{"id":4830,"date":"2026-08-16T10:40:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T10:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4830"},"modified":"2026-08-16T10:40:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T10:40:35","slug":"trump-is-trashing-a-national-treasure-for-donors-and-texans-cant-stop-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4830","title":{"rendered":"Trump is trashing a national treasure for donors \u2014and Texans can’t stop it"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On August 6, a date that\u2019s been called \u2018a day of infamy<\/u>,\u2019 construction began on Trump\u2019s border wall through Big Bend National Park. Under a $1.7 billion federal contract strongly opposed by Texas locals<\/u> regardless of party affiliation, Southwest Valley<\/u> started bulldozing for profit at 8 a.m., razing habitats of threatened species<\/u> and destroying native vegetation. Running along parts of the Rio Grande, the project threatens mountain lions, black bears, and desert bighorn sheep that need back and forth access to habitat routes on both sides of the river<\/u>. Conservationists have made clear that Trump\u2019s 30-foot tall steel wall will sever and permanently destroy those routes<\/u>. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump caught literally selling off America piece by piece to donors<\/a><\/p>\n

Nearly as bad as the senseless destruction of habitat(s) is the expense. The , chronically underfunded National Park Service\u2019s annual budget. And for what? The area sees almost no<\/em><\/em> illicit cross-border traffic, accounts for only <\/u>1 %<\/u> of annual U.S.-Mexico border crossings, and is the least busy of nine U.S. border sectors. The park was already endowed with natural barriers that cost nothing: Big Bend\u2019s sheer cliffs and canyons<\/u> rise up to 1,500 feet above the Rio Grande, making Trump\u2019s wall redundant as well as ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Trump, adept at breaking things without knowing how to fix them<\/u>, is spending billions to destroy habitats and ruin the horizon<\/u> of a beloved national park for fabricated \u201cnational security\u201d concerns. Like his decision to bulldoze significant portions of the White House<\/u> while framing it as \u201cnational security\u201d<\/u> as if he owned the place, Trump is wielding yet another destructive hammer blind to consequence. <\/p>\n

A corrupt environmental dimwit does his worst<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over 100 Texas business owners sent a letter<\/u> to Congress pleading for help, transparency, and a modicum of thought for what is being destroyed. \u201cBig Bend has been called \u2018Texas\u2019 Gift to the Nation\u2019 and generations of Texans have built their lives on this river,\u201d they wrote. \u201cWe are asking you, our elected representatives, to protect our livelihoods, our river, and one of our state\u2019s most treasured landscapes from needless and permanent destruction.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alas, such entreaties can\u2019t compete with Trump lining his own pockets: Southwest Valley, the private contractor doing the unnecessary and unwanted work, is a subsidiary of Kiewit Corp<\/u>, a big Trump donor<\/u>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s on again, off again <\/u>giant steel wall threatens one of the most ecologically intact, biodiverse areas on the continent. The area’s desert and mountain terrain support fragile ecosystems that recover slowly, if they recover at all. Extreme aridity, poor soils, and a delicate climate with hard scrabble plant life means that when soils are disturbed and vegetation is cleared, there will be no rapid regrowth<\/u>, leaving the newly denuded landscape vulnerable to erosion for decades if not forever. <\/p>\n

It will also disrupt the Rio Grande floodplain. Erecting a solid barrier along part of the river will act as a dam<\/u>, completely altering how water flows through the valley. The administration therefore waived environmental review, even though making Trump\u2019s waiver patently illegal.<\/p>\n

Fox News headlines as surrogate for governance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like so many<\/u> of his hasty, incompetent<\/u>, governance by-Fox-News-headlines<\/u> botched jobs, Trump is serving up permanent destruction in Big Bend without the bare minimum of environmental scrutiny required by law.To quote national treasure Jeff Tiedrich<\/u>, the incomparable lunacy of Trump and his \u201cabject morons meddling in shit they don\u2019t understand,\u201d is hard to comprehend. <\/p>\n

If starving animals, environmental ruination, and harm to local tourism is hard to swallow, even harder is the realization that Americans put a known idiot in office just to shake things up<\/u>. Said idiot is shaking said things up by destroying everything he touches: the environment<\/u>, rule of law<\/u>, global economy<\/u>, civil rights<\/u>, military alliances<\/u>, public education<\/u>, and bankin<\/u>g. There is no sector of American life Trump hasn\u2019t injured, and now, cherry on the rancid cake, he\u2019s re-writing U.S. nuclear strategy<\/u>. <\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Start doing your damn jobs\u2019: Editor issues furious letter to the press<\/a><\/p>\n

It is clear that we are being led by the stupidest cohort of the American population<\/u>, while they, in turn, are being manipulated by the richest cohort<\/u> to vote against their own interests. <\/p>\n

What will it take for Americans to stop the madness?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A quick, partial list of Trump disasters after only 18 months comes easily: ICE agents have caused the deaths of at least 57 people<\/u>, none of them hardened criminals<\/u>. Hegseth\u2019s murders on the high seas may trigger an ICC warrant for his arrest as a war criminal<\/u>. The kidnapping of Venezuela\u2019s president did nothing to help the people of Venezuela as $19 billion in seized oil profits remains unaccounted for<\/u>. Trump\u2019s unauthorized war in Iran has empowered the world\u2019s most dangerous theocracy<\/u> and spiked energy prices<\/u> world wide. His economically illiterate tariffs have extracted thousands of dollars from American families<\/u>, while his geopolitical ignorance and arrogance have pushed allies into regrouping without America<\/u>. I could go on, but why?<\/p>\n

The point is that these horrific things are happening, and are predicted to get worse, because we let them. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t blame MAGA; MAGA is less educated than most, with attendant IQs<\/u>. They have been lied to by right wing media serving hidden corporate agendas for decades, and don\u2019t understand that right wing media serve them addictive pablum and rage bait to keep them entertained while the oligarchs\u2019 takeover continues. MAGA still supports Trump in spite of his incompetence because Fox News hides the danger from them<\/u>.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t even blame the oligarchs who manipulate MAGA into voting against their own interests<\/u>. At least it makes sense. Oligarchs and the wealthiest 1% fund Trump\u2019s chaos because it serves them\u2014citizens manipulated into hating each other and doubting the system object less when the system is destroyed, and destruction of the regulatory, taxing state is what Republicans have been about since Reagan. <\/p>\n

Instead, I blame complacency. Too many Americans either never learned or have forgotten that protecting democracy requires real, sustained effort. It requires sacrifice, it requires time. But 91 million voters didn\u2019t bother voting in the 2024 election even after<\/em><\/em> they saw J6. If watching Trump\u2019s violent coup attempt against the U.S. capital wasn\u2019t enough to get them to vote, what the hell will be? <\/p>\n

The phrase, \u2018rape and pillage\u2019 originates from pre-modern warfare<\/u>, and reflects conquering armies\u2019 brutal habit of looting captured towns, often raping the townspeople. Today the phrase fits a deranged and destructive leader unmoored from morals, law, or conscience, freed by the highest court to extract whatever he can and leave the scraps to the poor. We will continue being looted until we learn that freedom requires work, and rise up willing to do it.<\/p>\n

Sabrina Haake is a political analyst and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. She writes the free Substack, The Haake Take.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more That squirrel on Trump\u2019s head<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bipartisan outrage erupts as private bulldozers begin tearing through Big Bend National Park under a redundant $1.7 billion border wall contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump is trashing a national treasure for donors \u2014and Texans can't stop it - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4830\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump is trashing a national treasure for donors \u2014and Texans can't stop it - 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