The Weekly List

This week Trump continued his inexplicable targeting of what were formerly some of the strongest U.S. allies, while coddling and cozying up to former adversaries. In what the WSJ Editorial Board dubbed “the dumbest trade war,” Trump escalated tensions with Canada, including threats to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, while Vice President JD Vance mused that “Canada is a state.” Unlike during his first regime and earlier in his second, now countries are pushing back against his antics rather than being bullied into submission.Speaking of pushing back, the Iran war, now in its sixth month, is at a standstill. Americans’ approval of the war hit a low point of 31%, as support even from Trump’s Republican base faltered. Experts questioned the efficacy of Trump’s new tactic of imposing an “economic D-Day” on Iran, which had previously faced decades of sanctions to little avail, other than pushing Iran to sign the JCPOA, which Trump exited. Trump and Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth’s strategy back home continued to be to silence dissent.Meanwhile, Trump kept his focus this week on his pet projects and targeting his perceived enemies. Trump enjoyed two Supreme Court wins on his ballroom and mail-in voting, with midterms approaching. In a sign that Trump knows what is coming with midterms, he sent Jared Kushner to meet with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, likely to become the House Speaker after midterms.

In a relatively quiet summer week, with Congress out of session, Trump pushed forward on his personal agenda, while the issues impacting most Americans got left by the wayside.There was nary a focus on the issues impacting Americans like affordability, healthcare, and rising rates. Instead, Trump and his regime pushed full steam ahead on his D.C. pet projects, and pursuing his petty grievances and political adversaries. Trump continued to lose the support of the American people, with his approval hitting new lows, while 7 in 10 Americans said his business dealings were influencing his decisions as president. In a sign of his waning influence within his own party, Trump-endorsed candidates lost three primaries this week, bringing the total this season to 10, the highest number since 2022.Trump’s Iran war came to a standstill, with no end in sight, and seemingly no strategy going forward. Reports of poor living conditions and sailors’ mental health issues aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and other ships made headlines, while Trump and his Pentagon denied and deflected. Meanwhile, Trump saved much of his ire for longtime U.S. allies, like South Korea and Canada, with his continued erratic and nonsensical foreign policy.

This week, as Trump’s failures mounted and his polling continued to fall, he tried a new tactic ahead of midterms: blame the Republicans. In an interview, he bragged that he had “already won” his race, and said of the American people’s discontent, “They’re angry at Republicans, but they’re not angry at me.” The shift seemed to be a tacit acknowledgment of what lies ahead on November 3, and Trump preemptively looking to shift the blame.Once again this week, many of the broken norms, and much of Trump’s continued focus, is on his Washington D.C. vanity projects. Along with these projects, Trump spends his time searching for ways to impact the midterms, targeting his perceived enemies and pursuing his petty grievances. One time this week reporting indicated that a light bulb went off, and Trump wanted to offer an economic favor to the American people to gain support for Republicans on Election Day. Then we learn his ‘bold’ idea is cutting the capital gains tax rate, further illuminating how out of touch Trump has become, ensconced in his cocoon of yes-people.Trump’s Iran war is a complete disaster. He and regime senior officials are desperately searching for an off ramp, but finding none. Trump looked incredibly weak as Iran threatened to cut off negotiations until he left office, leaving him open to comparisons to former president Jimmy Carter, whom he often cites as a complete failure. As well, a story about him being sneaked off of Air Force One in a catering cart, while leaving journalists and regime officials on a decoy plane out of Turkey, further chiseled away from his strongman image.

This week Trump finds himself hitting all sorts of unenviable records for lowest approval, least public support for a war, and lowest approval on economic issues, even as midterm elections are now just three months away. Trump dismissed the polls as fake — a tactic he used during his first regime — but there is also a vast difference in his sentiment and approach this go-round. In his second regime, Trump does not seem to care about his polling data or Republican losses; rather, he has other priorities.An NYT reporter explained that Trump’s major focus now is on his legacy projects: putting his name and image wherever possible, especially in Washington D.C., before his time in office runs out. Since he has also been reported as saying he will pardon his entire regime before leaving office, he is less worried about what Democrats can do with control of the House and potentially the Senate. He has also shown little interest in actual policy or governing in this second year of his second regime. His cabinet likewise has little to show for their time in power. Other than his legacy, Trump continues to focus on personally enriching himself, and raising hundreds of millions to pay for all his pet projects.Trump is facing some pushback this week, although minor, and hardly a profile in courage given that most of it is coming from outgoing members of Congress. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro dropped charges relating to Trump’s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, raising his ire while revealing his lies and his regime’s incompetence. Federal judges continued to rule against Trump’s efforts to federalize midterms and other extreme measures. Trump’s Iran war is a complete mess, and risks turning into an endless quagmire, which will further mar his disastrous performance.

This was a disastrous week for Trump. Little is going his way, and the American people are increasingly turning against him. Trump continued to focus on his personal priorities, not issues that his party wants 100 days away from midterm elections, and not on what the American people want either. Nearly three-quarters of Americans said Trump was not paying attention to the country’s important issues, like the economy and affordability. Although Trump had promised his Iran “excursion” would last mere weeks, months later he is caught in an increasingly unpopular quagmire of a war.Trump suffered setbacks in a number of legal battles this week, including being forced to withdraw subpoenas of NYT reporters; losing an appeal on his efforts to thwart mail-in voting; a judge requiring significant financial disclosures in his BBC lawsuit; a long pause on Paramount’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros., parent company of CNN; and more.At a rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner, Trump gave a rambling, insult-laden keynote, which fell flat. The irony of the mission of the association being to defend the First Amendment, while Trump continued to use the levers of his regime to attack both journalists and media outlets, left some attendees wondering if at long last it was time to “rethink” the dinner, or consider other alternatives while an autocrat was in office.

While we are in the lazy days of summer, this week had story lines that made the country feel as if in chaos, with a much ballyhooed speech by Trump on the 2020 election, and an escalation of the Iran War.Much to his chagrin, Trump’s prime time speech was not covered by all the networks, causing him to call for licenses to be revoked. The speech was a rehashing of past conspiracies, with Trump blaming the “deep state” for withholding the information he was about to release from him while, ironically, he was president during the alleged election fraud. Materials released after the speech fell flat, and the response was muted.The Iran War escalated this week as the ceasefire came to an end, and while the U.S. struck Iran, Iran in turn struck U.S. bases in the region, killing more U.S. troops. Once again, the Pentagon tried to withhold information on wounded soldiers. After failing to hold a press conference for two and a half months, Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth came hat in hand looking for more money for the Iran War. Little was offered by way of explanation for where the war was headed, let alone the U.S.’s objectives. All the power and decisions continued to be made by one man.Chaos and incompetence continued to rule at federal agencies. This week at confirmation hearings, Trump appointees appeared bound by their loyalty test not to say out loud that Joseph Biden won the 2020 election. Other agencies like Health and Human Services, which still has no confirmed leader at the CDC, showed signs of its inability to handle basic tasks, amid growing outbreaks of the measles, and now cyclospora.

