How Trump’s 'constant flip-flops' are creating chaos and instability: analysis

Less than a week after praising Tesla/SpaceX/X.com leader Elon Musk as a valuable ally during a White House press event, President Donald Trump was angrily railing against him on social media. Musk attacked Trump's "big, beautiful bill" as a "disgusting abomination," and the president accused him of having "Trump derangement syndrome." And Trump is making it clear that he is "very disappointed" in the world's richest man.

In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on June 9, journalist Jill Lawrence argues that Trump's feud with Musk is only one example of him flip-flopping. And Trump's "constant flip-flops," she warns, are contributing to a climate of instability in the United States.

Lawrence observes, "There's no escaping the pattern in this run of recent headlines: 'Trump reverses plan to close more than 30 mine safety offices,' 'Here are the 22 times he’s changed his mind on tariffs,' 'Trump reverses USDA office closures'…. That was all in less than a week."

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But all these flip-flops, she laments, aren't hurting Trump with his MAGA base even though they're bad for the United States.

"To longtime political observers, by which I mean those of us so old we remember pre-MAGA times, it seems strange that the constant flip-flops have not ruined, scarred, or even dented Trump," Lawrence explains. "Nothing has, and nothing probably will, as we've seen all too often. In this case, maybe it's because everyone already knows he's so deeply flawed, or because his decisions are so terrible that flipping in a different direction is all to the good. Especially if you're a savvy financial player who buys low every time a Trump-made disaster strikes."

Lawrence describes Trump's flip-flopping as "whiplash as a way of life."

"Even before Musk brandished a chainsaw, moved fast and broke much of the government," Lawrence writes, "no one paying even an iota of attention would have expected Trump to be a model…. of careful consistency. Still, the speed and significance of the reversals has been shocking, and they appear to be standard operating procedure."

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Lawrence adds, "In other words, we can expect them to continue until Trump exits the White House, whenever that is.

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Jill Lawrence's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.