Over years and years of covering politics, the last decade of which has been spent covering Donald Trump specifically, I’ve learned you can never really count him out.
It’s been a painful, exhausting, and deeply disappointing lesson, but an important one nonetheless. He keeps on keeping on. The things I find disturbing, revolting, and utterly disqualifying are inexplicably the same exact things that a not small number of Americans find appealing. Racism, incompetence, corruption, to name a few.
The things that would end any other politician’s career for good seem to have the opposite effect on his — instead of diminishing his power they only seem to embolden him. An impeachment, an insurrection, a criminal conviction, to name a few.
It’s been said many times, but the rules — of law, of political gravity, of general decency — just don’t seem to apply to him, and he’s taken extreme advantage of this phenomenon. And moreover, he seems to delight in his invincibility, flaunting the double standards and hypocrisy of one set of rules for him and another for everyone else, almost taunting his opponents to try getting away with what only he can.
So I almost never say what I’m about to say, because I’ve lived this exhausting reality for so long. But it feels like it’s finally true: this might just be the beginning of the end for Trump.
To be clear, this isn’t mere wishful thinking — though, for the good of the country I very much want to be rid of Trump and Trumpism once and for all.
It’s based on the inarguable reality of what we’re all witnessing — the walls are closing in on him.
Let’s take the polls to start.
A brutal new poll from Gallup has Trump’s approval in the gutter — he’s at -24%, down from -1% in January. Only Richard Nixon had a worse approval at this point in his second term, and he never recovered. Many other polls show similar, or even worse news for Trump’s standing among the electorate, where support from independents, Gen Z, and Hispanics has eroded significantly since his reelection. He’s even losing support among his base.
Then, there’s his economy. The signature pitch he made to voters was that he’d end inflation and make housing, energy, and consumer goods more affordable. Thanks to tariffs, DOGE cuts, profligate spending, and incompetence, Trump’s exploded the national debt and deficit, inflation has risen since January, unemployment is also up, consumers are seeing higher, not lower, prices at the grocery store, small businesses are seeing increased costs of operating, and more Americans believe Trump has been worse for the economy, not better.
Then there’s his personnel. Trump has been fending off serious issues of incompetence inside his administration since Day 1. His secretary of defense is being accused of war crimes. His head of the FBI is rumored to be on the chopping block. His attorney general is routinely mocked for her ineffectuality. Scientists from nearly every field of study have called for his head of health and human services to be replaced. His homeland security secretary may be prosecuted for contempt.
Then there’s his party. One-time staunch allies like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace are ignoring his threats and breaking with him on issues of America First, Jeffrey Epstein, and the shutdown. At least five Republicans have announced they are retiring or will not seek reelection. GOP senators ignored Trump’s urging to end the filibuster, and state lawmakers have rejected his redistricting efforts.
Finally, there are his media surrogates. Top MAGA influencers, who mainly reach Trump voters on Youtube and other platforms, are intentionally alienating the normies in the center-right by elevating neo-Nazis, excusing pedophilia, and engaging in some truly bizarre conspiracy theories.
But the biggest red flag that not all is well in Trump world? Trump himself. Monday night, Trump flooded Truth Social with more than 160 posts in five hours — an unhinged mix of high and low, from posting his cameo in “Home Alone 2” to demanding disgraced Colorado election official Tina Peters be released from prison.
It was a disturbing look at someone who’s clearly lost control — of his presidency, of his party, of his messaging. Flooding the zone with utter nonsense to distract us all from his obvious failures is seemingly all he has left.
Again, it’s never wise to declare Trump dead, politically. Somehow he always manages to slither back into a place of power and protection. But this time, with midterms around the corner, it feels different. This time, it feels like it might be the end.
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