In this op-ed, writer Lincoln Blades explores how Donald Trump's obsession with former president Barack Obama comes at the cost of American lives.

After a successful presidential campaign, when a new leader is endowed with the authority to assemble an administration to carry out their vision and promises, it is natural for the work of a previous administration to be challenged in the pursuit of achieving new goals –– especially if they represent different parties. There's nothing that outrageous about a president holding referendum on the previous president's orders and policies. Historian Julian Zelizer noted in The Atlantic, "It is healthy to remember that the essence of most presidential administrations, at least early on, is to define themselves against their predecessors."

But America's current president, Donald Trump, has an obsessive way about him regarding the legacy of a prior president, Barack Obama. More than just feeling troubling, Trump's compulsion may also be expressly lethal.

Using the Antiquities Act of 1906, which enables a sitting president to declare a site a monument, President Obama set a record by invoking the act to create more national monuments than any other president. Beyond buildings, this protection also refers to large areas of federal land which, when declared a monument, are protected against invasive drilling, mining, and construction-based development in order to preserve the historical, ecological, and/or cultural importance of that site. Land protection is a massive part of President Obama's legacy, as he committed to protect over 550 million acres, more than double that of President Theodore Roosevelt, who signed the act into law in 1906 and is often considered the "conservationist president."

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order to allow national monument designations to be rescinded or reduced in size. Without context of the men involved, some can view Trump's order as political due diligence, right-wing, states-rights ideology, atypical conservative corporate assistance, or environmental incursion. But, with full context, this is little more than the actions of a man who is less interested in being a cogent commander-in-chief and more interested in becoming America's "Anti-Obama in-Chief." And he is willing to endanger citizens, armed forces, and the environment to do so.

During President Obama's first term in office, the racist and xenophobic "birther" movement aimed to thwart his legitimate presidency by claiming he was Kenyan, as well as a Muslim, and called on Obama to prove his U.S. citizenship. This movement wasn't created by Donald Trump, it was most definitely co-opted and pushed heavily by him. Through pushing the narrative to his incredibly large Twitter following and subsequent media appearances, he became the face of this movement, which applied so much pressure that, in 2011, President Obama actually released his long-form Hawaii birth certificate.

Then, in his run to become president campaign, Trump incited racialized fears throughout the nation. He went from city-to-city, offering not just a political rebuke of Barack Obama the president, but a full exorcism of everything that Obama stood for, fought for, and was made of. These weren't just personal ad hominem attacks, but something far more insidious, cultivated directly out of the birther ideology. He presented white America with an opportunity to elect a president that would not only take the country in a new direction, but a white president who would also erase the political diversity and social inclusiveness achieved under the Obama administration.

Now, as president, Trump appears to be motivated more by a continued desire to enfeeble Obama's legacy, than a responsibility to govern effectively. When Trump met with the presidents of HBCUs, I believe he did so not out a genuine desire to assist the African-American community or give the HBCU's adequate funding, but rather to antagonize Obama, who had a contentious relationship with the universities. He's accused Obama of wiretapping him, which, if true, is a felony.

The threat of his obsession to undermine Obama has also seemingly proved fatal. It's been reported that the botched raid in Yemen that resulted in multiple deaths, including a US Navy SEAL and an 8-year-old American girl, was launched after Trump was told that the Obama Administration weren't "bold enough" to green-light the attack. It seems American citizens could have lost their lives because of Donald Trump's unhealthy obsession with Barack Obama. And as he continues to make cuts to environmental agencies, plans on preventing police reform initiatives, and doggedly attempts to repeal ACA healthcare (which will directly result in the loss of American lives), his anti-Obama imperative is endangering American lives.

And, the scariest part is, there are no signs that this obsession will be slowing down anytime soon. Until this administration prioritizes America's safety, security, and success on a baseline other than opposing America's first black president, the entire nation will be at risk of becoming casualties to Trump's profound nescience.

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