When Trump first regained the presidency and unleashed himself, DOGE, Project 2025 and the MAGAs on this country breaking things in a hurry and dancing on the graves of our founding fathers in Trump presidency 2.0, I wondered if it was time to consider moving to Portugal.
Now that we are a year and a half into Trump’s disastrous second term, I am more hopeful about what could happen in America. Why? Because Trump is defeating himself. I think he is so detested that he is firing up a pro-democracy countermovement.
TRUMP STARTS BY BLOWING S–T UP…
THEN IT BACKFIRES FORCING HIM TO BACK DOWN
At first, he seemed ascendant- attacking institutions over DEI (that was really about imposing his will and getting universities and corporations in line), taking critics off the air–Kimmel (which failed), Stephen Colbert (which has created backlash against his regime), imposing Stephen Miller on the country with his draconian immigration policies (that spectacularly backfired on Kristi Noem), wrecking our fragile healthcare system, our global alliances, our ability to compete with China, Canada and Europe in scientific innovation, blowing up our cost of living with his dumb tariffs (that were about HIS power to impose punishments on countries that would not engage in corrupt deal making with him) and so much more. He really looked like he was winning there for a time.
But his “wins” turn into losses because what he does is so over-the-top and often illegal. He is too extreme, too cruel, too impulsive, too extravagant, too positive that everything is fine now when it isn’t, too corrupt, too certain he is right when he is wrong. I could go on.
Because of this baked-in-the-cake approach he has to life, I see Trump doing a remarkably effective job of helping to defeat himself and the MAGAs thanks to backlash he ignites. Trump probably believes that he is winning and on top of everything because he has surrounded himself with people who will not tell him the truth. They shield him from facing reality. They let him live in his alternate universe bubble. But Americans cannot live in an unreality bubble. They have to buy gas and groceries, pay their rent or mortgages, and worry about the fallout for themselves and their families from Trump’s tariffs and careless wars.
In the process, Trump is helping the Dems to be seen as the only party of sanity, security and rule of law and order. He is creating massive backlash in the country that gets measured in his terrible poll numbers.
Americans are not happy with this administration. Here is a short list of what they are not happy about:
1) The war in Iran.
2) Epstein cover up of elites who break the law and get away with it (as Ro Khanna has said: Epstein goes to the core of what people hate about Washington: a rigged system where the rich and powerful play by different rules.)
3) Cost of living, $5.00 for a gallon gas?! $6 some places.
4) Slush fund for J 6 cop beaters and family members and other suck ups.
5) Massive massive corruption for himself and his crime family. (That needs to be talked about more because it underscores everything he is doing and that’s how autocrats go down.)
6) The hugely expensive golden ballroom, arch de Trump, dolling up the White House with Vegas ornate gold shit while We the People suffer and can’t take vacations, lose our jobs or can’t find a job after graduating from college like we were supposed to do.
7) Threatening to take over Cuba, Greenland, maybe annex Canada, Venezuela…Panama? (Hey, why not?! Let’s go to war. Let’s have a new expansionist adventure and grab their oil and minerals for ourselves.)
8) Trump lying about his worsening dementia or whatever the heck is going on with his bruised hands (both of them- not just the one he shakes hands with), inability to walk straight anymore, falling asleep in the Oval Office, posting AI slop into the wee hours of the night, lots of dental appointments? Really? and visits to Walter Reed for so many secret checkups.
8) The cruelty of his immigration efforts (that were always about white supremacy and never about expelling the criminals) that are now morphing into trying to expel naturalized citizens, force green card applicants to leave the country to re-apply and maybe expelling Dreamers including those who have lived in this country all their lives.
9) Putting RFK Jr in charge of our health (our country will be exposed to another pandemic– Ebola epidemic? and we are not equipped to handle that.)
10) Gross incompetence in government – a kleptocracy and a kakistocracy that is loyal to Trump in every way which means they don’t give a sh-t about We the People, only pleasing their cult leader.
11) Wrecking our former advantage in the sciences, innovation and renewable energy- ceding the ground to China.
I could go on but that’s a pretty good starter list.
Here is the good news in this world turned upside-down:
These things are turning off Americans. The bad news is breaking through on social media. It took a lot, but it is finally happening. Trump is not untouchable anymore. As I have written many times- the worse it gets the better it gets.
It is starting to get better. But it will get even worse before it gets a lot better. The “gets better” part assumes Americans will go to the polls in huge numbers and vote against Trump and the MAGAs like their lives depend on it. Because their lives do depend on it.
