Thread by @AdrienneLaF

In an October 2016 editorial, @TheAtlantic described Donald Trump as a “demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar,” unfit to be president.

At the two-year mark of Trump's presidency, @JeffreyGoldberg writes: “In retrospect, we may be guilty of understatement.”

This morning we are launching a big project we’re calling #TrumpUnthinkable. We asked 50 writers to reflect on 50 moments that would have been unthinkable in any other presidency, Democratic or Republican.

You can read @JeffreyGoldberg’s editor’s note and find all 50 ranked moments here:

theatlantic.com/unthinkable/

James Parker on the orb is so good that I’ve read portions of it aloud to multiple people.
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In which @ElainaPlott articulates the blueprint for success in Trump's Cabinet: “Feel free to dabble in some corruption—but not so much that it overtakes the West Wing...”
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Brilliant @DavidFrench on Trump’s view of masculinity: "Trump mocks and exploits women. He shamed and attacked a Gold Star family. He coddled the pathetic tiki-torch brigade... all while basking in the approving roars of his testosterone-fueled crowd.”
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This is an important essay, by the great @MeganGarber, about how easily otherwise rational people can "lose their bearings and become convinced, in the tumult, that everything [is] possible and nothing [is] true.” theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Two things I’d forgotten about Trump’s controversial jamboree appearance until @YAppelbaum reminded me:

1. He said “Who the hell wants to speak about politics” to the Boy Scouts

2. He bragged to them about partying with “the hottest people in New York”
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“No modern president has treated diplomacy, its institutions, and the people who run them with less care than Trump.” Here’s @YaraBayoumy with a warning about America's reputation—and its ability to influence world events. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Very smart George Packer on one of the weirdest inversions of the past few years. WikiLeaks and the Republican Party may be distant ideological allies—but they have common enemies.
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America no longer has a president who can serve as the consoler in chief. Here's @JamesFallows: “The list of instances when Trump said the wrong thing could go on. The more important point is that he’s never said the right thing.”
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“If Trump loses the 2020 presidential election, no one should any longer be surprised when he declares that the result is not valid, further shredding the political fabric he’s spent the past few years tearing.” Always read @GrahamDavidA: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

The president’s attitude toward science has ranged from “casual disregard to outright antipathy.” @EdYong209 on the stakes of having a president who isn't into evidence-based thinking:
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Here’s @SarahZhang on how “to Trump, gut instinct has become a substitute for all expertise and all nuance.”
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Trump’s economic adviser: “My function, really, as an economist is to try to provide the underlying analytics that confirm [Trump’s] intuition. And his intuition is always right...”

@RadioFreeTom: “This is not expertise but sycophancy.”

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Things you might see on the Mar-a-Lago dining terrace: bamboo-and-rattan chairs; fancy glassware; CEOs and heads of state. Also Donald Trump and his entourage casually examining documents detailing North Korean missile capabilities. Read @Ibogost:
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Things you might see on the Mar-a-Lago dining terrace: bamboo-and-rattan chairs; fancy glassware; CEOs and heads of state. Also: Donald Trump and his entourage casually examining documents detailing North Korean missile capabilities. Read @Ibogost: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Americans are much sunnier about their country’s prospects than the rest of the world is, writes @VauhiniVara. So perhaps it’s not surprising that President Trump, “the televangelist of American greatness,” never wants to leave home.
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Trump hotels, Trump steaks, Trump vodka, Trump water, Trump board games, Trump shoes, Trump ties, Trump deodorant, Trump mattresses, and Trump chandeliers. What does any of this have to do with Robert Mueller? @ProfCiara explains
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Government shutdowns may “come and go like cherry blossoms and Metro fires” in Washington—but this one’s different. Here's @Saahil_Desai:
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The fact that John Roberts felt he had to publicly correct the president “suggests that he believes Trump’s behavior threatens not just the authority of the Supreme Court but the viability of our political system.” Always read @SStossel:
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Here’s how The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board put it: “We cannot recall a more absurd misstatement of history by an American President.” And here's @KoriSchake on how America's allies are increasingly skeptical of the United States. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Donald Trump is hurting press freedom, @EmilyBell writes: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

