Donald Trump goes full villain, declares whales a threat to national security, calls on his ‘God Squad’ to eliminate them

Another day another reason to label Donald Trump a villain. This time the president is going after an endangered species of whale because their mere existence interferes with his plans to plunder oil from the Gulf of Mexico, sorry, Gulf of America.

This week saw high-ranking officials in Trump’s cabinet known as the “God Squad” vote to end regulations that would protect the species known as Rice’s whale, of which there are only 50 left in existence. According to CNN, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) stood in the way of oil and gas operations in the area with the intention of protecting species in the area.

Rice’s whale was brought to the brink of extinction due to the BP oil spill in 2010 but thanks to the ESA the 50 or so remaining whales have been able to cling on. Now, with the unanimous vote to create an exemption to the act, allowing for drilling in the Gulf, we could see this rare species and many others in the area go extinct.

What is the “God Squad”

The God Squad is a panel consisting of six high-ranking federal officials who sit on the Endangered Species Committee. They have the ability to decide on exemptions from the ESA, essentially choosing whether it’s alright to allow a species to die or not. Pat Parenteau, a law professor at Vermont Law School explained “It literally has the power of life or death.” The panel is playing God, which is what earned them the name in the first place.

All six members of the panel voted in favor of making Rice’s whale exempt from the protections provided by the ESA.

Why is Donald Trump doing this?

The answer, as usual, is greed. Trump and the rest of his cabinet value the profits of oil drilling over protecting nature. This isn’t a surprise, Trump has shown time and time again that he doesn’t care about the environment or the effects human actions have on it. But this is particularly egregious considering the whales are going to pay for a mistake Trump made.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made a nonsense argument in favor of an exemption from the ESA, claiming that it was in the interest of national security, which the Trump administration seems to use as a catch-all excuse to just do whatever they want. Apparently whales and the regulations put in place to protect them and other species are a threat to U.S. security so now the endangered marine mammals are on the president’s hit list.

Of course, the real threat to national security is Trump himself – he’s the king of shooting himself in the foot and then pinning the blame on others. Since taking office last year, there’s little doubt that Trump has contributed to global instability. His illegal war in Iran has seen the Strait of Hormuz shut off and oil prices rise sharply. Could this plan to drill in the Gulf be a bid to make the U.S. less dependent on oil from the Middle East? WHo’s to say? But it’s certainly some convenient timing.