7 deeply troubling issues Donald Trump did on his eighth day again in workplace

On the eighth day, Donald Trump played golf – but even managed to make that a little bit corrupt.

After a week of ‘flooding the zone’ with mad, occasionally outrageous orders and definitely-not-authoritarian firing sprees – Trump spent the morning in one of his favourite places.

And made the entire House Republican Party come with him.

Elsewhere he floated the idea of deporting American people he doesn’t like, and joked (again) about wanting to stay in power longer than his second term.

Totally cool. Very not terrifying.

Here’s what Donald Trump did overnight that you need to know about.

1. Held a major Republican conference at one of his own golf resorts

Every January, House Republicans hold a policy retreat – where they chew over ideas to advance their political agenda.

And true to form, Trump decided to hold it this year at Trump National Doral Miami, a fancy resort with four golf courses which, as the name suggests, is owned by the President.

He greeted Republican colleagues with a stack of cheeseburgers, each one branded with his name.

2. Then spent half the day playing golf

During his first Presidency, Donald Trump visited a Trump Organisation property once every 3.4 days, according to the Washington Post.

During those times, he played around 261 rounds of golf. A round every 5.6 days.

And we can chalk another one up. Trump spent a few hours on one of his own golf courses yesterday morning. A sight of things to come.

3. Banned trans people from the military, again

In 2019, Trump banned Trans people from serving in the military. It was a widely criticised, got tied up in the courts and was quickly reversed by Joe Biden once he took office.

So obviously Trump is looking to bring it back – but this time even more forcefully.

The first trans ban prevented people with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, who are receiving hormone treatment, to enlist in the military.

The new Executive Order goes even further – stating that expressing a gender identity different from an individual’s biological sex at birth does not meet military standards.

4. Floated deporting American citizens. Not immigrants – citizens

During his speech to the Republican retreat, Trump floated the idea of not only deporting illegal immigrants, but American citizens too.

“I don’t want these violent repeat offenders in our country any more than illegal aliens from other countries who misbehave,” he said.

“And I say, and this is subject to getting approved, but if they’ve been arrested many many times, repeat offenders, with many numbers, I want them out of our country.

“I also will be seeking permission to do so…we’re going get a group of them, to get them the hell out of our country. Let them be brought to a foreign land and maintained by others for a very small fee, as opposed to being maintained in our jails for massive amounts of money – including the private prison companies who charge us a fortune.”

He added: “Let them be brought out of our country and live there for a while and see how they like it.”

It’s not clear whether such offenders would be allowed to return to the US after serving their term – if not, that would involve removing their citizenship, which would be illegal both under US and international law.

5. Announced an “iron dome” for America

The President said he was going to sign an order to build a missile defence system similar to Israel’s high tech Iron Dome.

Thing is, Israel is a tiny country, which is constantly bombarded with missiles across its border.

The United States, on the other hand, is an enormous land mass, and the last time it came under aerial bombardment from beyond its borders was Pearl Harbour.

6. may have halted funding for food and rent assistance and childhood programs

There is a great deal of uncertainty about an order to freeze all spending on federal grants and loans.

The order, which is oddly worded, states it won’t affect programmes that pay for healthcare for the poor and elderly. And there’s a slightly hazy exemption for programmes that deliver funds directly to individuals.

The Trump administration says it wants to halt the cash to ensure all of the programmes agree with the President’s agenda.

And the memo states: “The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”

But people are exceptionally worried that programmes used by millions of Americans, including children’s services, children’s health insurance, and food and rent assistance could face a serious impact.

7. ‘Joked’ (again) about wanting to stay in office beyond the end of his second term…

In what is becoming a daily occurrence – but one we intend to keep pointing out – Trump “joked” about wanting to stay in power beyond the end of his second term.

The constitution bars anyone from serving more than two terms as President.

But Trump said at the Republican retreat: “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race…that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not sure. I think I’m not allowed to run again…I’m not sure, am I allowed to run again?”

As a reminder, he frequently “joked” before the 2020 election about only accepting the result “if I win”. And we know how much of a “joke” that turned out to be.