(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Truth About Trump: 54 Reality Checks in a Crazy Time [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2026-04-07 The Truth About Trump: 54 Reality Checks in a Crazy Time Dan Brook Trump is a chronic liar and tens of thousands of his lies, exaggerations, and other forms of misinformation and disinformation have been documented and proven false. These are some plain truths about Trump — even if he can’t handle them, would call me a stupid nickname and try to insult me, would call me a “radical left lunatic”, “domestic terrorist”, “the worst writer”, or some other ridiculous, overused,and inaccurate phrase, and would call the following verifiable truths “fake news”, his go-to for dismissing reality. Here are 54 reality checks in a crazy time; it is an exhausting yet non-exhaustive list. Truth #1: Whatever Trump asserts to be a fact is either a wild exaggeration or a bald-faced lie. Always disregard. Truth #2: Whatever he blames on anyone else is something he has done or is planning to do. Trump projects like mad, so his accusations are always windows into what he is worrying that others will discover about himself. It is also classic narcissistic behavior. Truth #3: Whatever Trump criticizes as being “fake news” is a fact he doesn’t want you to know. So pay special attention to it. Truth #4: Whenever Trump attacks some source of information — a survey, poll, report,journalist, media company — it’s come up with some truth he fears. So look at it and share it. Truth #5: If Trump says "I don't know anything about that", he knows exactly what you're talking about. If it’s some heinous thing, he’s guilty as sin. Push him on it. And every time he has said that he never met someone, he has met them and there is often photographic proof of their meeting. Truth #6: When Trump resorts to name-calling, "piggy" or “stupid” for instance, or calling something “fake news” — all of which could apply to himself — it means the point or question is important and really got under his skin. Keep doing this. Preferably several questions in a row until he absolutely loses it. Repeat the points and questions. Truth #7: Any time he takes credit for doing something, you can be sure it was already done by someone else. Find out who did it. Truth #8: Whenever he says “Everybody says…” or “People are saying…”, only he says it and maybe a couple of his lackeys. Ask him who said it. Ask for specifics, even though we won’t get them. Truth #9: Any plan Trump says he has a concept of, is only two weeks away, or will happen very soon won’t happen anytime soon, if ever (e.g., healthcare, infrastructure, trade deals, his tax returns, Middle East strategy, and most recently with Greenland). Press him on this. Truth #10: If Trump tells you something is not important or you should ignore it or to move on, you need to pay very close attention and insist on it being revealed (e.g. the complete Epstein files, affordability crisis, housing, nuclear safety, transparency). Just like in the Wizard of Oz, when he says “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain”, we need to pay a LOT of attention! Truth #11: Trump has a long history of sexual interest in little girls, including his daughter Ivanka, has bragged about walking in on undressed girls at his teen pageant, has a long history with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who were arrested for and convicted of child sex trafficking (Epstein died in prison under mysterious circumstances, while Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security prison by Trump’s administration and Trump said “I wish her well”), has an over 4-decade history of sexual assault that he also bragged about, was held liable for the civil equivalent of rape, made 4725 wire transfers to Epstein totaling over a billion dollars, Trump is reportedly mentioned over a million times in the Epstein files, Maralago is the most mentioned place in the Epstein files, and there are many victim interviews and testimonies against Trump, flight logs, FBI reports, a money trail, and more evidence. The Epstein files mention or allude to child sex trafficking, rape, physical abuse, murder, possible cannibalism, and other grotesque activities. Trump is guilty as sin and the GOP is protecting him and other pedophiles and murderers in the Republican Party. Truth #12: Whenever Trump talks about doing some authoritarian thing in the future, he seems to be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks (e.g.,canceling the midterm elections, running for a third term, terminating the Constitution, invading Greenland). Sometimes he says he was joking, even though he has no sense of humor. Push back. Truth #13: Every accusation is a confession, or something he is plotting to do (e.g., election interference, weaponized Department of Justice, human trafficking and pedophilia, jailing opponents, fake news). Pay attention. Truth #14: Whenever he says something is an amazing proposition, a fantastic deal, a tremendous possibility, and that you'd have to be insane to say “no”, say NO! But it does mean it would profit him personally. If it profits him, it's "a great deal!" Trump’s personal greed is boundless. Truth #15: If Trump deflects from the topic and engages in “the weave”, we need to re-engage with that topic. It’s important. Truth #16: If Trump invites you to something (e.g., Maralago, Board of Peace, tech/military partnership), you are going to pay big for it. Truth #17: When he says “nobody knew” or “who knew?”, Trump was the one who didn't know an obvious thing that everybody else knows or recognizes