* “Politics has no relation to morals.”—Niccolo Machiavelli.
* “Every absurdity has a champion to defend it.”—Oliver Goldsmith.
* “In the long term, Trumpism is doomed. Power without prudence and humility invariably fails.”—David Brooks, The Atlantic.
* “He has enabled the president to turn the United States from the world’s economic leader into a rogue nation.”—Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, in reference to Peter Navarro, Trump’s controversial trade adviser.
* “Washington has become the court of Nero: a fiery emperor, submissive courtiers and a ketamine-fueled jester in charge of purging the civil service. This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States.”—French Senator Claude Malhuret.
* “Eight years is long enough for a good president, and four years is too long for a bad one.”—U.S. Rep. Edward McCowen, R-Ohio, 1947.
* “There is now a dangerous vein of autocratic thought running through one of America’s two great parties, and it poses an existential danger to the country.”—Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
* “We must begin to insert ‘impeachable offenses’ into civic conversations. If we don’t, we will be complicit in accepting that the aberrant behavior of this president is the new normal for the evaluation of future presidents.”—Howard L. Simon, former executive director of the ACLU of Florida.
* “While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.”—Julia Simpson, president and chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council, on projections that the U.S. may lose billions of dollars in international travel spending this year.
* “At any moment, things can change overnight, making it extremely difficult for companies such as Apple to plan their business … A curveball can come out of nowhere and derail any plans they have in place.”—Ben Wood, chief analyst at U.K.-based research firm CCS Insight.
* “When we consolidate them, Democrats say they’re eliminating them.”—HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on his downsizing of the agency from 82,000 workers to 62,000.
* “When it comes to due process, that is a privilege reserved for American citizens.”—Florida Republican Congressman and Trump ally Byron Donalds.
* “This will be the catalyst for the most transformative economic development project Hillsborough County has ever been associated with.”—Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan on the impact of an indoor sports complex coming to the 74-acre MOSI site.
* “We used to have to fight to get on the map. Now, we are shaping that map.”—Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
* “I think the chances are pretty good that I will.”—Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn on whether he will run for mayor again.
* “The most dysfunctional” (he’s ever worked with). How Tampa City Councilman Charlie Miranda has characterized the current city council.