Donald Trump started off his second term with the opportunity to take a post pandemic economy that had been nursed back to health by the Biden administration, where the indicators predicted stronger economic growth, and ride that to a stronger, healthier economy. He could have claimed it was HE who saved America from the brink of recession and built it back better! And he could have done that by DOING NOTHING MORE. By now he would be hailed by many Americans as the most brilliant and beloved president.
Instead, Trump took office and immediately stress tested, and disrupted the economy with his massive tariffs, his wreckage of the federal government using DOGE, and his war in Iran. Above all, Trump has reworked government to benefit and, he hopes, glorify himself, protect his own interests, get richer and punish people who bug him. And now Trump seems to be unable to give up and move on. He is stuck and doubling down on bad initiatives, unable to move forward. Obsessed.
Take the Lincoln Monument reflecting pool. He can’t give up the lie that vandals wrecked the pool when it is clear that the no bid contract he gave to his Mar-a-Lago neighbor and pal to do the job was the reason it got loused up. Trump is also obsessed when it comes to kicking Lisa Cook off of the Fed, ridding the country of Hispanics using ICE as his secret police and encouraging ICE to engage in terror tactics to do the job, imposing tariffs, getting his name on The Kennedy Center (now his handpicked board over there wants to “inscribe” his name on the building despite a stern order from a judge to keep his name off.)
WE ARE BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
What happens when the leader of the most powerful country on earth restructures the whole of government for his own personal benefit and self-enrichment? What happens when that leader is unable to listen to reason or rely on fact-based thinking- unable to stay awake during important meetings, indulges in fantasies about himself as a glorious leader (exposed in his nightly posting of AI slop) and indulges himself all day talking about how wonderful his legacy monuments are and what else he can “beautify?” And what if, on top of that, that leader is resentful and domineering- seeking revenge on anyone who crosses or upsets him? Add to this lethal mix, the fact that Trump’s cabinet picks were chosen for their loyalty not their smarts or their wisdom. Then add to that that Trump gets stuck in a doubling down loop, unable to move on from these failing initiatives. Then add to that the notion that Congress, led by Republicans, could put on check on this man but they refuse to do so out of fear.
Is this a bad dream? No. This is where we are in our country today.
Our country, and consequently the world, are in the throes of an awful experiment. We are being forced to live in the world according to Trump where all of us are stuck with Trump who is pursuing his own desperate needs with the obsession of Captain Ahab pursuing Moby Dick. This is a very dangerous moment for our country, our world, and for all of us.
DONALD TRUMP HAS GOOD REASON TO WORRY ABOUT HIS LEGACY
Donald Trump has said he is afraid of becoming Herbert Hoover (whose bad judgment led to a massive depression) when it comes to the economy. He has reason to be worried about that.
Here is what he said about that fear:
“So rather than possibly going into a depression, rather than having your favorite president be Herbert Hoover — he was always the one I didn’t want to be,” he has been trying to seal a deal with Iran because failure to do that could lead to an economic downturn that could affect even the wealthy guys he caters to.
Iran, however, has other ideas. That country seems to have figured out it doesn’t really need to build a bomb to get its way. It has the Strait of Hormuz, a geographic asset they can use to inflict maximum economic pain on the world, and, more specifically, on Trump himself. They can make money from tolls they won’t call tolls and get the concessions they want. Iran will definitely continue to inflict economic pain at the pump to hurt Americans and pressure Trump prior to the midterm elections. They will not agree to any concessions because they hold the upper hand especially now that the US has a limited capacity to intercept Iranian missiles.
CNN reports that: The US military has exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors for a key missile defense system as senior US military commanders are warning that the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile is “dangerously low,” according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Stockpiles of key air defense systems have been particularly depleted during the war with Iran. The US military has burned through nearly four-fifths of its THAAD missile inventory compared to pre-war numbers and roughly half of its Patriot interceptors since the start of the war, according to two sources familiar with the latest inventory report.
It’s Trump’s own rotten judgement and mismanagement that got us to the edge of this cliff, where he could become the next Herbert Hoover. With Trump in charge, we would all have to live in a country that is receding in power and potential instead of building a better future. Trump, at 80, is not functioning well. Biden wasn’t either. But at least Biden had a cabinet of highly competent people. Trump has nothing but idiots and toadies in his cabinet. He did not want anyone smarter than him telling him what to do (as happened in his first term).
And Trump is always out for Trump.
TRUMP: SELF-CENTERED DIVA IN A MANIC PHASE
Scott MacFarlane reports: “Internal Park Service records reveal a controversial and overwhelming re-routing of money to Trump vanity projects. The topline dollar figures are astounding, according to multiple sources inside the US Dept of Interior. The records show more than $323 million have been made available for upgrades and projects on the WH grounds this year. That’s a dramatic, nearly 5000% increase from the $7.5 million spent on WH grounds projects in 2024.”
Trump is reworking government to enrich himself and punish perceived “enemies”
In March 2025, Public Citizen released an analysis that it said described how Trump’s “first-term tariffs and exemptions to them were weaponized to reward Trump’s allies and punish his enemies.”