easily. He’s revealing his own ignorance and stupidity, while calling himself a genius, even a “very stable genius”. Although Trump frames his supposed "perfect score" on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment as a sign of "genius", medical experts and the test’s creator have clarified that it is a screening tool for dementia, not an IQ test. Trump’s own highest-level Republican appointees, including cabinet members, have called him “moron”, “idiot”, “fraud”, “fifth- or sixth-grader”, “kindergartner”, “toddler-like attention span”, “dumb as shit”, “con man”, “the most flawed human being”, “fascist to the core”, “threat to democracy“, “America’s Hitler”, and “unfit to be president”. Truth #18: When he says “the worst of the worst”, Trump doesn’t know, doesn’t care, they’re not, but he is whipping up fears, creating rage-bait, justifying government action, and is triggering low-information people. Truth #19: Trump has mastered the art of the Big Lie, developed by Nazi Minister of Propaganda Goebbels: tell outlandish lies, repeat them often, never back down, double down on them, and get others to repeat them too. Trump is a chronic and serial liar, as has been amply documented. Truth #20: Trump respects Hitler and other Nazis, Trump has hosted Hitler admirers and Holocaust deniers at his properties, Trump who rarely reads kept My New Order, a book of Hitler’s speeches, by his bed (according to his first wife Ivana), said a Jewish friend gave him Hitler’s Mein Kampf (which the friend denied), praised Hitler and fascist ideas while in the White House according to his own chief of staff, Trump uses Nazi words and phrases of dehumanization, the Trump regime has used and continues to use various Nazi slogans and imagery, Trump has amplified fascist, antisemitic, and xenophobic posts on social media, Trump said that neo-nazis who chanted “Jews will not replace us” included “very fine people”, and Trump pardoned Nazis, some of whom wore shirts that read “Camp Auschwitz”, “Civil War”, and “6mwe”, 6 million wasn’t enough, and one that said "Hitler should have finished the job". Trump’s current Vice President Vance once described Trump as “America’s Hitler”. We need to fight fascism. Truth #21: Whenever Trump tells a story that starts with someone saying "Sir", or someone saying how great he is, it's completely fabricated. Trump craves respect and invents it from others. Challenge him. Truth #22: When Trump refers to his friends, he’s referring to himself because he doesn’t have any friends. It turns out that even his best friend Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t really a friend, according to Epstein’s emails. Truth #23: Trump’s motivation is invariably self-interest by manipulation, deception, extortion, and at the expense of others. Call him out. Truth #24: Trump is unusually friendly, flattering, and deferential to Vladimir Putin, Russia’s dictator for a quarter century, has never given him a childish nickname, and consistently pursues policies that are favorable to Putin’s interests (destabilizing NATO, undermining Ukrainian sovereignty, threatening Greenland, pushing for the re-inclusion of Russia in the G-7, shifting the U.S. “National Defense Strategy” to deprioritize “combatting Russian aggression”, ending Russian sanctions, inviting Putin to America, and so on), consistently describes Putin as "smart", "courageous", “tough”, and "respected", but never as dictatorial, brutal, or fascistic, saying that he trusts Putin more than any European ally. Trump hung what he called a “nice” photo of Putin and himself in the White House, something completely unprecedented and wholly inappropriate. Trump seems in debt to and in fear of Putin. Trump is either a Russian agent or a very “useful idiot“. Truth #25: If Trump states a specific number, percentage, or statistic, that number is random and something he just pulled out of his ass. It is sometimes mathematically nonsensical and ludicrous. Ask for proof, which you will never receive. Truth #26: When Trump uses the phrase “like no one has ever seen before”, it is something pretty common that we have all seen before, typically many times. Tell him. Truth #27: If something or someone is failing according to Trump (e.g., Google, Meta, New York Times, Washington Post, Harvard University, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen), they are most likely doing very well or possibly even the best they ever have. Truth #28: When Trump says the economy is doing better, it means he is getting richer. Truth #29: Whenever Trump takes an action, there is likely money involved that will line his pockets. The action will either directly make him money through his businesses, or someone has directly or indirectly bribed him to do the action. Truth #30: There are three main reasons Trump does anything: 1) self-enrichment, 2) self-aggrandizement, or 3) spite. Truth #31: Trump cheats at everything: marriages, elections, statistics, taxes, charitable giving, education, personal and business valuation, golf, etc. He simply cannot be trusted with or about anything. Truth #32: Trump tried to illegally overturn his loss in the 2020 election by pressuring state election officials in states he lost (notably Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona), by trying to flip members of the Electoral College and install “fake electors” in seven states, by pressuring his Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the legitimate results, by being the “central cause” of the insurrection, and by other means. Truth #33: Trump acts like an abuser and engages in the classic tactics of DARVO: