The Bulwark's open letter to Trump and his "cherished notion that people respect you when they kiss your ass"

[Miles Archer]

Somebody Needs to Tell Trump Everybody Is Laughing at Him

Mona Charen
Dec 30, 2025

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/somebody-needs-to-tell-trump-everybody-laughing-at-him

Dear President Trump,

Of all the wrong ideas you hold in your heart—that tariffs are paid by foreigners, that good looks are the chief credential for cabinet offices, that the 2020 election was rigged, that allies are bloodsuckers we’d be better off without—perhaps the most gobsmacking is your cherished notion that people respect you when they kiss your ass.

Sorry, that’s not true. They despise you on two levels. On the first level, because you’ve managed to get elected president, you do have leverage that nearly everyone must grapple with in some fashion. (Think of Volodymyr Zelensky.) That power comes not from you personally but from the great strength of this country, economic, military, and diplomatic. So yes, when you use that leverage to extort lavish praise from people, they will offer it. But they don’t mean a word of it. Not a word. And in their hearts they hate you for demeaning them in this fashion instead of treating them with respect.

The second level of contempt arises from the knowledge—recognized by the whole world, Mr. Trump, except you—that your extravagant need for attention and praise is evidence of your emotional stuntedness. With every renaming of a building you are sending up a signal that screams “I am so insecure!” And here’s the truth: You cannot piggyback on the respect John F. Kennedy earned by slapping your name on the arts center that was named by statute to be his living memorial. Your name may be side by side with his on the marble for now, but in our hearts, we will never respect you. Quite the opposite—for all of your depredations and twice on Sunday for attempting to hijack someone else’s honor.

It gets worse. It isn’t just that your ravenous hunger for recognition betrays a personality disorder, it’s that your particular style of seeking it really does provoke ridicule—that’s another word for “they’re laughing at us.”

[BOSSHOG]

1. and aint no respect

For anyone convicted of 34 felonies who hasn’t spent one day incarcerated. Because. His punk on the Supreme Court has no integrity and no respect.

Hey Mr Lonely, you have nobody. Never have, never will.

[OLDMDDEM]

2. Mona is saying what millions of us should be saying out loud.

[maxsolomon]

5. I do believe we have said that, many of us for decades.

He's been a pathological attention whore for his entire adult life.

[OLDMDDEM]

6. I agree. More people need to jump in and say something. Voting will do it down the road, but we need to

be vocal now.

[maxsolomon]

7. We've been vocal. He got re-elected.

The die is cast and he's POTUS for 3+ years more. Voting won't change that.

Sorry to be a cynic this morning.

[OLDMDDEM]

8. That doesn't mean we should stop and wait. Protests, edicorials, phone calls, etc. help others learn about what

is going on. Not everyone can watch cable news and get the story straight.

[Just Jerome]

3. All I can think of

is the classic vine of the (highly respected) chimp brandishing the gun.

[Borogove]

4. No one has ever embarrassed this country more than Trump. The stain will be permanent.

[Trueblue Texan]

30. The world will never trust the US again, not because of TSF...

...but because there are enough stupid f*ckers to re-elect him. TSF will one day be gone, but American arrogance and ignorance will continue to thrive.

[BaronChocula]

9. He's gonna be so mad when he reads this

[Ol Janx Spirit]

12. He's going to be mad when he sees this in cartoon form in the PDB.

[BaronChocula]

13. Spot on!

[MarcoZandrini]

25. Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!

Words not yelled out by the coxswain of an 8 person skull!

[Martin Eden]

10. SPOT-FRIGGIN-ON

Too bad he will never read this; or if he does read it, he will have no understanding of its obvious truth.

If he responds at all, it will be with juvenile insults, threats, and possible retribution.

[red dog 1]

22. He's an idiot. Idiots don't read.

He's as dumb as a box of rocks!

[GiqueCee]

11. We can only laugh...

... at him in between extended, profanity-laced roars of rage and contempt for the damage he's done to America, much of which is the result of gross incompetence, but much is also the result of intentional malice. Trump is an unspeakably vile, boorish pig of a man who delights in hurting people. Apologies to Sus scrofa domesticus for the insulting comparison.

[Miles Archer]

19. I watch a lot of "procedural cop dramas"...

...every one of them eventually gets around to doing an episode (or episodes, plural) about serial killers. Specifically, the story addresses:

1). What void in the lives of the victims did they feel they would fill by letting this person in, and

2). If the serial killer is suspicious on any level, raises red flags, sets off alarms, etc, why did the victims choose to ignore these early warnings and convince themselves that the serial killer really is "someone else" and can be trusted?

That's a question I don't think America will ever answer.

I loved seeing your use of the words "boorish pig" because that's exactly how I normally describe Trump, all the way back to pre-"Apprentice" days, going on the Howard Stern show and waxing philosophic over his own daughter being "a piece of ass." It's how the New York elites see him...some were amused by him, others repulsed, and they let him dance around the outskirts of their inner circle but never fully welcomed him into it.

One analogy I also use is from the old black and white 30s vampire movies...the vampire must be invited into the house. He can hover outside of that window all night long and flap his wings and that's as far as he is going to get until the victim invites him in.

