2015

Trump suggests the military targets Isis family members, which is a war crime. (source)

December 8, 2015

Trump proposes a Muslim Ban. (source)

July 30, 2016

The Khans, a Muslim Gold Star family whose son died in Iraq, spoke at the DNC about Trump’s Islamophobia and disrespect to veterans like their son. After their speech, Trump accused Khizr Khan of not allowing his wife to speak at the convention because she was forbidden to as a Muslim and also questioned whether Khan’s words were his own. (source)

August 9, 2016

Trump hints about assassinating Hillary Clinton to gun owners. (source)

“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.”

October 8, 2016

WaPo releases a taped conversation between candidate Trump and Billy Bush on Access Hollywood, during which Trump brags about sexually assaulting women.

“I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it… I did try and f — — her. She was married… And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture. “I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married,” Trump says. “Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look. I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything. Grab them by the p — -y. You can do anything.”

The tape results in Billy Bush losing his job at the Today show. Trump, on the other hand, becomes the President. (source)

Listen to the full tape here.

October 18, 2016

Trump encourages his supporters to go out and intimidate Clinton voters, a federal crime. Democratic Attorneys General sue. (source)

October 19, 2016

Trump says he will only accept the election results if he wins, foreshadowing similar behavior that would occur during the next election cycle, four years later. (source)

January 21, 2017

Sean Spicer lies about the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd, setting the stage for what would be a lie-filled, contentious relationship between the WH and the Press. (source)

January 22, 2017

Kellyanne Conway claims that there are “alternative facts” on Meet the Press. (source)

January 25, 2017

Trump signs Executive Order 13767, titled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements. The order directs a wall to be built along the Mexico-US border. (source)

January 27, 2017

Trump signs Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, more commonly known as the Muslim Ban. Refugees and family members are detained at airports and sent away, followed by weeks of Airport Protests until the order is determined unconstitutional. (source)

February 13, 2017

Michael Flynn, the National Security Adviser, resigns after being dishonest about his communications with a Russian Ambassador. Flynn later pled guilty to lying to the FBI and offered to testify to get immunity. (source)

February 14, 2017

Trump requests that FBI Director James Comey drop the investigation into Flynn, reportedly saying “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.” (source)

May 9, 2017

Trump fires FBI Director James Comey. (source)

May 10, 2017

Trump discloses classified intelligence to Russian officials in the Oval Office. (source)

May 17, 2017

Robert Mueller is appointed as special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference in American elections. (source)

June 1, 2017

Trump withdraws the US from the Paris Climate Accord. (source)

July 31, 2017

White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci is hired and fired in 6 days, marking the shortest tenure in history. (source)

August 15, 2017

Following the murder of counterprotestor Heather Heyer at a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Trump holds a press conference in which he says there are “very fine people on both sides.” (source) (video)

September 12, 2017

Hurricane Maria devastates Puerto Rico. Trump reacts in the following weeks by attacking the Mayor of San Juan on Twitter and throwing some paper towel rolls into a crowd. Trump does not help to rebuild infrastructure. (source)

October 8, 2017

After a series of tweets and interviews where Trump insults and threatens NFL players for kneeling during the National Anthem, Trump has VP Pence go to a Colts game for the political theater of Pence walking out during the Anthem. It is confirmed that there was no intention for Pence to stay for the entire event, as he had another speaking event scheduled during the game. (source)

October 27, 2017

After Hurricane Maria, Whitefish Energy, a small Montana-based company with only two full-time employees, is awarded a $300 million contract. The owner is a Trump Donor. (source)

December 6, 2017

Trump undermines decades of America’s role as a neutral arbiter in Israel-Palestine negotiation by officially declaring Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and ordering the US Embassy to be moved to Jerusalem. This action is condemned by the international community and UN Security Counsel, and it results in protests and civil unrest in the Middle East. (source)

January 3, 2018

After many claims by the Trump administration that there was rampant voter fraud by Democrats, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity is disbanded after finding that no such voter fraud occurred. (source)

January 12, 2018

News breaks that Trump had an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels and paid her for her silence during the 2016 campaign, a federal crime according to Federal Elections Committee laws. Trump repeatedly lies to the press and the American public about this. Later, his attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen is found guilty of lying to the FBI and other crimes. (source)

January 16, 2018

CNN reports that Fox News had information to report the Stormy Daniels affair and subsequent payment, but was ordered to bury the story. (source)

January 20, 2018

Trump and Republican Senate shut down the government over DACA, leaving nearly a million federal employees out of a paycheck. (source)

April 18, 2018

A Child Separation Policy is instituted across the US, meaning that refugee and undocumented American families are to be separated. In some cases, infants are taken from breastfeeding mothers. This results in thousands of children experiencing unimaginable psychological damage and a still unknown number of children being “lost” in the system. (source)