Deny or Deflect, Attack, Reverse Victim, and Offend. Be on guard. He has said that he is “the most persecuted person in history”! In the tragic January 2026 case of ICE agents murdering Renee Good in Minneapolis, the White House initially denied that federal agents used excessive force, then Trump and VP Vance attacked Good’s character and called her a “domestic terrorist”, then Vance claimed the administration was the victim of a "radical left-wing media hit job” and, in an ugly turn, that the federal agents who killed her, cursed her, and fled the scene were the true victims. Truth #34: Trump has militarily executed over 163 poor fishermen off the coast of Venezuela he accuses of being drug traffickers, without any evidence as usual for him, while literally pardoning drug kingpins, such as: the former convicted president of Honduras who was serving a 45-year sentence for conspiring to import over 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.; the largest cocaine and heroine dealer in Baltimore history; the former Tennessee House Chief of Staff who used and distributed cocaine in state buildings; the son of a congressional Republican sentenced to 8 years in prison after being convicted of distributing meth; and other major drug dealers. The Trump regime has also dropped thousands of cases against suspected drug traffickers and terrorists. Truth #35: Trump is very comfortable with his and the GOP’s racism, sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry, and xenophobia in words, social media posts, attacks, and policies. Trump was endorsed and is supported by neo-nazis, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, the KKK, the Proud Boys, and other right-wing hate groups. David Duke said that Trump’s and the KKK’s interests aligned and that they both wanted to “take our country back“. Which side are you on? Truth #36: Trump pardoned or commuted the insurrectionists, including those who are nazis, those who literally hunted politicians in our Capitol, those who physically attacked and assaulted police officers, those who wiped their feces on the walls of the Capitol, those who broke windows and stole computers and other federal property, those who wanted to hang Trump’s vice president, those who wanted to violently overturn a democratic election, those who conspired to start a civil war, etc. Some of these convicted criminals subsequently committed other serious crimes. Trump gives a free pass to “the worst of the worst”. Truth #37: Trump’s ICE has been given a budget that is larger than most countries’ military budgets, is hiring white nationalists, hiding behind masks, violating the Constitution, violating court orders, terrorizing Democratic cities, dragging people out of their homes and cars, tear-gassing peaceful protesters, using children as bait, has separated over 11,000 kids from their parents, and is harassing, arresting, and murdering innocent civilians. Like his own paramilitary force, Trump’s ICE is eerily reminiscent of the early Gestapo. Truth #38: Trump has run higher budget deficits and has added more to the national debt than any other president. A supermajority of the national debt was run up by Republicans. Even while slashing the government, cutting spending on social programs, and enacting tariffs, Trump has managed to increase government spending, increase the trade deficit, increase the budget deficit,and increase our national debt, while of course not lowering prices or benefiting most Americans. Trump and his Republican congressional sycophants are fiscally irresponsible. Truth #39: Trump issued more executive orders on his first day, in his first one hundred days, and more executive orders than any modern president. Trump has said that sometimes we need dictators. We need to protect and strengthen democracy. Truth #40: Trump is on track to issue the most pardons and commutations of any president. Besides the violent insurrectionists, Trump has pardoned a drug kingpin, police officers who murdered, a crypto CEO money launderer, various fraudsters, inside traders, tax evaders, bribers, and many members of his own political and legal team. Truth #41: Trump has politicized, and often weaponized, the military, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the IRS, and the entire civil service, making America less safe and secure, while making the government more loyal to him. Truth #42: Trump has appointed more people who are objectively unqualified, inexperienced, and incompetent for their jobs than any other president by far. Trump himself is unqualified and his only real condition for hiring is loyalty to Trump. Truth #43: Trump has taken a huge amount of vacation, typically at his own properties which taxpayers pay dearly for, while claiming he works so hard. Americans pay for the lack of his work ethic and his greed. Truth #44: Trump has been rated the worst president by historians and other scholars. History will validate this. Truth #45: Trump speaks at a 4th-to-6th grade level according to linguists, doesn’t like to read, said that he loves the poorly educated, has tried to close the Department of Education, has fired thousands of federal education employees, extorts universities, and has defunded public education, including special education. Trump is dumbing down America. Truth #46: Trump has illegally taken, not returned, carelessly stored, and intentionally shared highly classified material with his supporters, including foreign nationals, which is a violation of the law and a danger to the country. He obstructed the investigation of this. Trump has also shared top secret information related