
Once again, Trump makes a tragedy all about himself.

Donald Trump has consistently proven himself to be a disaster during a tragedy.

Whether hawking guns immediately after a mass shooting, congratulating himself for his self-declared prescience, calling a Gold Star widow a liar, or tossing paper towels at Puerto Rican hurricane victims, Trump always manages to make the situation worse.

So it is not a surprise that after the deadly train crash in Washington state, Trump’s first reaction was to jump on Twitter to criticize his predecessors and demand passage of an "infrastructure plan" that does not actually exist.


Trump, bear in mind, has been perpetually promising that he is just about to release his infrastructure plan, and has not submitted anything even close to one. The most detailed policy paper he released on the subject just called for giving highway developers a huge tax cut — as if increasing corporate profits would somehow prevent train derailments.

Ten minutes after his thoughtless tweet, Trump — or someone with access to his account — seemed to realize he had forgotten to acknowledge the victims, and followed up with a second tweet:

But Trump’s immediate impulse to use tragedy to promote his political agenda is still on stark display.

We have a man in the Oval Office whose deepest, most fundamental instinct is to burnish his ego — no matter the circumstance and no matter the consequences. America needs a leader who works for everyone, and Trump can only work for himself.