This week Trump pushed boundaries to new extremes, while the judicial branch pushed him back on others. In the aftermath of NYT reporting that Trump had switched Air Force One planes to return from the NATO summit in Turkey due to security concerns, federal agents showed up at the homes of some Times reporters with subpoenas, an extraordinary measure of targeting the press. At the same time, Trump and his regime suffered some dramatic losses and pushback from judges this week on his IRS settlement, his attempts to interfere with midterms, and his efforts to avoid payment to E. Jean Carroll, which this week he finally made.In the days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Iran had hatched a new plot to kill Trump, he returned to strikes against them, bringing the U.S. back into an active war. Trump, who is used to relying on his impulses and improvisation, gyrated from saying the U.S. would control the Strait of Hormuz and charge a 20 percent protection fee, to flip-flopping back to alleged investments from Gulf states. It was unclear where Trump’s Iran War, which he is running unilaterally, was heading, or how it could possibly end.As Trump pressed to ramp up deportations, this week three men were killed by ICE, two of whom were shot in their cars despite not being ICE agents’ intended targets. While the Department of Homeland Security sought to pull back traffic stop arrests in the aftermath, Trump overruled them the next day. Notably, the ICE agents did not have body cameras in any of the incidents, despite promises to equip officers two months ago.This week Trump lost one of his closest allies with the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, while the state of Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has been out of public sight for weeks, is unknown. While speaking of the loss of Graham, Trump pivoted to his SAVE America Act, continued his push to interfere in the midterms, and baselessly cast doubt about election results. Overall, it was a week of pandemonium.

In a week when the country should have been coming together to celebrate our 250th anniversary, Trump instead chose to make the Independence Day celebrations highly partisan, and all about himself. He made speeches attacking his political enemies as “communists,” and made repeated baseless claims about the dangers they posed to the country. He continued to push unfounded claims about the infiltration of others into our country, who were not only tainting the fabric of our country, but also secretly helping to elect Democrats.Toward that end, Trump has continued his efforts to muddy the waters and sow doubt about the midterm elections. While continuing to push Republicans in Congress to end the filibuster and pass his SAVE America Act, Trump has also deployed federal agencies, this week including the FBI, the Justice Department civil rights division, and FEMA, to pressure states to change the way voting is conducted, a role that the executive branch does not have according to the Constitution. Even after 18 months in office, Trump continued to push for baseless investigations into so-called fraud in the 2020 election, of which his regime has uncovered none.U.S. foreign policy is being decided by one mercurial man, as former alliances in Europe and the Middle East are being tested. At the NATO summit, Trump again threatened to annex Greenland, re-engaged in battle with Iran after calling their leaders “scum,” and said he would cut off U.S. trade with Spain. He also continued his castigation of our former allies for not helping in his Iran War.The grift and quid pro quos of this regime continue to be simply astounding. This week has seen more pardons, a process that has become pay to play; continued reporting on Trump and his family’s widespread efforts to enrich themselves, even as supporters are left holding the bag with losses; countries and corporations seeking favor with Trump, and by extension our federal agencies, by being sycophantic, including lavish donations and gifts. At our 250th anniversary, the state of our democracy is weak and teetering.

This week the theme of inequity continued to be front and center. While Trump refused to sign a housing affordability bill, which had rare bipartisan support, new disclosures revealed he had personally reaped $2.2 billion in 2025! Trump’s windfall primarily came from new businesses in cryptocurrency, but he also enriched himself in a bevy of other ways, unprecedented for a sitting U.S. president. Meanwhile this week, Trump continued to obsess over his Washington D.C. construction projects, which after he had repeatedly claimed would be entirely funded by him and private donors, this week reporting revealed taxpayers would be on the hook for perhaps billions! As would taxpayers be on the hook for over $700 million to refurbish and house Trump’s new Air Force One, a gift from the Qatari government that he will keep after leaving office. All in all, a stunning week of disclosures on unprecedented grift and corruption.Supreme Court decisions were a mixed bag this week. Two decisions broke what were thought to be landmark decisions made decades ago. Overall, although Trump lost on birthright citizenship, other victories in the area of immigration will empower and embolden him to take further action. A ruling on campaign finance in favor of Republicans will allow in more outside monies ahead of midterms. The one thing that did not go Trump’s way this week were rulings related to his efforts to impact voting in the midterms. After several losses, he and his allies have basically taken Congress hostage: paralyzing House voting until such time as his SAVE America Act, which does not have the votes in the Senate, is passed.As the country entered the week of July Fourth, Trump launched his highly politicized Freedom 250 celebrations, which like his Reflecting Pool renovations, were plagued with problems. Attendance was embarrassingly light, with broadcast images revealing an almost empty National Mall. A shocking Gallup poll captured the mood of the country, with just 19% of Americans saying the founders would be pleased with how the country has turned out, a new low.Meanwhile, the Iran War — remember that? — seems to have become an inconvenience for Trump. The public hears little about it, and what we do hear is contradictory information. After the two sides exchanged attacks, it appeared negotiations were halted. Trump is reportedly weighing options to restart the war, but seems again disinterested, and for now is leaving diplomacy to two real estate developers representing U.S. interests.

Trump just doesn’t care. That is a great takeaway from this week’s list. He views his power as absolute, saying in an interview that he has not been humbled by the Iran War, but instead learned that there are “no limits” to his power. He feels unbridled by public opinion or what is good for his political party approaching midterms. His concerns seem wrapped up in his legacy as a great conqueror abroad, while also enshrining his legacy in our country’s capital, as would be typical of dictatorships.Trump has lost the war with Iran that he started, abandoning all of his stated objectives, for fear of his legacy being compared to former President Herbert Hoover. It wasn’t his falling approval, reaching new lows on issues as well, or the crisis of affordability hitting most Americans, it was the stock market. After spending the past decade criticizing former President Barack Obama for releasing $1.7 billion in funds to Iran in completing the JCPOA, the Trump regime opened U.S. dollar-denominated oil sales for the first time in four decades, planned to released tens of billions more from frozen accounts, and set up a $300 billion fund for Iran. All in all a humiliation for the U.S. and our world standing that will surely have lasting world impacts.Meanwhile, Trump spent the week obsessed with his D.C. legacy, this week on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, inventing stories of “vandalism” to cover for gross incompetence. The Kennedy Center remains under wraps, quite literally, after his name was removed. The White House complex is a literal mess. His regime continues to struggle with the basic tasks of the federal government, the tolls of which are increasingly coming to bear, and instead is focused on his campaign of retribution. On the edges the Republicans, out of their own self-interest, are turning on him.