June 3, 2018

Senator Jeff Merkley is denied entrance to Casa Padre, a detention center in Texas holding refugee children. (source)

September 16, 2018

WaPo reports allegations that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford had been sexually assaulted by SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Eventually a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, and a third woman, Julie Swetnick, come forward with additional allegations against Kavanaugh. The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee chooses to only hear testimony from Dr. Ford. (source)

September 27, 2018

Dr. Ford testifies for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite overwhelming evidence and testimony, Senate Republicans eventually confirm Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. (source)

October 22, 2018

Sixteen packages containing pipe bombs are mailed to Democratic politicians and other prominent critics of Trump. Targets include Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton. Following the attempted bomber’s arrest, it is discovered that he is a Trump supporter. During his trial, attorneys claim that he was driven to mail the bombs by Trump and right wing media. (source)

December 11, 2018

Trump threatens a second Government Shutdown in his first term if the budget does not include additional funds for his proposed Wall. (source)

December 19, 2018

The Senate passed a second continuing resolution that would fund the government until February 8, 2019. Pelosi agrees to a budget compromise and the House passed a continuing resolution that included $5 billion for the wall and $8 billion in disaster aid for Hurricane victims. After criticism from conservative media, pundits, and political figures, Trump declared that he would not sign any funding bill that did not include more border wall funding. (source)

December 22, 2018

The second government shutdown in Trump’s first 2 years begins. This becomes the longest government shutdown in American history. (source)

January 8, 2019

Trump threatens to declare a National Emergency in order to unilaterally allocate National Defense funding to a border wall. This is eventually determined to be impossible and unconstitutional. (source)

January 9, 2019

Trump walks out of a meeting with democratic leadership after 14 minutes when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says they will not give any additional funding for the wall. (source)

January 25, 2019

Trump signs a continuing resolution with no funding for the wall in order to reopen the federal government. (source)

February 13, 2019

Trump, the master negotiator, signs a new budget bill with nearly $1.375 billion for the border wall, nearly $4 billion less than the original budget he could have signed in December. (source)

March 11, 2019

Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a White House press briefing. Unbeknownst to the journalists and the American public, this would be the last press briefing until over a year later, marking the longest period without a briefing since they began under President Eisenhower. (source)

March 12, 2019

Trump bans transgender Americans from serving in the armed forces. (source)

August 28, 2019

Reports come out that Trump is withholding key military aid to Ukraine to help in their ongoing conflict with Russia. (source)

September 4, 2019

As Hurricane Dorian descended into the US, Trump tweeted that it was heading to Alabama, which all scientific predictions said was wrong. Rather than admit his mistake, Trump called the press into the Oval Office and displayed the National Hurricane Center’s diagram of Hurricane Dorian’s projected track. The diagram had been altered, with a line made with a black marker which extended the cone of uncertainty of the hurricane’s possible path into southern Alabama. This leads all national and state agencies to issue statements that Alabama did not have to be evacuated. (source)

September 9, 2019

Inspector General Michael Atkinson alerts the House Intelligence Committee, headed by Rep. Adam Schiff, of the existence of a whistleblower complaint. A week later, The Washington Post reports that the whistleblower complaint pertains to a “promise” that Trump made to a foreign leader. (source)

September 23, 2019

Trump tells reporters that he had tied funding for Ukraine to the country’s investigation of corruption, although in later interviews, he denies making such a demand. In response, Nancy Pelosi schedules impeachment hearings. (source)

September 25, 2019

In an ill-advised attempt to calm the reports of impropriety, Trump releases the call notes and the whistleblower complaint. These documents end up confirming the accusations that Trump used the power of the Presidency to try and get foreign support against his political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. (source)

October 6, 2019

Trump pulls peacekeepers out of Syria. While speaking to Turkey’s President Erdoğan, Trump publicly abandons US support of Kurdish forces — arguably the strongest US ally in the Middle East — leaving them to be slaughtered by Turkish military. (source)

November 3, 2019

Public impeachment hearings begin. (source)

December 18, 2019

The US House of Representatives votes to impeach Donald Trump for Abuse of Power. This makes Trump the 3rd President in US history to be impeached. Yet, he remains in office. (source)

January 3, 2020

Iranian General Qasem Solemani is assassinated at Baghdad Airport. (source)

January 8, 2020

Iran launches a missile strike at US military barracks in Iraq. (source)

February 5, 2020

After the impeachment trial in the Senate, all Democrats and Independents vote for Trump to be removed. Mitt Romney becomes the first Senator to vote for the removal of a president in his own party. (source)