The Devil is in the Details

By Antjuan Seawright, Columnist

As a son of the South, I’ve lived by that old southern adage that “the Devil is in the details.” That’s as true today as it ever was. 

We’ve seen all the news about the Trump tariffs and how they’re killing our economy. We know that the trade war hamstrung our exports as much as our imports and we know our farmers have been calling it a crisis since day one. We’ve also seen the news about the agreement that might end that trade war.

Of course, while the devil will be in the details, Trump wants us to praise him for ending a crisis he started. The truth is that’s just the tip of the iceberg because for every MAGA announcement that dominates the 24-hour news cycle and sparks national outrage, there are countless others that don’t.

We know it’s bad. But it’s actually way worse than we think.

For example, I know you’ve heard about the massive government layoffs led by Trump and Elon Musk. But did you know that they were firing 80,000 employees from the VA?

You’ve probably heard about Trump’s widely publicized feud with Harvard. But did you know that he’s putting critical medical research at risk by freezing $2.2 billion in Harvard’s grants all because he thinks they’re “too woke?”

We knew that Trump had stopped all Department of Justice civil rights investigations and police reform agreements, including the agreements in Louisville, KY, and Minneapolis, MN, reached following the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. But did you know he was actively working to reverse that progress?

You probably heard about Trump’s plans to cancel federal funding for NPR and PBS because, apparently, programming like Sesame Street is a left-wing conspiracy. But did you know he was eliminating the country’s TRIO programs that have been making college a reality for students across the nation since 1964?

That’s Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math-Science, Talent Search, Educational Opportunity Centers, Student Support Services, Veterans Upward Bound, the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, 3,500 programs, and millions of students. Trump wants to get rid of all of it, and it’s barely made a headline.

Have you heard about the major flight delays plaguing the country right now? That’s because air traffic controllers fed up with chronic understaffing, outdated equipment, and more are walking off the job because the Trump administration refuses to do anything despite his campaign pledge to fix it.

In fact, earlier this month, disgust and frustration caused at least 20% of air traffic controllers at Newark International Airport to quit because of the situation, and now major airlines like United are cutting their flights.

Did you hear about Trump’s announcement that he’ll start garnishing the wages of the 5.3 million Americans who owe money on their student loans?

How about the fact that he’s cutting $1 billion in grants used to improve mental health services in our schools?

Would it surprise you that Trump is cutting roughly $1 billion from food assistance programs, which help keep most local food banks in America afloat?

At the same time, those food banks are needed the most since, with skyrocketing inflation, even folks making six-figure salaries can’t make ends meet, and Americans are actually financing groceries with a new surge in “buy now, pay later” loans.

Of course, it may be safer for folks not to buy groceries these days because, with Trump and the MAGA boys dismantling our nation’s food safety infrastructure, the odds of that food making them sick are higher than ever.

Oh, you didn’t hear about this? Well, it turns out that at least 15,000 USDA employees, including hundreds of food inspectors, have quit since Trump took office. Furthermore, the top FDA official overseeing drug and food safety inspections across the nation resigned this month. Apparently, he was fed up with the never-ending Trump cuts and White House officials who cared little about protecting the nation’s food supply.

But that’s not the worst of it. Salmonella causes 1.35 million infections in America every year. But, in April, the Trump Administration announced it was withdrawing the Biden Administration’s initiative to limit salmonella in America’s poultry products. They also announced they wouldn’t be testing milk for pathogens or quality anymore.

I’d make a “Make America Healthy Again” joke here. But it’s not funny. Can you imagine anything more important than ensuring our kids’ milk is safe? Neither can I. But if that’s not making the front page, then can you imagine what is?

But that’s the point, isn’t it? Trump and MAGA are shoving everything they can think of down our throats, the more ridiculous the better, because they’re betting on the belief that we can only pay attention to so much. They know that while our outrage over his illegal ICE raids sparks nationwide protests, as they should, they can dismantle food safety, gut public education, and make a mockery of free speech without anyone even noticing.

They’re hoping you won’t notice their proposal to kick 10.3 million Americans off their health insurance with the biggest Medicaid cuts in history while literally taking the food out of people’s mouths by cutting $300 billion from SNAP benefits so that they can give the wealthiest 0.1% another massive tax cut while the cost of your groceries keep going up.

That’s why, while most Americans are scared to death, Project 2025 architect Paul Dans is thrilled beyond his “wildest dreams.”

Meanwhile, the Trump Trade War is a complete failure, and Trump fired the head of FEMA while denying disaster relief to tornado survivors…and hurricane season is just around the corner.

Antjuan Seawright is a Democratic political strategist, founder and CEO of Blueprint Strategy LLC and a senior visiting fellow at Third Way. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @antjuansea.