"Private Emails, Private Jets and Mr. Trump’s Idea of Public Service" written by The Editorial Board posted September 28th, 2017 on www.nytimes.com.
The argument at hand is whether or not the Trump Administration plans to uphold its campaign promise of "draining the swamp". This piece ties together a series of events that question the validity of Mr. Trump’s original promise.
The intended audience is flexible. On one hand, this piece may be directed at any tax-paying American concerned with the objective misuse of their tax dollars (one might deem the constant use of jets as a necessary to work in public service). This could be anyone that decided to vote for Mr. Trump after his rally last October in Wisconsin, where he promised: "to make our government honest again". In that case, the author's purpose would be to inform said voters that their promise is on its last leg. Finally, the audience could be anyone keeping a running list of their grievances with the Trump Administration, this seems like the more likely audience.
The Editorial Board makes 4 main claims that they believe prove Mr. Trump has abandoned his goal to "clean up this corruption", followed by evidence that shows this could be possible.
The introduction of the argument was not as strong as it could've been, “If we want to make America great again,” he wrote in an op-ed for USA Today days before the election, “we must clean up this corruption.”. Mr. Trump first welcomed the idea of "draining the swamp" in Wisconsin, which was not mentioned in the editorial. In 2012 incumbent President Barack Obama won the electoral vote in Wisconsin for the second time, whereas in 2016 Wisconsin gave their electoral votes to Mr. Trump. Anyone that followed the race will remember the last few weeks of constant coverage on Mr. Trumps promise to drain the swamp. Mr. Trump abandoning his promise to drain the swap is up there with abandoning his border wall.
Chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, is criticized for his lack of control over the President's family and cabinet. This following the report of private email accounts that Mr. Trumps daughter and son-in-law, as well as others, have been using for government business. Jared Kushner had been under fire the last few months over his forgetfulness when filling out security clearance forms. This includes meetings with his brother-in-law and a Russian lawyer.
Others feeling the burn of media are Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price* for having a “habit of flying private jets to official meetings, with occasional detours to luxury resorts where he owns property, or for outings with his family” and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for requesting a “$25,000-per-hour Air Force jet to ferry him on his European honeymoon. This request was not granted. Finally, we have Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency “who’s cost taxpayers more than $58,000 for noncommercial and military flights, and is spending nearly $25,000 to build a “secure phone booth” in his office.”
While it is clear that this piece is condemning the original motives of the president while giving credible events, it would have been more persuasive to also explain that all of these people were hand selected and placed in the White House by the president himself. The same person that promised to drain the swamp.
