
Donald Trump has created an unprecedented power vacuum in the United States. There is effectively no President: he spends all his time golfing, watching television, and rambling on Twitter, and when actual emergencies crop up, they will either be handled by other officials or not at all. There is effectively no Cabinet: not only have many positions not been filled at all, but those who have been filled are with people dedicated to destroying their own departments, and Trump himself delights in publicly undercutting what little authority they have. This is how, when the Caribbean was recently devastated by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was left with no Federal assistance for days, and Trump appeared to be wholly unaware that the US Virgin Islands were part of his own country.