POLLING PLUNGE
The disaffected now include right leaning independent voters and some Republicans as well as Dems. The core of the MAGA cult group will continue to coalesce around Trump and cling to him harder as he shrinks and shrivels. Don’t expect these guys to ever leave their cult leader. By the time this nightmare nears its end, as the cult boils down to its hardest hard core, it will become 100% supportive of Trump’s every move, every bad idea and every demented decision. But the cult will continue to shrink – kinda like the wicked witch of the West, shrieking and shriveling up after Dorothy threw water in her face.
Gallup poll data reflects what other polls are showing, namely, that Trump’s approval ratings with every sector of voters (except his MAGA base) are in the toilet.
Both Republicans’ and independents’ ratings of Trump have worsened significantly since last month. Republicans’ approval has fallen seven points to 84%, while independents’ has slipped eight points to 25%. Republicans’ rating is the lowest of Trump’s second term, while independents’ is the worst in either term. Trump’s prior low point among independents, 29%, was last recorded in July and, prior to that, was only seen once before, in August 2017.
Meanwhile, Democrats’ rating of the president remains mired in the low single digits (3%).
As Trump loses in the polls, his power shrinks and with it- his ability to bully his way into commanding compliance everywhere and with everything including with GOP members in Congress. That’s why you see Republicans in Congress FINALLY finding a whittle itty-bitty spine.
These frightened bunny rabbits are going to reject his ballroom money and his slush fund for criminal loyalists so he could create his brown shirts to terrorize voters in 2026. (Just wait. He will try to fund his personal army of gun toting criminals another way). Susan Collins is going to pretend she is pulling away from the abuser-in-chief so she can win re-election in Maine against Graham Platner, oyster farmer, man of the people. You will see other Rs pull away too especially after the primaries are over.
HOW LOW CAN HE GO?
The more Trump goes down in the polls (and he may go lower yet if he cannot end the Iran war asap- something the Iranians will want to extend to turn the screws on Trump), the more power the Dems can assert even while being out of power in Congress. In some ways it is better that the Dems are out of power. It makes it crystal clear who is to blame for the overwhelming failures of this administration. Once they are in power in Congress, Trump will blame Democrats for everything he does wrong.
Out of power, the Dems can and will make the Rs take votes to expose their hypocrisy. They can and will have townhalls in districts where the Rs fear to show up. They can and already do have House candidates running for office that come from the working class and think of themselves as servants of the People who will fight Trump and his regime and mean it. Trump is helping these candidates for the House put together their ads for 2026 with all of his chaos, corruption, cruelty, bad judgement and his self- defeating comments that expose the fact that he really doesn’t care at all about the American people. It has always been about himself.
He was never a populist hero. He just pretended to be one in his campaign to get elected. He was always all in for the rich guys he yearned to get respect from back in the days when he was a hustler in New York’s world of real estate.
DEM LEADERSHIP?
I am not worried that there is no “leader” or “voice” for the Dems yet. First things first-
- Trump and his rightwing minions must be soundly defeated in the midterms.
- Next, there will be a primary and the Dems will showcase a remarkably deep bench of terrific presidential candidates, (I have met many of them and they are smart, thoughtful, capable people). One will emerge as a leader/ voice.
- Next, the Dems will get behind that new leader (I personally hope it’s Mark Kelly, but I will take ANY Democrat over Trump.)
- Next, someone smarter than me will need to figure out how to dislodge Trump from the White House/ presidency. He will probably not leave without a fight unless he knows he will not go to jail for all of his crime-ing and the Dems better not let him off the hook.
WHAT’S LEFT FOR THE MAGA PARTY? CHEATING! THAT’S WHAT
My biggest concern right now is that the MAGA Party will cheat, terrorize, steal and crime to stay in power in 2026 and the Supremes are likely to actually support MAGA Mike when he claims that close battleground races are evidence to him (wink wink) that there was fraud (immigrants must have voted even though there is no evidence of that) and therefore the Constitution requires that HE has the power to decide who to seat- the Democrat who narrowly won or the Republican who narrowly lost. Guess which one he will seat as the member of Congress? Of course, if the Dems win the House by WIDE MARGINS, that ploy goes away. Hakeem Jefferies would be the next Speaker of the House with the power to seat the next Congress if the Democrats are in the majority.
WHAT WE CAN DO
Do what you can to help save our democracy as we approach the next election. Get active. Stay peaceful. But active.
The Dems need to win across the country with big numbers in 2026 in national AND state legislative elections, Attorneys General, Secretaries of State, and governors. The results need to be clear and convincing, not narrow.
When your kids and grandkids ask you what you did when the future of our country was on the line, you want to have a good story to tell. The victors write the history books. If we all help, the history books will be written by the right victors.