This week, after days of strikes on Iran, which included a precision strike on a water plant serving 20,000 Iranians, Trump announced a “deal” with Iran on his 80th birthday. While Trump, and his front man on the deal, Vice President JD Vance, trumpeted the one-and-a-half page long memorandum of understanding, they also refused to release it publicly, even to members of the Gang of Eight, even days later.Terms of the MOU did start to leak out nonetheless, with the NYT describing the deal as Trump winding down a war he started, with all his stated goals unmet. Trump’s main goal of ending Iran’s nuclear program, which he had claimed last June to having “obliterated,” was notably not addressed in any way. Trump continued to tout his deal as superior to former President Barack Obama’s JCPOA, which was negotiated without a war, but emerging details did not back that claim.Meanwhile, Trump held an unprecedented spectacle on White House grounds for his birthday, incorporating the U.S. military, and using the White House as changing rooms for UFC fighters, in what critics called undignified and worse. The event culminated in the winning fighter referring to former First Lady Michelle Obama as a “man,” which Trump and his regime refused to condemn, and seemed to have been the main lingering vibe of the event. While the White House anticipated 125,000 would attend, the crowd was limited to thousands.Meanwhile, the rest of Trump’s DC projects were in disarray. After spending $14.2 million to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in flag blue, days later the pool turned green as it filled with algae. Trump tried to avoid removing his name from the Kennedy Center, but lost, and so instructed the regime to cover the center with a giant tarp. Trump continued to fight for his White House ballroom, which he had repeatedly promised would be funded by donations, but as it turns out, looks to cost $600 million, not $400 million, half of which would be covered by taxpayers.This week, when pressed on the impact of his policies and war on affordability for Americans, Trump said, “I love inflation,” a line likely to be widely featured in Democrats’ midterms advertisements. Trump was, for the first time, losing ground not only with white working-class voters, but also with rural voters. Meanwhile, this week’s list is full of examples of insiders like Elon Musk having the regime do his bidding, and Trump using the apparatus of the federal government to pursue his enemies.Those of us old enough remember the bicentennial celebration in 1976, when Americans were treated to years-long events in celebration across the country, a time of unity and pride. Fifty years later, the country is in disarray, inequality reigns, corruption rules, and Trump this week threw away all pretensions and announced the July 4th event planned on the National Mall would be a “Trump rally.” That’s where our country finds itself at its 250th anniversary.

This was an unusually and notably slow week of broken norms compared to recent months. The news cycle has slowed considerably. Two factors stand out that may contribute.There remain lingering doubts about the state of Trump’s health after his most recent visit to Walter Reed, although our media is saying and reporting very little about it, as opposed to their daily and hourly obsession with former President Joseph Biden. The WSJ Editorial Board writes, as Trump nears his 80th birthday, “we hope no one is hiding any contradictory details” on his recent visit, adding, “One lesson from the Biden health fiasco is that voters will punish a party that tries to cover up infirmities.”The second is Trump’s focus on his two personal priorities, his legacy and personal vendettas, as we pass the five month mark before midterms, where Democrats are likely to at least gain control of the House of Representatives and put a check on power. Trump cannot stop talking about his arch, his UFC arena, and of course his ballroom. He is obsessed with his legacy, while being openly callous towards the concerns of Americans on issues like affordability. He is also obsessed with rewriting history, targeting his enemies, and seeking to reward his supporters who back the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Towards that end, Trump and his allies were already sowing doubt this week about election results, as the vote count in California’s primary proceeded at its usual slow pace.It is unclear whether Trump has so ensconced himself with loyalists that he does not comprehend his growing unpopularity, or if he simply has again constructed an alternative truth. This week, Trump was loudly booed in his home city at Madison Square Garden, but he claimed to have heard cheers. As his polling continue to fall, the Journal noted that Trump’s cultural influence is also waning. This week we are also continuing to see the real world impacts of the incompetent loyalists he installed to run our federal agencies, and the out in the open corruption and pay-to-play that have characterized this second regime, and benefited Trump, his family, and his allies.

This was a week full of setbacks for Trump, at home and abroad. The U.S. continued to be mired in Trump’s war of choice with Iran, which, by all appearances, the U.S. seems to be losing. As we pass the three month mark, Trump and his regime seemed to vacillate, day by day, on whether a ceasefire or escalation was near, or whether, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the war was over.On the home front, Trump suffered two major setbacks, first with a federal judge reversing his rebranding of the Kennedy Center, and then, bowing to both political and legal pushback, Trump backed down on his so-called ‘anti-weaponization’ fund. Backed down in part — not on the immunity audit, which benefits him personally. Uncharacteristically in recent days and weeks, Trump has largely avoided the media, and spent another weekend sending a flood of AI slop on Truth Social.Increasingly it appears that Trump, as he put it this week, does not “care about the midterms.” His focus instead seems to be on throwing himself a big 80th birthday party at the nation’s capital, putting his name and brand as many places as possible, and enriching himself, his family and allies as much as possible before the clock runs out.What alarms me most is all that we have normalized. The Justice Department, now run by his personal lawyer, has become a cudgel for Trump’s personal vendettas. This week, he crossed the line to pursuing E. Jean Carroll, who is completely a personal target, unrelated to his time in office. He named Bill Pulte to acting director of national intelligence, handing his ally unfettered access to a gold mine of intelligence, which he would undoubtedly use to target enemies, and could also harness to impact midterms. Trump’s regime acts like a mafia organization, awarding huge government contracts and loans, as Trump places stock market bets with his personal funds on companies he then champions. Our leadership in all realms is continuing to become more white and male, and less competent.The question now is whether Republicans will at long last stand up to Trump, as they did with his fund, or if they will revert to being compliant junior assistants. Trump made some enemies in the Senate, after endorsing primary opponents of Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn. Will the Senate at long last push back? If not, it becomes a waiting game for how much damage Trump can do before the midterm elections, just five months away.

This week the Republican Party at long last stood up to Trump. What did it take? Trump backing primary opponents of two of their own in the Senate, resulting in both losing, and another in the House. Trump’s $1.776 billion (yes, note the patriotic reference in dollar amount) so-called “anti-weaponization” fund hit roadblocks in the Senate, leading that body to adjourn for Memorial Day weekend, as did the House to avoid a vote that would have required Trump to get Congressional approval to continue his war of choice in Iran.Trump, by all accounts, is losing the Iran War. Although the three-month old war has been stalled for weeks, Trump used the pretext of an “imminent” deal as an excuse to skip his son’s wedding on Saturday. This seemed odd enough when his schedule showed him heading to his Bedminster golf course on Friday, but when rain was predicted, he instead returned to the White House where he spent the weekend claiming to be close to a deal, then backing off, then claiming to be close again, and so on. Trump also spent his weekend continuing his ample use of Truth Social to spread unhinged, AI-generated images and videos, at all hours of the day and night. Trump visited Walter Reed this week for his fourth medical exam since returning to office, raising continued concerns about his health, after which he again refused to give accurate information on the reason for the visit.This week the fourth Trump cabinet member was pushed out, and for the fourth time, notably, it was a woman, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Her diminished role, as well as Marco Rubio being a place holder as National Security Advisor, and Trump’s gutting of the National Security Council, led many experts to question if Trump’s shrinking circle of increasingly solely loyalists and yes men had led to his ill-advised and poorly planned Iran War. As NYT columnist Thomas Friedman put it:Now, and forever, Iranians will know that we know that Tehran can shut off the world’s most important oil tap anytime it wants. This new source of leverage for the Iranian regime is priceless.Trump’s failure to anticipate this is no accident. It is because he thinks he knows everything — when he doesn’t at all.

