By now, we are all aware of the unpredictable nature of President Trump’s policies, executive orders, and royal decrees. Whether it’s tariffs, presidential pardons, or military orders, nothing is certain except uncertainty itself.
You may recall during Mr. Trump’s second presidential campaign, when he met at Mar-a-Lago with oil company executives. At that time, the oil industry had an extensive list of policy actions it wanted Mr. Trump to take if elected, including dismantling parts of President Biden’s green agenda and rolling back pollution regulations that threatened to crimp their profits.
At the meeting, Trump went even further, promising to slash the Biden administration’s tax credits for electric vehicles and spend less government money developing wind power, according to The Washington Post.
Mr. Trump said that he would do all that when president if the oil executives donated $1 billion to his campaign fund.
Well, Mr. Trump has done all that and more in year one.
You may also recall that Mr. Trump’s campaign and inauguration received millions of dollars in donations from the crypto industry. Then, once elected, his administration appointed crypto-friendly regulators, reduced crypto regulation, and dropped investigations into crypto firms and crypto crime.
The Trump family, led by the self-proclaimed “crypto president,” has reportedly accumulated substantial profits from cryptocurrency ventures in the past year, according to published reports.
Then there are Trump’s highly questionable presidential pardons. Published reports have raised questions about whether business deals or large investments in Trump family businesses coincided with pardons. In addition, people seeking pardons, or their family members, have reportedly made substantial donations to Trump-affiliated Super PACs or his presidential inaugural fund.
In January, Mr. Trump ordered military and economic pressure on Venezuela and its oil industry, citing the need to stop illicit drug trafficking. Mr. Trump has said of Venezuelan oil, “This oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me.”
Mr. Trump’s most consequential military move so far has been the U.S. military campaign against Iran. The justifications offered have shifted over time.
“Iran violently kills peaceful protestors,” Trump has said. And: “Something had to be done.” And: “If we don’t stop them or if we didn’t stop them or if we didn’t start — they’ve been decimated — but if we didn’t do what we’re doing right now, you would have had a nuclear war.” And: “We thought we had a deal, but then they backed out and then they came back and we thought we had a deal and they backed out. I said, ‘You can’t deal with these people. You got to do it the right way.’”
The concern now for many Americans is how the conflict with Iran may escalate and whether retaliatory actions could reach American soil. As the Sept. 11 attacks demonstrated, the threat of terrorism is real and difficult to predict.
This current situation is reminiscent of the bomb shelter craze during the 1950s-60s due to escalating Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union. During that period, hundreds of thousands of Americans built or bought fallout shelters for basements or backyards with the objective of surviving a potential nuclear war.
People commonly stocked home shelters with a minimum two-week supply of water, non-perishable food that did not require cooking (Spam was a popular choice), and medical kits, among other essential items.
Now, a growing fear of global conflicts has sparked a renewed interest in creating a place to seek safety during a crisis. In the U.S. alone, disaster preparation is an $11 billion and growing annual business, with costs ranging from around $19,000 for basic, prefabricated shelters to $500,000+ for large, self-contained bunkers.
Brian Cramden, president of a Virginia-based firm that builds multimillion-dollar fortified homes and bomb shelters, said work has been “steady” for years but that he has seen a “major uptick in the last two, three months.”
Vivos, a California-based company that provides “shelter solutions,” reports inquiries and applications are up dramatically year over year.
And this latest rush to build bomb shelters is not limited to the U.S. Consider these recent headlines:
Israel to invest in 1,000 new public shelters, renovate 500 after Iranian missiles kill dozens.
Poland races to build bomb shelters.
Sweden to invest $36M in bomb shelters.
In his book The Art of the Deal, Mr. Trump said, “The worst of times often create the best opportunities to make good deals.” When it comes to his presidential policies, the question worth asking is: good deals for whom?
While there is no indication that Trump and his family are profiting from the skyrocketing sales of bomb shelters, the fact that Iran holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves has led some observers to question the full scope of American strategic interests in the conflict.
Time will tell. Meanwhile, it might be a good idea to stock up on Spam.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In