Donald Trump left the White House Wednesday, December 23 for his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, leaving behind a field of ruins: those of the hope of a restful end of the year for parliamentarians and millions of ‘Americans who believed to see a check for 600 dollars (491 euros) in their mailbox, in accordance with the stimulus plan adopted two days earlier by Congress, after a rare compromise between Democrats and moderate Republicans.
Before boarding his helicopter, engines on on the south lawn, his favorite setting a few months ago, the American president did not have a look at the press. According to it, neither its Republican allies nor even its advisers have the slightest idea of its intentions, as the expiration, on Boxing Day, of unemployment benefits for some 13 million Americans, and, of again, on December 28, the threat of a closure of federal services.
Cleaning before closing
Within twenty-four hours, Mr. Trump cleared the ground in Washington, as is done on his desk before closing. After weeks of disinterest in anything outside the supposed “Fraud” electoral “Massive” having led to his defeat, he returned to the arena. The president – who will not be in less than thirty days – vetoed the defense budget, pardoned a few dozen relatives, former subordinates and friends of friends including his former campaign manager Paul Manafort and the father of his kind and advisor Jared Kushner. And refused to promulgate the fiscal stimulus, or “Covid bill”, which he was supposed to do before December 26.
The National Defense Authorization Act veto came as no surprise. The president had long announced his opposition to the text. Reason: the refusal of parliamentarians to include a provision eliminating section 230 of the Federal Communications Act, which allows social networks not to be held responsible for published content. Mr. Trump, whose 80% of election tweets are now accompanied by a warning from Twitter in blue letters relativizing his remarks, believes that the platforms must be sanctioned for what the conservatives call ” censorship ” towards them. But even Republicans felt that the reform of Section 230 had nothing to do with the defense budget, a measure that has passed without a hitch for fifty-nine years.
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