The biggest stories this week center on the blatant, unprecedented corruption by Trump, his family, and his regime. What is shocking is not only the scope, but also Trump’s willingness, even eagerness, to flaunt his kleptocracy in the light of day, seeming to regale in the fact that no one in his regime or party would dare to challenge or in any way stop him.Notable this week was not only Trump’s disclosure that he or his agents had made more than 3,700 stock trades in the first quarter, many of which involved companies with business before his regime, but also several that he had publicly promoted or directly helped through his actions and policies. Far more brazen was his so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which was poised to award $1.8 billion of taxpayer money not only to his allies, but also to Jan. 6 insurrections, whom he had already pardoned, and will now be enriched and encouraged to do the same in the future at his beck and call! This was another in the long list of examples of Trump getting away with one thing (pardons), then taking a broken norm to a next level, after little to no pushback.These remarkable headlines sucked much of the oxygen out of other important story lines. The Iran War continued with no progress, and following the same pattern of Trump threatening strikes, then backing off (TACO), with no end in sight. Bloomberg reported financial markets had gotten desensitized to his pattern, and Trump’s words and posts were having diminishing impacts. The American public moved increasingly against not only the war, but also on Trump’s overall approval and approval on other key issues, reaching new lows.Trump’s China Summit was by most accounts not only unproductive, but also deleterious to U.S. standing, and an embarrassment. While Trump seemed smitten by, and trying hard for a friendship with China’s president, Xi referred to the U.S. as a “declining nation,” and seemed to troll Trump throughout his visit. Meanwhile, Trump continued to pull away from our NATO allies, and took steps toward conflicts with Cuba and Greenland, which would also serve to allow him to control the narrative away from what we are no longer talking about — the Epstein files.As a second outbreak hit this week, the Department of Health and Human Services was hit with another senior level resignation. There are other important stories as well on the dysfunction within our federal agencies, which is only getting worse. With all this happening, Trump remained focused on his ballroom, and his campaign of retribution.

Two story lines really stood out this week, in part because of their big implications for the state of things under Trump. First, bowing to pressure from Trump, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned. With that resignation, the Trump regime’s Department of Health and Human Services had no Senate confirmed FDA commissioner, CDC director, surgeon general, or NIH director. Notably, this comes amid an outbreak of hantavirus, with 11 confirmed cases and three deaths, once again demonstrating the dysfunction of our federal government under Trump and his loyalists. The second is Trump saying out loud — something many had suspected through his actions — that he was indifferent to the suffering of anyone but himself. On Tuesday, the day the consumer price index showed soaring prices for energy and food, Trump was asked about “Americans’ financial situations,” and whether it was motivating him to make a deal with Iran. Trump said:“Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”My emphasis added, to what truly was a remarkable, if uniquely honest, statement.What is shocking too, is that even with that statement which cited the sole goal of disarming Iran’s nuclear capabilities, reporting this week indicates that Trump was ready to strike a deal to end the war with Iran, without achieving a single objective stated at the outset, including said elimination of nuclear. Reporting also indicated that Iran had been able to almost fully restore its military capabilities to pre-war levels, despite Trump and Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth’s repeated lies that those capabilities had been various versions of obliterated. When challenged by the truth, Trump and his regime resorted to their North Star, attacking the media, and accusing them of being traitors.Juxtapose Trump’s callous indifference toward the American people to his focus, bordering on obsession, with spreading likenesses of himself and his name, and pursuing his perceived enemies. Our Justice Department under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is unrecognizable. They might as well take down the Justice Department words from the building, under the giant poster of Trump, and call it the Trump Organization Law Firm! Between that, and the out in the open kleptocracy, with almost no pushback to either, this week it was clear how many broken norms have for now been accepted and normalized, as if Americans who oppose Trump are just biding their time.As Trump heads to China, traveling not with U.S.-China experts, but with his son and corporate chief executives, much is at stake. While the trip will provide Trump with a change of subject for now, there is no clear end for his Iran War, which by many accounts the U.S. seems to be losing, and Trump’s mental health, and demonstrated once again by his late night and overnight social media posting, is very much in question. He is the mad king, making all decisions, while Republicans enable him.

This week we continued down the slippery slope of the U.S. Department of Justice melding into Trump’s personal law firm. As acting Attorney General Todd Blanche seeks Trump’s nomination to run the agency, the DOJ has become unrecognizable. Any pretense of separation is gone as the gutted agency carries out Trump’s agenda and retribution campaign, however lawless.Trump’s Iran War entered its tenth week, and Trump seemed unable to find a way out. Trump claimed to not need congressional approval despite passing the 60 day mark, citing the ceasefire, then established “Project Freedom” and unsuccessfully tried to get cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz. By the end of the week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the war was over, and only Project Freedom remained, only to hours later have Trump post on Truth Social that Project Freedom was on pause. The narrative seems to shift daily and endlessly, most frequently with Trump leaking or posting a positive spin on ending the war before the stock market opens. Notably, also this week, Trump unilaterally pulled 5,000 troops out of Germany after their leader’s remarks about Trump failing in the Iran War.Polling continues to fall, as the American people are increasingly unhappy with Trump, his war, and his policies. He does, however, maintain his power over the Republican Party, as demonstrated this week by a primary in Indiana, and Senate Republicans trying to push through $1 billion for his White House ballroom, despite just 28% of Americans supporting it.Increasingly, Trump seems unhinged. A major story line this week is not only the increasing number of his Truth Social posts, but also that he is sending them often in the middle of the night, and they are becoming in many cases more alarming and bizarre. This week, Trump bragged in three separate occasions about taking cognitive tests, almost seeming to be an act of self-admittance that things are not so steady, as he has put the world and its energy prices on his shoulders, alone. With no good options for exit.This is the longest weekly list of the second regime, so far. There is so much going on at once! I encourage you to read it, in its entirety.

This was another chaotic week, when our country seemed to skip from crisis to crisis, and Trump became increasingly unbound by past norms. As the Iran War entered its ninth week, and gas prices reached a four-year high, it became increasingly apparent that Trump had no plan to end his war. There was no movement toward any sort of resolution. Reporting this week continued to reveal there had yet to be any real, lasting, positive accomplishments from the war.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a reported effort to become Trump’s nominee for the permanent role, moved forward on pursuing Trump’s perceived enemies, breaking norms not only for the direct tie between Trump and the Justice Department, but also for pursuing cases that were clearly political retribution, without a chance of winning.There was chaos this week at the White House Correspondents Dinner, when an armed individual tried to run through a security checkpoint on the floor above the ballroom where the dinner took place. Trump, his regime, and allies sought to make hay by using the incident to advance his White House ballroom as a security necessity, and to baselessly blame Democrats for all political violence. Trump briefly called for unity, but less than 24 hours later castigated and insulted journalist Norah O’Donnell, his latest in a long list of attacks on female reporters.Corruption has become increasingly mainstreamed. This week, Paramount’s David Ellison hosted a highly unusual dinner at the former Institute for Peace, attended not only by Trump, but also members of his regime who would have a say in the company’s merger with Warner Brothers being completed, and with a large portion of Middle East investor ownership. Trump hosted large holders of his memecoin $TRUMP at Mar-a-Lago, promising access to the largest holders of the coin, which had lost more than 90% of its value since its January 2025 launch. And so on. All in the light of day, with little to no pushback.Meanwhile, the American people are not happy. Poll after poll shows Trump’s declining approval ratings overall, and also on all major issues. While Trump quietly and consistently pushed falsehoods about election security ahead of midterms, he also was seeing his MAGA base turn against him on a growing number of issues.

