One of the most exhausting aspects of the Trump administration is the never-ending flood of bizarre ideas that come from the White House. It’s overwhelming and hard to keep up with how much nonsense is being thrown our way.
Just a few years ago, the news that Trump didn’t know what the Declaration of Independence was would have been a major scandal. Now, it barely gets noticed because absurd stories like this happen so often. Every week, we get a new round of crazy ideas that make it feel like we’re living in a constant circus.
Take, for example, Trump’s recent announcement that he plans to reopen Alcatraz. He posted on TruthSocial that the federal government is going to turn it into a “substantially enlarged” prison to solve the problem of overcrowded jails.
Think about how strange this is. In a normal government, if you need more prisons, you do research, plan, and figure out the most efficient solution. But Trump just casually decided that Alcatraz, a former prison turned museum, should be brought back as a facility. And it wasn’t some well-thought-out policy—it was a random, unvetted decision made with no consultation from experts.
We know this is a terrible idea because Alcatraz was shut down in 1963 because it was too costly to operate and renovate. It’s a 22-acre island, which is far too small to expand into a prison complex. If we really needed a new high-security prison, Alcatraz would be the last place to put it.
Then, not long after, Trump cooked up another absurd idea: a 100 percent tariff on foreign movies. He apparently thought that films like Bluey, the Movie posed a “national security threat” and decided this drastic measure was necessary. This idea came after a confusing conversation with actor Jon Voight, but as usual, there was no discussion or expert consultation.
This plan is laughably unworkable and raises huge legal and practical issues. How do you define a “foreign film”? Many films are made internationally, across multiple countries. Would the tariff apply to movie budgets, ticket sales, or streaming platforms? And beyond the logistics, such a move would likely violate the First Amendment since it’s a direct attack on freedom of expression. If the government can’t tax newspapers without facing constitutional challenges, how could they possibly impose a 100 percent tax on movies?
Even more concerning is that this plan could open the door for the U.S. government to start taxing services—a disastrous idea considering the U.S. is a huge exporter of services. If Trump had bothered to talk to anyone with experience in these areas, he would have realized just how damaging this could be.
These absurd ideas are becoming the norm under Trump’s leadership. In just the past month, he impulsively started a trade war with China, falsely claimed that a man named Abrego Garcia had “MS-13” tattoos on his knuckles in the default font of Microsoft Office, and rambled on about how many dolls and pencils people should be allowed to own. The signs of his mental decline are becoming impossible to ignore, and it’s clear that these kinds of wild decisions will only continue in the coming years.
The worst part? There’s no one around Trump to stop him. He’s surrounded by sycophants who care more about keeping their jobs than protecting the country. Republican leaders in Congress have shown little interest in holding him accountable either.
It’s clear that the Trump administration is a nonstop parade of absurdities, and unless something changes, we’re heading for a crisis that could have been easily avoided.
