Tragedy as Political Prey: Trump's Vulture Diplomacy

Over the next four years, we must challenge, resist, and fixate on these moments of astonishing indecency.

From the desk of your friendly neighborhood presidential historian:

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On a Related Note

• Gird your loins for a wild Saturday night: I'll be back on C-SPAN's Book Talk—but I won’t be talking about books. They wanted to talk about Study, Marry, Kill!

• ICYMI: No Paine, No Gain & Other Stories

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The Salon Digitale

I dropped into the "Study, Marry, Kill" chat and it was great! You can drop in, too, and hang out with fellow history cranks and fiends. I'll post tidbits from time to time, starting with book recs from the community:

Dad Lasso: The Barn by Wright Thompson.

Charlotte: John Quincy Adams, A Man for the Whole People by Randall Woods.

Edicson: Recoding America by Jennifer Pahlka.

Bruce: Democracy in Darkness Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolution by Katlyn Marie Carter.

Marie: How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith.

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Highly Recommend

• Ruth Franklin’s highly anticipated (by me! I highly anticipated it! she’s a great critic! ) new book, The Many Lives of Anne Frank, is out!

• Anne Helen Peterson’s newsletter always gives me something to chew on.

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Tragedy as Political Prey: Trump's Vulture Diplomacy

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated in the cold January sky, showering the hopes of a nation in fiery debris. 73 seconds after liftoff, all seven crew members perished.

On January 30, 2025, an American Airlines plane with 60 passengers and four crew members collided in midair with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. All 67 souls on board were lost.

These are crucibles that define a presidency. Reagan's response (crafted by Peggy Noonan) exuded empathy and leadership, and stands in stark contrast to President Donald Trump's reaction. This reveals more than a chasm in communication styles; it's a fundamental perversion of the American presidency.

In the powerful four-minute address, Reagan sutured a nation's gaping wound with words that still resonate decades later: "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'" It was a rhetorical ballet of grief, resolve, and hope, addressing an audience ranging from shell-shocked schoolchildren to the bereaved families of the fallen astronauts.

With bodies still warm in the Potomac, Trump pivoted from perfunctory condolences to a vitriolic assault on his political adversaries. Without a shred of evidence, less than 24 hours after the crash, he was determined to make a tragedy submit to his agenda: Diversity policies had turned the friendly skies into killing fields—thanks to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

"They put politics at a level that nobody's ever seen because this was the lowest level," he snarled, dismissing the need for any investigation.

Meanwhile, many of the victims' families were still trapped in agonizing limbo, waiting to learn the fate of their loved ones.

These men of media had different personalities, to be sure, but nothing was so wildly disparate as their irreconcilable visions of the presidency. Reagan, schooled in the golden age of Hollywood, understood the power of a well-delivered line to mend a fractured nation. Trump, forged by reality TV and online trolls, viewed a horrific tragedy as fodder for his never-ending political campaign when he should have been president. National calamities became mere opportunities for political point-scoring and base energization.

For now, the GOP dominates Congress—but midterms loom on the horizon. Trump's style may electrify his base but it may once again corrode the coalitions necessary for significant policy achievements. Reagan's ability to build broad consensus through his speeches translated into legislative triumphs and public support for his initiatives.

As America hurtles towards an uncertain future, the lessons from these two presidents loom large. Will future leaders follow Reagan's path of measured, unifying rhetoric, or embrace Trump's scorched-earth approach, adapted for an era where tweets can topple governments and TikTok trends can shape global policy?

Trump isn't interested in mending; he's determined to shatter. Over the next four years, we must challenge, resist, and fixate on these moments of astonishing indecency. It's up to us to indict his most potent con: a vision of America as dark and vengeful as the man himself.

See you soonish! In the meantime, you can find me on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitter. My books on Bookshop, Amazon, and your local bookstore or library. If you’d like me to sign or personalize my books, purchase copies from Oblong Books.