The president “still hasn’t absorbed the ethos of service that the American military, in its most ideal form, can represent.” Powerful @kgilsinan on Trump’s disrespect of the military, despite his affection for splashy displays of might: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Here’s @MThomps with a question that's still being debated: Do impulsive Twitter messages from the president count as formal policy action? theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Remember that time Trump retweeted a Mussolini quote and then said, “What difference does it make whether it’s Mussolini [who said it] or somebody else?” @Kcalamur does:
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“We learn the restraining influence that an American president has on foreign dictators only in the absence of that restraint.” Read Don Peck on Trump's silence after protesters were attacked in Washington, D.C. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Here’s @bbclysedoucet on Trump’s “maybe he did and maybe he didn’t” moment theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Make sure you read all the way to the kicker of this @yayitsrob piece theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Essential @BeccaRosen on “American carnage” as the ethos of this presidency theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

You knew this already, but man oh man @caitlinpacific can write. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

“People confident in their own power don’t often feel the need to demonstrate it so theatrically," writes @RachelDonadio
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“Trump has an adolescent’s view of heroism and military glory—it is why in 2016 he delightedly accepted a Purple Heart from a man who had earned it the hard way, which is the only way.” A devastating assessment from @EliotACohen:
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“Little by little, tweet by tweet, Trump is contributing to a shift in how the judiciary is perceived as an institution...” Read @RussellBerman: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

A reminder from @NatashaBertrand that the president of the United States wanted the Justice Department to prosecute two of his political nemeses
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Few people are as familiar with Donald Trump’s lies as @AngieHolan, the editor of @PolitiFact. Read her #TrumpUnthinkable essay here: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Here’s @UriLF on the still-surreal day when “entertainment converged with existential danger” theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

“Mattis risked his life in three wars and spent his career in the military. His highest loyalties have been to his country... [And he was] demeaned on live television by a president who never served a day in his life.” Read @AlexWagner:

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Great lede on this @VernonLoeb essay:
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Few people have thought as deeply about this subject as @qjurecic
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“During the efflorescence of the Me Too movement, here was the president of the United States derisively mocking a reluctantly testifying private citizen who said that she’d been sexually assaulted.” Always read @McKayCoppins:
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“Trump’s predecessors were more anti-immigrant than pro-white. Trump’s ‘shithole countries’ remark is evidence that he is more pro-white than anti-immigrant.” Here’s @DrIbram:
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This is a thing that happened.
theatlantic.com/politics/archi… By @FiveFifths

“Benevolent leaders seldom muse about murdering with impunity. Genuinely innocent people do not obsess about pardoning themselves.” Definitely make time for this one, by @Profepps
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[Reporters speaking all at once]

Reporter: What does covfefe mean?

Reporter: What does it mean?

Reporter: What does the president mean?

Reporter: What is covfefe?

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Abraham Lincoln had “the better angels of our nature.” Donald Trump has “horseface.” Read @sophieGG:
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“The president’s apparent yearning for a clash of civilizations—he would have made ‘a good general,’ he recently mused—is inculcating a deep fear within his own people.” Read @Ethiopienne:
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“Trump possesses a unique ability to change narratives, and he has been able to use black athletes as a perfect foil.” Smart @jemelehill:
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“You know, the saddest thing is, because I am the president of the United States... I’m not supposed to be doing the kind of things I would love to be doing, and I am very frustrated by it.” @benjaminwittes on one of the really big ones: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

“Whatever the ultimate truth about Trump’s relationship with Russia, it has been a supremely rewarding one for the Kremlin.” Read @FranklinFoer: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

This, by @AnnieLowrey, is simply brilliant. Read it. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Trump’s policy decisions, @AdamSerwer writes, follow the logic that “extremism in pursuit of white power is no vice, and defending the rights of those who threaten that power is no virtue.”
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“It is an axiom of moral life among civilized humans that to separate young children from their parents is an offense against not just nature but society...” Must-read @AshleyFetters:
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