This week, as the country entered the eighth week of Trump’s Iran War, Trump appeared to be backed into a corner. He spent the week spewing false claims about the state of negotiations, the ever-changing objectives of the war, and on what had been achieved; but by the week’s end, amid all his bluster and bravado, he chose to extend the ceasefire for the fifth time, this time indefinitely. Troubling reporting by the WSJ indicated that while Trump projected bravado, privately he was scared about a war that has gotten away from him, and with his erratic behavior and impatience, national security officials had taken to excluding him from the room during a major operation.Meanwhile at home, the federal agencies are in disarray. Trump fired a third cabinet member, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the third firing in recent weeks, all women. FBI Director Kash Patel sued The Atlantic over an article detailing his alcohol abuse and its impact on his work, notably during a war. Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin suggested his agency would run out of money in early May, again during a war. Health and Human Services Sec. Robert Kennedy continued his free-fall, as measles cases continued to spike, and he refused to back Trump’s latest pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control.All the while, Trump found time to focus on his ballroom, his arch, and pursuing retribution and petty grievances against his perceived enemies. In fact, reporting continued to indicate he repeatedly tried to pivot away to other topics from the Iran War, which he has put himself in unilateral control of, as this week once again, both the Senate and the House failed to pass measures to rein in his war power. Trump’s polling continues to crater to new lows of not only the second regime, but both regimes. The American people largely do not support his Iran War, or his increasingly erratic behavior, including his continued conflict with Pope Leo XIV.

This week there were growing concerns about Trump’s erratic behavior and mental health, including from former allies and regime members. While Trump’s unpopular war with Iran entered its seventh week, already extending beyond his four to six week estimate, Trump started a new war of words with Pope Leo XIV, further enraging parts of his base. Things escalated when Trump posted an image depicting himself as Jesus Christ, later taking the rare action of deleting the post, while defending himself and continuing to attack the Pope. In a letter to the Vatican, Pope Leo warned of the risk of democracies sliding into “majoritarian tyranny.”As ceasefire negotiations with Iran got underway, Trump refused to avail himself of the expertise in the State Department, instead sending Iran’s request of Vice President JD Vance, along with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, none of whom had any experience with Iran. As Vance told reporters that negotiations had failed, Trump was seen ringside at the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Miami, seated with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, unbothered and cheering the fighters. Trump enjoyed his weekend at fundraisers and golfing at his properties, while sending thousands more troops to the Middle East.The world order continues to shift dramatically under Trump, or as Chinese President Xi Jinping put it, the international order is “crumbling into disarray.” Despite intervention by the U.S. and Russia, Hungary’s Viktor Orban was defeated in a landslide, after serving 16 years, a refutation of authoritarianism. Trump alienated one of his last remaining allies, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, over the Iran War and his attacks on the Pope. Europeans held discussions about a post-war effort to secure the Strait of Hormuz, without the U.S., and about a plan for a “European NATO,” without the U.S. An election in Canada empowered the party of Trump foe, Mark Carney. Even Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pushed back on Trump’s blockade of Cuba, and the deaths of Mexican nationals at the hands of immigration agents.Trump, and the U.S., increasingly stands alone. Congress finally returned to Washington D.C., but remains largely silent and sidelined. One volatile man, whose mental health is clearly in question, is now making decisions with a shrinking circle of trusted aides, that impact the entire world. Trump is increasingly acting like a mad king.

This week started with Trump addressing the nation in a prime time speech on the Iran War, and escalated to Trump making genocidal threats against Iran as the week came to a close. Experts expressed shock that Trump was essentially threatening what amounted to war crimes, out in the open. Some of Trump’s statements and social media posts this week included: he would “bring them back to the stone ages;” “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell;” “we’re blowing up the whole country;” and “A whole civilization will die tonight.”Although pushback had been growing, with Trump’s overall approval continuing to fall to new lows and approval of his Iran War plummeting, it took this erratic, deranged threat that a “whole civilization will die” to finally have far-right figures and more than 70 Democrats call for him to be removed from office. Later that evening, 90 minutes before his self-imposed deadline, Trump capitulated, in what Bloomberg News dubbed another ‘TACO Tuesday’ (Trump always chickens out). Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, summarized, “if he was going to back down, he did so in the worst way. Raising the stakes so high beforehand, he maximized the damage to his credibility & global perceptions of U.S. power. This is a clear strategic defeat for the U.S.”Notably, while Trump was threatening genocide, Vice President JD Vance was in Budapest, supporting beleaguered Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of Hungary’s election, and chastising our NATO allies. While it is unclear if Trump’s Iran War is resolved (likely not), what is clear is the U.S. has hurt our world standing and lost the trust of so many of our allies.As if this all was not chaotic enough, this week Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi, and reporting indicated there are more firings to come. Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth also fired generals amid a war — quite remarkable — over their supposed ‘woke’ beliefs.Finally, one of the troubling aspects of this second regime is that Trump has surrounded himself by yes men, and sycophants. This week reporting by the NYT showed the impact: the Iran War was Trump’s decision alone. Even in his shrinking circle of loyalists, no one really stood up to him, and if they did slightly, he did not listen. We have truly entered mad king territory for all the world to see!

This week Trump and senior regime officials continued to give ever-changing objectives and endgames for his Iran War, which entered its fifth week. Trump continued efforts to game his beloved stock market, which at one point entered correction territory, with rosy statements ahead of markets opening. The price of gas rose above $4 a gallon, and the vast majority of Americans expressed disapproval and dismay with Trump’s handling of the war and economy. Trump’s approval was now lower than former president Richard Nixon’s during Watergate, and George W. Bush’s during the lows of the Gulf War. At times, in fact frequently, Trump made statements this week that call into question his mental acumen, at a time when he alone is calling the shots for a war that has increasing global impacts.The Republican-led Congress, meanwhile, was unable to come to a simple resolution on funding parts of the Department of Homeland Security, instead leaving Trump to act unilaterally, and order that Transportation Security Administration workers be paid ahead of spring break. Republicans in Congress not only once again abdicated their role of controlling the budget, they also left town for a two week recess, leaving Trump alone in D.C. as he deployed thousands more troops to an increasingly unpopular war they had not approved. TMZ took to publishing photos of members of Congress living it up on vacation amid a DHS shutdown and a country in chaos.Not only was Trump literally alone in D.C., but figuratively the U.S. was increasingly isolated with his actions. Trump, his regime, and Republicans continued to make remarkable concessions to Russia, which was aiding Iran and helping them successfully target U.S. troops and interests, while distancing the U.S. from our post World War 2 alliances. The survival of NATO is undoubtedly in question.Finally, this week had several important court rulings, mostly against Trump. We continue to see his regime’s attempts at retribution against Trump’s perceived enemies. We also continue to see a growing dysfunction in our federal agencies. The week closes out with Trump breaking yet another precedent, attending a Supreme Court hearing on his birthright citizenship executive order, and preparing to address the nation in the evening on his Iran war.

