Bulwark Takes - All of The Unpatriotic Garbage Trump Said On the Fourth of July

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Will Saletan shows how Trump used Independence Day to spread rage and revisionist history. From joking about migrant deaths to threatening opponents and reporters, his message had little to do with American values and everything to do with himself.

Hey, it's Will Salatan from The Bulwark. How was your Fourth of July? Did you get out and celebrate America's birthday? Because that's not exactly what our president did. He spent the week bashing our country and everything it stands for. Let me show you eight amazing things he said on July 4th and the days leading up to it. Here's the first one. Without Trump, America is a laughing stock. by fourth and the days leading up to it. Here's the first one.

Without Trump, America is a laughing stock. This is what he said at a so-called Salute to America in Iowa on July 3rd. But just a few months ago, our country was cold as ice. We were laughed at all over the world. They were laughing. Think of it, a year ago, we were laughed at. We were a bunch of clowns. They were laughing at our president. They were laughing. Think of it. A year ago, we were laughed at. We were a bunch of clowns. They were laughing at

our president. They were laughing at everything having to do with our country. Clowns, huh? And who exactly was talking about us that way? I was in Saudi Arabia. I was in Qatar. I was in UAE. Great leaders, strong, powerful, very rich leaders, too, by the way. They said, You know, a year right, huh? Trump went to the Persian Gulf and hung out with his strong, powerful, very rich friends, who just happened to be autocrats.

And he says, they told him that America was dead. And he says, they were right. So Trump's message on July 4th is that without him, America was a joke. And what else did he say in that speech? Here's his second message. If you want to bomb an American military base, fire away. Watch what Trump said about Iran. You know, they called me to tell me they have to take a shot at us.

This was Iran. Very respectful. That means they respect us because we dropped 14 bombs. They said we'd like to take 14 shots at you. I said, go ahead. I understand. Can you imagine they were nice enough? This is Iran to call me and tell me

that they would like to shoot me at 14 times. So they want to shoot us. And I said, go ahead. And they shot 14 high grade, very fast missiles. To Trump, this is the funniest thing. If Joe Biden had said that, if Biden had bragged about encouraging Iran to bomb an American base, every single Republican in the House would have voted to impeach him. But when Trump does it, it's all in good fun.

Message number three. The Ukraine war is Biden's fault and Trump has no responsibility to solve it. Here's what Trump said on July 4th about the war and Vladimir Putin. I don't think he's looking to stop. And that's too bad. This is Biden. This isn't me. This is Biden's war. It wouldn't have happened if I were president.

It wouldn't have happened. So, you know, in one way I had to get too involved because it's Biden's war and I got stuck in the middle of it. Oh, it's Biden's war, huh? I could have sworn it was Putin's war. And I thought that if you run for president of the United States, part of your job is to deal with wars that your country was involved in before you took office, but Trump feels no responsibility at all.

Message number four, America is a phony democracy. Here's what Trump said while visiting Florida on July 1st. The election in 2020 was rigged millions and millions of votes. It had to do with COVID and a lot of things, but it really had to do with the crooked people. The Democrats are very good at cheating on elections.

And here's what he said in Iowa two days later. And then they cheated and rigged the election. They rigged, you know, they don't even turn off the cameras when I say that now, because now they know it's true too, but they knew it was true before. See, that's one reason why Trump prefers Putin to Biden. And it's why he agrees with his buddies, the autocrats in the Persian Gulf, when they supposedly bad mouth America. To Trump, America isn't a real democracy. It's a fraud.

Message number five, Americans who disagree with Trump are evil and they deserve hatred. Here's what he said at the White House just before he went to Florida. The Democrats want to, they just want to destroy our country. A Democrat wants to destroy the country. And here's what he said in Iowa. Not one Democrat voted for us and I think we use it in the campaign that's coming up, the midterms, because we got to beat them. But all of the, all of the things that we've given and they wouldn't vote only because

they hate Trump. But I hate them too, you know that? So it's, it's sort of, I hate, I really do, I hate them. I cannot stand them because I really believe they hate our country. You want to know the truth? What a noble sentiment on our nation's birthday. Hate your fellow Americans.

Message number six, no more human rights. Before Trump, American presidents had the strange idea that our country shouldn't do things like torture or what our Constitution calls cruel and unusual punishment. But Trump is all for it. Here's what he said on July 1st about a new prison for illegal immigrants that he and his friends call alligator alcatraz And then later that day Trump said he'd like to do the same thing to random migrants crossing the Rio Grande River in Texas. Mr. President, in 2018, you suggested putting alligators in the Rio Grande to prevent crossings in Texas. Is this a dream come true for you, sir?

Well, I was thinking about that, I must say. It was meant more as a joke, but the more I thought thought of it the more I liked it. If you want to know the truth. Deploying predatory animals to maim and kill migrants. Hilarious. Message number seven. Anyone who opposes Trump may be subject to arrest and deportation. Here's what Trump said on that Florida trip about Zoran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York. Your message to communist Zoran Mamdani. Well then we'll have to arrest him. Look, we don't need a communist in this country, but if we have one I'm going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation. A lot of people saying he's here illegally, he's, you know, we're going to look at everything.

Oh, so even if you're not an illegal immigrant, if instead you're an American citizen like Mamdani, Trump is threatening to arrest you. Not just for refusing to cooperate with Trump's immigration police, which is what prompted the question, but in Trump's words, for being a communist. Which, by the way, is a lie. Mamdani is not a communist, but Trump

doesn't care. He's just looking for a way to claim that Mamdani is here illegally so Trump can deport him. And that brings us to our final message. Number eight, reporters who contradict the president should be arrested. Here's what Trump said about journalists at CNN who reported correctly that a US intelligence assessment contradicted Trump's lies about obliterating Iran's nuclear program. And they may be prosecuted also for having given false reports on the attack in Iran. They were given totally false reports. It was totally obliterated.

So they may be very well prosecuted for that. What they did there we think is totally illegal. That is Trump's idea of America. A place where reporters are arrested for telling the truth, politicians who oppose the president are deported, and any election won by the opposition is a fraud. Trump doesn't love this country. He loves himself and his foreign autocrat buddies who think we're a bunch of clowns. America is a great country, but not because this wannabe dictator

wears those words on a little red hat. We're great because we still believe in values that Donald Trump will never understand. See you next time.