The Missed Opportunity — and the High Cost of Hubris

If Donald Trump had been wise, upon winning the recent election, he would have preserved the most qualified individuals in his cabinet, the judiciary, and our intelligence agencies. Rather than purging the experienced hands who had long safeguarded our nation’s stability, he should have recognized the importance of institutional wisdom. He should have leaned on it. Instead, he dismantled it.

Trump chose loyalty over competence, replacing seasoned professionals with individuals who had little to no experience or understanding of the roles they were thrust into. Their primary qualification was not expertise, but unwavering personal allegiance to him. In doing so, Trump gutted the institutional backbone that helped maintain America’s prosperity, security, and international standing.

Today, we find ourselves in an economic mess, with no real prospect of near-term reversal. Trump never understood the delicate international tightrope we walked — the complex web of alliances, trade relationships, and diplomatic agreements that quietly sustained America’s wealth and global influence. Those relationships, built over decades, were not just handshakes and photo ops; they were a masterful, fragile balancing act. One that Trump treated with reckless disregard.

Even more troubling is what the American public often never saw: the disasters, both domestic and international, that were quietly averted by the professionalism of the previous cabinet members, the FBI, and the CIA. These were people who understood the stakes — who played critical roles behind the scenes to prevent chaos from breaking loose. Their expertise and silent vigilance preserved national security in ways the average citizen could never fully appreciate.

Now, with so much of that infrastructure dismantled, what benefit remains? I see only one potential outcome: America being humbled — brought so low economically, diplomatically, and morally — that the toxic ideologies fueling MAGA extremism and the Christian Right will collapse under the weight of their own failure. Their vision of "greatness" was built on hubris, not substance. And history has always dealt harshly with such delusions.

In the end, Trump's pursuit of loyalty over leadership may have satisfied his ego, but it left the nation vulnerable, weakened, and divided. It is a bitter but necessary reckoning.