This week was one of the longest lists of broken norms so far. The country is in chaos, and Americans are increasingly unhappy. The price of gas has risen by nearly a dollar a gallon, 72% said it was a bad time to look for a job, the cost of mortgages hit a five month high, and other measures of inflation showed Americans are suffering. Airport lines were hours long, highlighting government and Trump’s dysfunction, and another deadly airlines incident showcased how staffing shortages under Trump were making travelers less safe. Trump’s overall approval, and approval on major issues, hit new lows.Despite his falling approval, and Americans hurting, and being worried and scared, Trump seemed removed from that reality. The only thing that did get his attention were rising energy costs, and their impact on his beloved stock market. He shifted this week to saying the war was already won, a regime change had happened in Iran, and that Iran was coming to the table, which they denied. In fact, there was so much contradictory information and lies coming from Trump and his regime, it was unclear to Americans what was actually happening. The NYT Editorial Board warned, “Trump is Hiding the Truth About the War in Iran,” noting his fire hose of lies since the war started. What was clear, however, was the world order continuing to go through a realignment, with the U.S. increasingly siding with authoritarianism.Mind you none of this stopped Trump from the petty things — his campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies, his attempts to memorialize himself in grandeur, his corruption and quid pro quos. Who will stop him? Not the Republican Party, which suffered another special election loss, and seems unwilling to stand for democracy or the American people. The courts do counter some of the blows to democracy, but not enough. This week is full of stories that deserve more attention, but in the fog of war have been relegated to, on to the next outrage. I once again encourage you to read them all, including the many stories on immigration, once Trump’s strongest issue and now among his weaknesses, which he attributed to bad branding.

As Trump’s war with Iran neared the three week mark, he and his regime continued to offer contradicting rationales for entering the war, as well as its goals and objectives. While Trump claimed to be surprised that Iran had blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, and that Iran had bombed its neighbors, reporting indicated that military officials had warned him of both. Though Trump started the war without conferring with NATO allies, this week he asked, then demanded their help with reopening the Strait, then said he did not need them, then expressed outrage over their refusal to help, and threatened to pull the U.S. out of NATO, which he cannot unilaterally do.While Trump vented on NATO and other U.S. allies, he paradoxically had no public ill will against Russia, which was providing ongoing aid to Iran, including help with targeting the U.S. troops and assets. He even publicly defended Russia and Vladimir Putin on Fox News, while castigating Ukraine’s president, even as Ukraine was helping the U.S. and our Middle East allies with countering Iranian drones. Even more mystifying was Russia sending an oil tanker to Cuba, potentially breaking Trump’s embargo, and nary a word from Trump, the day after he claimed he would have the “honor” of taking over Cuba.On the home front, Trump’s campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies continued to stall out, after irate federal judges ruled against him, and even ordered his appointees to testify in court. Trump chastised federal judges and the Supreme Court for their ruling, leading Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, whose court’s ruling ironically made sitting presidents essentially untouchable, to ask him to stop.With Trump’s chaotic war of choice weighing on him, he and his regime resorted to a familiar tactic, blaming the media, casting them as dishonest and unpatriotic. Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth, who also banned photographers from his press briefings over what he thought were unflattering images, disparaged the media for how they were covering the war. Trump piled on. Then, in an autocratic move, Trump’s FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcast licenses of networks not providing favorable coverage.Trump, who ran as an anti-interventionist, found himself and the country increasingly isolated by the end of the week. Joe Kent became the first regime member to resign in protest. NATO allies snubbed Trump, after a year of his bullying them with tariffs and other threats. Even his own vice president seemed to be trying to distance himself from the war. Asked when he would end the war, Trump told Fox News that the war would end “when I feel it, feel it in my bones.” One man alone is in charge.

This week started with Trump firing Kristi Noem from her role leading Homeland Security, after a disastrous performance in her Congressional testimony, as well as on the job. Before we get to Trump’s war of choice, it is worth pointing out that this week’s list is full of examples of the gross incompetence of the loyalists picked by Trump for senior roles, from Health and Human Services, to Energy, to the Justice Department, to Voice of America — the American people are now suffering first-hand from the consequences. Even temporary parts of the second Trump regime, like DOGE, are producing horrendous outcomes for the American people months later, including a Social Security breach.Trump has gotten our country into quite a mess with his war on Iran. In addition to the seven U.S. soldiers killed, and more than 150 injured so far, as the week came to a close, U.S. military intelligence finally admitted that the U.S. was behind a tragic bombing of a girls’ school in Iran. This, after Trump spent the week deflecting and lying, for what may be the most devastating military error in decades. Reporting this week also indicates that Trump and his regime miscalculated Iran’s response, had little in the way of a plan to help U.S. citizens evacuate, or to deal with the ensuing spike in the price of oil. Trump and his regime spent the week changing stories on goals, objectives, and the end game, at times changing facts in less than an hour’s span. It was clear by week’s end that Trump is not in control here, and as Congress once again abdicated its role, the U.S. finds itself and the world economy in the hands of one man, surrounded by incompetent sycophants — a nightmare scenario. The CEO of Aramco warned, “There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets and the longer the disruption goes on, the more drastic the consequences for the global economy.”Trump’s solution to all this mess of his creation is to try to steal the midterm election. He threatened not to sign any legislation into law unless Congress passed his so-called SAVE America Act, to which he added the end of mail-in voting. Perhaps the most honest thing Trump said this week was in a speech to House Republicans, that passing the Act “will guarantee the midterms,” and “If you don’t get it, big trouble, my opinion.” Notably, he made this pronouncement from his Doral golf resort, where he hosted Republicans and events over the weekend, during a war, and at the expense of U.S. taxpayers. His hosting at taxpayers’ expense would have been a broken norm during his first regime, but this time, it was not even picked up as such by our media — yet another example of how far down the rabbit hole we have fallen.

I want to note the stories that were occupying the public’s attention before Trump launched a war of choice on Iran. There was a heavy focus on the Epstein files, after both Clintons testified, more coverage of missing files related to Trump, and more regime members becoming ensnared; reports on efforts to declare a “national emergency,” granting Trump power of midterms; stories of abject cruelty by federal immigration agents, judges’ outrage over their orders being ignored, and an abduction of a Columbia University student on false pretenses; the Supreme Court ruling on tariffs being implemented, despite Trump questioning whether he could appeal their ruling; utter ineptitude, cover ups, and corruption at federal agencies; the regime’s desire to bully Anthropic and use its artificial intelligence tools for mass surveillance on U.S. citizens; the regime also inserting itself into an acquisition battle in which Trump’s perceived foe CNN was part of the sale.And more. You can see why Trump might well have welcomed an opportunity to change the subject and focus. Trump ordered his seventh military bombing campaign — to say nothing of the countless alleged drug vessels he has unilaterally destroyed — mere days after convening his so-called Board of Peace, and after basing all three of his presidential campaigns on being a non-interventionist and criticizing endless wars. As we close out the week, there is still no clarity on what prompted the attack, but what is clear is that there was no imminent threat, and hence Congress should have been consulted. We also have yet to learn the objectives of what now has become a war that is spreading. The Trump regime has given different accounts daily on both basic questions.I encourage you to read through the list in its entirety. While the ongoing war will occupy attention in the coming days, and possibly weeks, there are important broken norms that deserve and need the public’s attention.