And yeah, America invited the vampire into the house.

Can't be explained away with logic. America believed the "Apprentice" lie, the fictional TV character who was never Donald Trump, and never will be.

America thought it would be wicked cool to deport all of the brown people, not giving a thought to the fact that the U.S. infrastructure is not wholly supported by Caucasians, and no...white people aren't going out into the fields under the blistering sun to pick lettuce.

Everything we are going through right now was self-inflicted. Not by you. Not by me. But by enough people to have re-elected him, eagerly expecting something they are never going to get.

[GiqueCee]

20. Eloquently articulated!

[pfitz59]

21. Trump is a 'serial' killer

only he uses the US flag and its forces to do the killing for him.

[ShazzieB]

14. Excellent summation!

I especially love the closing paragraph:

In short, there has never been a president who has made the United States less respected than you have. We are, to borrow a phrase, disrespected like never before. Whether your twisted ego can recognize that is open to question, but what is not debatable is that virtually the whole world knows.

And perhaps the worst part is the fact that this country managed to elect him a second time. I fear that it may take a long time for our allies to fully trust us again.

The only thing I would quibble with is the notion that Trump's ability to recognize how much he has made the world disrespect us is "open to question." There's no question about it: he's incapable of recognizing that, at least on a conscious level. His twisted ego is much too fragile to allow him to ever even the tiniest mistake. It's maddening if I let myself think about it too much.

[Uncle Joe]

15. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread Miles Archer

[Icanthinkformyself]

16. Being that Bulwark

is a conservative publication they contributed to the disaster. Conservatives are part of the problem and can never again criticize progressives or liberals for ANY reason. And, yes, we are laughing at conservative ignorance and cognitive disconnect and sad at the same time that we have to deal with it.

[Miles Archer]

17. Conservatives are nailing the barn door shut after all of the cows are miles away

I do understand the origins of the Bulwark.

And it's not exactly like Karl Rove. I don't know if you saw what I posted yesterday or the day before but he's basically saying Trump can get his numbers back up and Republicans can win the midterms if Trump can only "patiently explain what a great job he's doing."

I did have some hesitancy on posting anything from the Bulwark, due to its roots, Bill Krystol, etc etc etc, but this specific piece is pretty damned impossible to argue with.

Sure, the people who are speaking out right now are the people who made Trump happen. I get it.

I still can't argue with the content of this specific op/ed, though, which is why I posted it.

[Harker]

18. Good looks?

[Blumancru]

32. Ever notice that he hires women who have the same look, and are above average in physical appeal

often via plastic surgery, like Malaria and Laura Looney? But the men he has around are damned ugly. That one press guy comes to mind, he looks like his head was caught in a giant pencil sharpener. Mike Rocephalic is his name I think. RFKjr, Steve Bunion, etc.
It is almost as if Chomolini was insecure and didn’t want any “rivals” for the affections of all these women he would like us to think he is boinking.

[Harker]

34. Yes, you nailed his M.O.

His calculation, though, as to what others find attractive is pretty predictable, and utterly fails to take into account that grownups come to see that beauty is in ones character. He coyly said in public that Pam Bondi is "beautiful", while I see nothing but her ugliness.

He has a juvenile belief that a centerfold model or a "star" is inherently more desirable than any bank teller, social worker, et al.

You're right, he appears to go to extraordinary lengths in trying to find men he thinks are no challenge to his alpha state.

[BurnDoubt]

23. AND...

He stole the Election.
I will NEVER believe that many Americans voted for him, or his slavish ass-kissers.
To HELL with ALL of them.
Literally.

[jaymac]

28. hear hear

totally agree..........times ten

[Trueblue Texan]

31. Never underestimate the power of media and...

...the stupidity of your fellow Americans.

[GoodRaisin]

24. And that name is coming off that building.

Don’t know when, but it isn’t going to stay there.

[sop]

26. History repeats...

[OldBaldy1701E]

27. He does not care about respect.

He cares about obeisance.

He does not care about people's anything.

He demands that people worship him and as long as he thinks they do, he is fine. You can tell him the truth all you want, but as long as he holds to his delusion that he is the greatest thing since sliced bread, nothing we say or do will really bother him... other than his fragile ego, which (like any toddler) can be placated easily.

Until he (and a few others) is dragged through the streets in rags and chains, he will never accept anything other than the delusions that he demands.

And, until that happens, I will not believe in American Justice.

[Miles Archer]

29. Chaz Palminteri as "Sonny" in "A Bronx Tale"..."Is it better to be feared or loved"

[azureblue]

33. It goes back to

When his father berated him and when he hung out at Studio 54 in NYC. He was one of the trust fund babies who thought their money would make them a member of the "in" crowd, but he had no personality or anything to offer except for coke. So he couldn't hook up with any woman there because they knew what he was. So he preyed on young naive girls.

He can't see a woman as anything but an object, just something to F---. And badly at that, as Stormy attested to - "The worst three minutes of my life".

He's a loser using his power for revenge. That's all he is.