The exclusions process, the analysis states, was created “ostensibly to protect small businesses that would face an undue burden from Trump’s tariffs,” but
the opaque and chaotic process quickly overwhelmed government agencies and enabled a quid pro quo spoils system that rewarded the rich and well connected.
A revolving door of lobbyists, including former and future Trump administration officials, were able to secure lucrative tariff exceptions for their C.E.O. clients through political pressure, informal meetings and campaign contributions.
Trump got elected as a strong populist leader who would create a golden age for Americans. Instead, we have a K shaped economy set up by Trump to benefit the ultra-wealthy. The rich are getting richer and corporations are doing extraordinarily well, but average Americans and new grads are unable to find jobs, pay their rent, buy a house, take vacations or afford groceries and gas. Trump’s tariffs are eating away at the average American’s ability to live in this country and feel secure or hopeful. Healthcare is being dismantled by this administration.
Food banks are reporting far greater demand because the Republicans have ended the SNAP food stamp program nationwide.
Food banks in multiple states reported record demand in April as more families struggled with high grocery prices. Several large networks said they distributed 20 to 30 percent more food than the same period last year. Many working families who never used food assistance before are now showing up.
Many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. If anyone in the family gets a serious medical problem, it could potentially doom that family to bankruptcy.
BAD IMMIGRATION POLICY WILL ALSO BE HIS LEGACY
Trump and Steven Miller are expelling immigrants– even those who are good people, not criminals. They have small businesses or work in nursing homes, construction, hospitality or other typical roles for immigrants that have fueled growth in our country. We are talking about people who have paid taxes and are upstanding members of their communities. Those tax dollars are gone when those people are gone. Trump’s purge is weakening the labor market. Small business owners cannot find workers. Or if they do, they have to pay them too much money for the small business to be sustainable.
Fortune reports: The economy lost 23,000 jobs last month, yet the unemployment rate went down as the workforce shrank. America’s emerging deportation economy may account for the riddle.
For example, health care has been the pillar holding up a weak labor market for the past three years, but in July, the sector added just 22,000 jobs, well below its 36,000 average monthly gain for the year prior. Social assistance, like daycare or services for the elderly and disabled, also slowed.
Those are the sectors “dominated by immigrant labor,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, told Fortune. In 2022, 28% of direct care workers in the U.S. were immigrants, up from 21% in 2011, according to PHI, a research organization that studies the direct care workforce.
And as the aging population grows, the industry needs to fill nearly a million new positions over the next decade.
Those are precisely the jobs held by many of the roughly 200,000 people whose temporary protected status (TPS) was terminated at the end of July, Swonk noted, adding that 400,000 more Venezuelan workers concentrated in nursing homes, hospitality, and construction are also set to lose their work authorization in October.
The timing could hardly be worse: The labor shock is colliding with state-level cuts to Medicaid, the largest payer for long-term care.
Many Americans are staying home to care for their aging parents.
THE LAGGING JOB MARKET IS HIS LEGACY TOO
Economist, Steve Rattner broke it all down a few days ago.
“President Trump inherited a strong labor market from President Biden,” Rattner wrote. “Since his inauguration, average monthly job creation has fallen dramatically: from 122k/month in 2024 to 33k/month in 2025-26.”
Rattner compared the last year of Biden’s term to the entirety of Trump’s second one, so far. Overall, the average monthly numbers tracked downward as Trump’s term wore on, with the monthly numbers only going into the negative once he was sworn in.
“This morning’s jobs report was shockingly negative,” Rattner wrote in a post from last week. “Not only did the economy lose 23,000 jobs in July — the previous estimates for May and June were revised down by 103,000. These numbers are a major red flag indicating the labor market is weaker than previously thought.”
Since Americans are dropping OUT of the labor market, the obvious question is–where are they going? They may have to be at home to help their elderly parents thanks to the loss of immigrants to do those jobs. But I suspect some may be trying to strike it rich by creating an app or some AI fueled business or they are going to the underground job market where they can work outside of normal business channels and get paid without reporting it to the federal government. The workforce is shrinking. This does not indicate a healthy, growing economy.
THE DAMAGE JUST KEEPS ON COMING AS TRUMP COLLAPSES
Trump might not make it to the end of his second term given his weakened physical condition. From cankles, to bruises on his hands that may indicate that he is getting many infusions, to cognitive confusion, to falling asleep in the middle of most meetings…Trump is showing signs of aging that are consistent with his age. At 81 he is the oldest president our country has ever had.
If he were a wise and thoughtful older statesman, age might be a good thing, but Trump is not a wise man. He is both an impulsive and compulsive man who thinks he knows better than everyone else and cannot stand to give up when he is wrong. He has reached old age without ever learning humility, gaining empathy, or having insight about himself.
Americans need to vote in a Democratic Congress to act as a check and balance on this man. We need adults in Congress to take away the car keys and stop supporting Trump’s obsessions.