Host Amy Siskind discusses the last week of events leading up the February 24, 2026 State of the Union

I wanted to start this week by noting the cruelty we have normalized. During Trump’s first regime, after widespread protests and condemnation over his “zero-tolerance” policy of separating families, he rolled it back. During the second regime, the repugnant acts of cruelty and lawlessness far outdo those of Trump’s first regime, yet the public outcry is sporadic and hushed. Almost as if the country is too exhausted to keep up the fight on so many fronts, and is instead choosing to wait out the clock until Trump’s departure. In fact, it seems that on immigration, the only thing holding Trump back from his worst impulses is his sinking polling on what was once his strongest issue. This week, the regime claimed they were leaving their wildly unpopular and lawless occupation of Minneapolis.As Trump’s popularity continues to deteriorate, and has now fallen even lower than during his first regime (which was already a record low), Trump and his Republican lawmakers have amplified a new strategy of trying to suppress the vote, while at the same time sowing doubt over the outcome of the midterm elections. All of this is happening in the light of day, which makes it all the more alarming.This week we see a continuation of trends that have been unfolding, including the shifting world order; Trump’s branding and renaming, and using the power of the government to enrich himself; the slow degradation of our country’s advancement towards equality; incompetence at Health and Human Services threatening our country’s well being; and the DOJ and FBI acting more as an appendage of Trump’s Oval Office than independent agencies.In summary, the country is just about done with Trump, except his really hardcore supporters. As one media pundit put it, there does not seem to be a floor anymore for his approval. Yet Trump, surrounded by loyalists and yes men, seems unbothered — instead sharpening the tools used by dictators to strangle democracy.

In a week of chaos, so much happened it was easy to lose sight of the fact that Trump posted an image of former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes on Truth Social. He then deflected that it was posted by a staffer, took down the post, and refused to apologize. In any sort of normal time, that act, in and of itself, would be career ending. In the era of Trump, it’s Thursday.Trump did not back off of his racism, which seems to be more a feature than a bug, castigating Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny over his Super Bowl halftime performance. Trump’s brutal and racist immigration push also continued unabated, even as polling increasingly showed the American people turning against him. Those who dare to speak out were targeted — from protestors in Minneapolis getting arrested, to Trump lambasting a U.S. Olympian.Amid all this, information from the latest Epstein files release led to resignations around the world, but little in the U.S., although the files increasingly are gaining public and media attention. Commerce Department Sec. Howard Lutnick became the first regime member to admit visiting Epstein’s island. Calls grew louder for the release of the remaining three million files.All the while, the regime continues to deconstruct the government from within. It is important to read the stories of what is happening at our federal agencies. Trump also continued his campaign of branding his name wherever he can, and unprecedented corruption. Republicans have largely refrained from speaking out against him or his agenda, except on the fringes. Questions continue to arise about Trump’s plans to interfere with a free and fair midterm election, and polling increasingly suggests even control of the Senate will be in play.

This week the Justice Department released three million more of the Epstein files, with three million still withheld. The timing of the highly redacted release, which included limited damning material on Trump, seemed like a shiny coin to distract from the rest. Yes, it was that bad!Trump continued to discredit past elections, this week escalating by using the FBI to seize Fulton County ballots. The seizure presaged Trump calling for nationalizing U.S. elections, a shocking and extraordinary statement that his White House then tried to walk back, before Trump doubled down on his demand, despite its going against the Constitution.The reality is, Trump now understands his loss in public standing. Polling show a continued deterioration in support, even among Republicans. Immigration, once the top issue for Trump, now haunts him. The economy is souring, with his tariffs producing the exact opposite of the golden era he promised: a loss in U.S. manufacturing, a growing trade deficit, and a slowing job market. No better example of his loss in standing than an earthquake of a special election in a Texas red district that Trump had won by 17 points in 2024, which flipped blue by 14 points this week.Beyond these major themes, this week’s list is packed with stories that in normal times would dominate the news cycle for days or weeks: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard burying a whistleblower complaint by a U.S. intelligence officer; the Trump and Witkoff families striking a huge deal with UAE royals that enriched them by hundreds of millions; Trump shuttering the Kennedy Center for two years; Attorney General Pam Bondi arresting journalists; and so on, and so on. Please read this list in its entirety to appreciate all that is happening, all that is being normalized, and all that is being lost.

What happened to Greenland? What happened to the Epstein files? That’s the story within the story this week: how effective Trump has become in driving the media, and hence the narrative, until he is not.What it took this week was another tragedy: federal immigration agents in Minneapolis murdered another U.S. citizen as part of their so-called immigration sweep or fraud sweep — the rationale for the occupation seems ever-changing. The murder came as half the country was facing a severe winter storm, and hence at home watching television, and on a weekend when Trump was at the White House for the launch of the documentary “Melania,” and, according to the NYT, also watching the news coverage obsessively. Immigration, once Trump’s strongest issue, has now become an albatross, of which he has many. Polling shows not only record low approval on his handling of immigration, but also growing support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement altogether, as Trump and his regime’s tactics have become increasingly lawless and cruel.Notable this week is a continuing trend of our allies moving on without us, and expressing grave concern about Trump and his state of mind. Republicans have started to speak out, but only at the edges and meekly. Trump has intimidated corporate America from publicly opposing him and his agenda, filing a lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase and its chief executive, shortly after Jamie Dimon made comments at Davos in support of NATO. But by the end of the week, even corporate titans were speaking out against immigration tactics, and called for de-escalation.The country feels as if it’s in non-stop chaos. Consumer confidence is plunging, and Americans are expressing broad disapproval of Trump and his handling of key issues. All the while, many of the broken norms this week illustrate changes to the fabric of our country, and decay at federal agencies meant to serve and protect us.

This week marked renewed escalation by Trump and his regime, both internationally and at home. Nothing feels safe or stable. One pollster found that 71% of Americans said the country feels out of control. As we hit the one year mark of Trump’s return, he finds himself increasingly unpopular and underwater on every issue, even on fighting crime.Unlike the start of the second regime, when Trump methodically went down a to-do list provided to him by the Heritage Foundation in “Project 2025,” as 2026 gets underway, there is no longer a rhyme or reason to his actions. After marketing himself as an anti-interventionist and peace president, so far in 2026, Trump has threatened to invade or has invaded Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, Iran, and this week Greenland (which he four times referred to as Iceland). Trump whines and petulantly blames these actions on not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s hard to reconcile a grown adult, let alone a sitting U.S. president, acting in such a puerile fashion that the actual recipient tried to calm and flatter him by handing off her award.On the home front, Trump and his regime have made Minnesota ground zero for Trump’s war on his own country. The rationale for the mass deployment of ICE agents shifted frequently, as Trump threatened to further escalate by sending in the U.S. military on its own citizens, and took the unprecedented action of subpoenaing five Democratic officials.Trump continues to use the DOJ and FBI as tools to pursue his perceived enemies. In addition to Minnesota Democrats, this week, Trump ally Jeanine Pirro opened an investigation into four more Democratic lawmakers. All the federal government agencies are acting at Trump’s behest. Perhaps the most telling quote from his nearly two hour speech on his first year’s achievements was his musing that he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of Trump, but said he was rebuffed by his staff, then he said that was just a joke, saying, “My people don’t rebuff me.”