to national security with Putin and others. Trump committed treason, is a traitor, and is the biggest threat to the national security of America. Truth #47: Bully Trump has said he would invade Greenland and has said he won’t invade Greenland, also saying that he will get Greenland either the easy way or the hard way. Even with offering financial incentives to the residents of Greenland, support for Trump is virtually nonexistent and opposition to him there is overwhelming, as it is in Denmark and throughout Europe. As an autonomous region of Denmark, Greenlanders have free education, free healthcare, freedom, and respect, all things they would lose with U.S. annexation. Trump’s bombastic bloviations undermine NATO, which Denmark and therefore Greenland are members of, so once again Trump is either wittingly or unwittingly pursuing Putin‘s longstanding interest. Truth #48: Like the fascists before him, Trump has called immigrants “animals”, “vermin”, “criminals”, “rapists”, “monsters”, “not human”, and other dehumanizing terms, who he and other Republicans say are “poisoning our country”, another phrase out of the Nazi’s genocidal playbook. While stoking the fires of his white supremacist base, this language creates a hostile environment and encourages state-sanctioned violence against immigrants by ICE, national guards, police, and private individuals. Hate crimes against immigrants, people of color, and religious minorities have increased dramatically and tragically under Trump. It is worth noting that immigrants pay more in taxes than services they receive (while Musk’s Tesla and other mega-corporations paid zero or very low federal taxes in 2025), disproportionately work in the fields of construction, healthcare, agriculture, food and restaurants, home healthcare aides, nannies, gardeners, janitorial and house cleaners, and others, and boost the economy and improve our country in other ways, too. Further, studies show that immigrants commit less crime than native-born citizens and higher-immigrant neighborhoods are safer than non-immigrant communities. Most Americans are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants and immigrants make America great, while racist bigotry makes us worse. Truth #49: Qatar, which is a no-party brutal dictatorship that funds and hosts the Hamas leadership, gave Trump an old $400 million Boeing 747 that it couldn’t sell as a gift to be used as a “bridge aircraft” until there is a future Air Force One, after at least $1 billion of taxpayer money worth of refurbishing. Even at the time, people called it both a bribe and a boondoggle. Afterwards, Trump allowed Qatar to have an F-15 fighter jet facility within a U.S. Air Force base in America. This should not be. Truth #50: Trump is personally suing his own Department of Justice, Treasury Department, and IRS for over $10 billion and his own political appointees are in charge of deciding the settlements. Trump has commented that this “looks bad”. Truth #51: Trump has been impeached twice, has been convicted of dozens of felonies,has been held liable and fined for the civil equivalent of rape, has been held liable and fined for libel, has been sued thousands of times, has bankrupted numerous companies, has been accused by dozens of women and girls of sexual assault and rape, and is mentioned prominently and repeatedly, tens of thousands of times, in the partially-released Epstein files and reportedly more than one million times in the complete files. Trump is a thug, mob boss, rapist, pedophile, felon, and convicted criminal. The evidence is overwhelming and mounting. Truth #52: Trump demands absolute loyalty from everyone, while being loyal to nothing and no one. With the possible exception of Putin. Truth #53: Whatever horrific, authoritarian, illegal, unconstitutional, and cruel things Trump has done, he and his regime are planning worse. Be prepared. Truth #54: Everything about Trump is consistent with a sociopath and malignant narcissist and everything about his supporters is consistent with a cult. Act accordingly. Anyone of these should be totally disqualifying for someone holding public office. Sadly, there are many more tragic truths regarding his ego, malignant narcissism, many instances of extortion, charity fraud, insults of injured soldiers and POWs, threatening to make Canada the 51st state, threatening various other allies, capturing a foreign president and seizing Venezuelan oil, blockading Cuba and plunging it into darkness, secret watch lists of Americans, bombing Iran during negotiations and then bragging about war crimes, banning Anne Frank’s diary and other Holocaust books, violating court orders, calling climate change a hoax, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord and bolstering coal, pulling out of the World Health Organization, coveting the Nobel Peace Prize, his Orwellian Board of Peace and the transfer of public of billions of funds to this private organization controlled by Trump for life, unconstitutional tariffs, suing and being sued so much, his feelings about people with disabilities, being the Pope, and so on ad nauseum. *The first four of these truths come from Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration and former professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, and the rest from his readers, others, and mostly myself. Dan Brook is Senior Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San Jose State University. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/7/2376715/-The-Truth-About-Trump-54-Reality-Checks-in-a-Crazy-Time?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/