How State Department cuts of Middle East experts affect U.S.'s handling of Iran war | PBS News

The Trump administration has left the assistant secretary position in charge of Near Eastern Affairs vacant, along with key ambassadorships in the Middle East. Four of the five supervisors in the bureau have temporary titles. 

The current and former officials, some of whom asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters during an active conflict, paint a portrait of an understaffed government workforce struggling to execute the president's agenda. Those who remain tell colleagues that their analysis, recommendations and advice go unheeded...

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-state-department-cuts-of-middle-east-experts-affect-u-s-s-handling-of-iran-war 

 

COVID cases top 4 million as Trump and his base reject experts, science

People who refuse to wear a mask are bolstering their sore egos. Their national motto is not 'E Pluribus Unum,' it's 'You're not the boss of me.' ....
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/07/25/covid-cases-top-4-million-trump-base-reject-experts-column/5500345002/

Why Don’t Americans Trust Experts Anymore? | Amanpour and Company

A tussle between science and politics is defining the pandemic response of the Trump administration. How did this increasing rejection of expertise get started?
Interview:
https://youtu.be/V50HMNB4qX4

Public health experts warn Pence's sunny approach to coronavirus pandemic ignores possibility of dark days ahead - The Washington Post

The vice president has long been a happy warrior on behalf of President Trump, amplifying and supporting his boss in his more phlegmatic, even-keel way. But for many public health experts, including some close to the administration, Pence’s Tuesday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal was cause for alarm — a 420-word opinion piece that, they fear, presents an overly rosy vision of a pandemic that has already killed at least 117,000 Americans — and indicative of the administration’s approach.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/public-health-experts-warn-pences-sunny-approach-to-pandemic-ignores-possibility-of-dark-days-ahead/2020/06/19/fe88eaf8-b17e-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html

Trump's push to reopen US risks ‘death sentence’ for many, experts warn

Experts have pointed out infections and death are mounting while Trump has praised states that have started to loosen restrictions
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/06/trump-economy-reopen-us-experts-warning

I will not die of stupid

Someday, I’m going to die. This, I grudgingly accept. I have no idea how it’s going to happen. Maybe I will die of having a tree fall on me, of eating tainted shellfish, or of being struck by lightning. But this much I guarantee. I will not die of having wagered my life that TV carnival barkers, political halfwits and MAGA-hat-wearing geniuses know more than experts with R.N.s, M.D.s, and Ph.D.s after their names. In other words, I will not die of stupid. ....
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/04/26/i-will-not-die-of-stupid-column/

Trump explains why he ignores advice from economists: ‘They have no idea’ – Raw Story

At Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing, President Donald Trump was asked what his economists are saying about how quickly normal business activity can resume in the event that the pandemic subsides in warmer months. Trump’s response was to say that he doesn’t listen to his economists in the first place — and that he believes he knows at least as much about the matter as they do. ...
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/trump-explains-why-he-ignores-advice-from-economists-they-have-no-idea/

The Right Sends In the Quacks - NYTimes

Covid-19 highlights the conservative reliance on fake experts. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/coronavirus-conservatives.html

Trump and Fox News: the dangerous relationship shaping America's coronavirus response

In one ear, the president has medical experts calling for caution. In the other, TV hosts are urging the opposite ....
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/apr/10/fox-news-donald-trump-coronavirus

Now Trump Needs the Deep State to Fight Coronavirus - The Atlantic

In order to combat the disease, the president will have to trust the kind of government experts he has disdained and dismissed.....
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/now-trump-needs-deep-state-fight-coronavirus/605752/

Trump admin wants to block doctor testimony in legal case around migrant kids prison camp - Daily Kos

Trump administration attorneys are demanding a federal court ignore declarations made by a number of experts, including physicians and children's advocates, as part of a legal case that could once and for all shut down the Homestead prison camp for migrant kids in Florida. So just what exactly are government attorneys asking the judge to disregard?....
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/24/1887560/-Trump-admin-wants-to-block-testimony-from-doctors-in-legal-case-around-migrant-kids-prison-camp

Ann Coulter has more influence over Trump than Jim Mattis. If that doesn't scare you, nothing will -- Daily Kos

... What this week makes clear is that on issues of life and death, military and foreign policy issues that can affect our country and the world for years to come, this president will ignore the people who possess real expertise and experience, people like Jim Mattis. Hell, Trump may not even read or understand the information those people are giving him...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1820748

Donald Trump Stole Stephen's Bit - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QWBJSrVJSA

Donald Trump on How He Makes Decisions: 'I Don’t Think About Them' - Newsweek

"I have some tremendously talented people and I will talk to them and sometimes I'll have them go at each other, I do like that."....
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-how-he-makes-decisions-i-dont-think-about-them-1221314

The Use of Experts

People are often mistrustful of authority these days. John Corvino explains why--and to what extent--expertise matters.....
https://youtu.be/Kk7jqLs5cRw

2 “good guys with guns” accidentally fired them in schools on Tuesday - Vox

Trump wants to arm teachers. Two accidental shootings in one day show that's a dangerous idea. ...
https://www.vox.com/2018/3/14/17120046/school-shooting-accidental-california-virginia-gun-control

Rick Perry’s fake grid crisis just got undermined by more grid experts -- Vox

NERC sees reliability challenges, but no crisis and no need for giant piles of coal. ....
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/12/19/16789560/rick-perry-fake-energy-grid-crisis