This is the longest list of broken norms during the second regime, so far. I would encourage you to read through the list in its entirety, because amid the chaos of the week, many stories that would normally garner broad attention received little or no coverage. Some mark escalations, like the regime serving a grand jury subpoena to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, while others, like the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery altering history, remind us that details matter.This is perhaps the most unhinged we have seen Trump during his second regime. Part of this feels like a continuation of a theme we have covered: the notion of his running out of time with midterms ahead, and his acknowledgment that in a fair election, Democrats will likely prevail. But this is also a new version of Trump, who by common sense should be listening to voters ahead of midterms (polls tell us they are overwhelmingly against what he is up to); either he does not care, or perhaps, cannot stop himself.I’ve been ruminating on a framework to understand Trump’s recent illogical, intemperate, unbounded behavior. That’s the thing — it doesn’t feel like he can regulate and stop himself, and as we’ve covered, he has surrounded himself solely with sycophants who will almost never tell him no or that he is wrong. I found an op-ed by Thomas Edsall that helped me make sense of things. Edsall writes, based on speaking to experts, that Trump is “showing symptoms of an addiction to power,” noting, “the size and scope of his targets for subjugation are spiraling ever upward.” One expert described to Edsall Trump’s malignant narcissism: “Because there is little internal capacity for self-soothing or self-valuation, he requires continuous external affirmation to feel real and intact.”This week we have stories indicating Trump is still consumed with his petty grievances, as he vents against federal attorneys and Attorney General Pam Bondi for being weak and ineffective. But in a broader sense, his statement to the NYT that the only thing that could stop him was “My own morality. My own mind” indicates a man who has increasingly lost touch with reality and its consequences. My guess is Trump is headed for troubled waters not far ahead, and a crash down to reality for him and his regime.

The main takeaway of this week’s list is what we are NOT discussing: the Epstein files, the five-year anniversary of Jan. 6, the affordability crisis and Trump’s tariffs exacerbating rising prices, rising healthcare premiums, the MAGAverse implosion, and of course, Trump’s health decline. Those story lines were the top themes amid his falling approval on every issue and overall, until he decided to orchestrate a coup — a classic ‘wag the dog’ operation.Trump has been, throughout both regimes, a master of distraction — of throwing shiny coins and having what remains of our media chase that story instead of the ones he did not want covered. We saw this earlier in the second regime, when he bombed Iran’s nuclear sites. He was itching for another story to drive the headlines from his considerable problems, and he got it.In what clearly was not a well thought out, if thought out at all, plan, Trump ordered the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In the days after, the regime teetered from claiming it was “running” Venezuela, to not running, to running again. When that story started to become stale, the narrative switched to seizing Greenland through military action, to buying Greenland, to all options are on the table. Trump, who ran both campaigns on an anti-interventionist “America First” platform, and claimed rights to the Nobel Peace Prize as the peacetime president, also threatened longtime U.S. allies Mexico and Colombia, as well as Cuba. He finds himself increasingly at odds with the MAGAverse, including notably his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who removed herself from the public discussion.The other big story this week is Trump’s visible efforts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, quite literally on the White House website, and in the MAGA ecosystem. The both-sides narrative also bled over to CBS News, whose owner seeks to win Trump’s favor in a proposed takeover of Warner Bros. This week Trump continued to publicly claim he won the 2020 election, although according to the testimony by former special counsel Jack Smith, we learn this week that Trump had privately acknowledged that he in fact lost.

As we close out 2025 this week there is a marked shift in sentiment, not only among the American people, but also by Trump himself. A year ago as I restarted this project, the conversation was, will he ever leave? We’re not having that conversation anymore.Not only do polls show that the American people are souring on Trump as the year comes to a close, the Republicans too are starting to turn on him, even if at the fringes, for their own self-preservation. One GOP member of the House mused this week that House Speaker Mike Johnson is “hanging on because Trump wants a weak speaker,” as the 2025 Congress was the least productive in modern history. By week’s end Rep. Lauren Boebert also spoke out publicly against Trump, after he retaliated against her, and the state of Colorado, for not freeing Tina Peters.Trump tried to play grown-up, or at least appear engaged, by hosting two world leaders at Mar-a-Lago, with little to show for either. But more notable was his lack of focus on what Americans want, and his unhinged behavior, back to rapid-fire posting onChristmas Eve, and striking out at his perceived enemies, including Boebert’s Republican-leaning district. This is the disorganized, scattered behavior reminiscent of his first regime. While Trump was able to follow the Project 2025 roadmap for most of 2025, now that the Heritage Foundation has, as conservative WSJ Editorial Board pronounced, “blown up,” Trump too seems rudderless.The mood of the country remains gloomy as the year comes to an end. Just 24% believe the country is heading in the right direction. The vast majority feel Trump and his billionaire beneficiaries are out of touch with the regular people. Trump increasingly is losing the tight grip of control he had for most of 2025. I wrote more about what I expect for 2026 here.

This week, Trump is continuing to lose not only broad-based American support as he did during the first regime, but for the first time of either regime, he is also losing support from within the Republican base. At the same time, the Republican Party is in turmoil, amid infighting over the party’s direction post-Trump. The once mighty Heritage Foundation, architect of Project 2025, is imploding, a notion that would seem unthinkable just a year ago. MAGA influencers are attacking one another, this week quite publicly at Turning Point USA’s annual conference. More prominent Republicans announced this week they would not seek re-election.Already there is a notable shift in Trump’s demeanor. During his address to the nation at the start of the week, he seemed frustrated and agitated that he even had to speak about affordability, or concerns of the American people. Although the question of a third term continues to be floated, Trump no longer speaks or acts as if this is a possibility. It is unclear if this is health-related or an unhappiness with the pushback he is feeling post-2025 election, and a sense that Democrats are likely to take control of at least part of Congress in midterms, but this is a different Trump. He is acting in some ways like he is running out of time. An example that continues this week is his frantically putting his name wherever he can, a sign of possible insecurity, and a manic effort to preserve what he hopes will be his legacy.In the meantime, this week is filled with examples of Trump’s abuses of power. It is almost as if the country has normalized these broken norms, and is just hoping to run out the clock until midterms. The Epstein files are not going away, despite Trump and his Justice Department’s efforts — in fact, they have been feeding the flames. Just as CBS News did by pulling the plug on a “60 Minutes” segment, seemingly to placate Trump. There are many more examples this week of a federal government in decline and disarray. And at long last, a Supreme Court ruling against Trump that could set back his efforts to send U.S. military troops to American cities.

There continues to be a notable shift this week of Trump losing his grip on power. First and foremost, the American people are unhappy with the economy, the cost of living, and increasingly even with his handling of immigration. They are showing their displeasure at the polls, in the polls, and speaking to their representatives. For the first time in either Trump regime, we see growing dissatisfaction with Trump from within his base, and a movement away from identifying as “MAGA” to “Traditional Republican.”Increasingly, Republicans are standing up to Trump. Not only in the House of Representatives, where his proxy and junior assistant, Speaker Mike Johnson, is losing control, but also at the state level. In Indiana, where Trump and his proxies tried bullying to get redistricting, it backfired, turning state Republicans against them. Trump threw in the towel on installing loyalists to U.S. attorney positions, as another resigned.Even members of Trump’s regime are beginning to see pushback from their base. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin saw blowback from MAHA Moms over his siding with the chemical industry lobby. Fox News started covering the alarming outbreak of measles under Health and Human Services Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr., in which they noted cases had increased by 14,608% since 2020! FBI Director Kash Patel continued to try to jump ahead of tragedies to take credit on social media, raising a chorus to criticize his incompetence.The week was already feeling heavy with sadness, after yet another mass shooting at a school in America, this time at Brown University, followed by an anti-Semitic inspired mass shooting in Australia. Trump again showed his inability to rise to the occasion, show empathy, or lead. In what was perhaps a defining moment of his second regime, after the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner by their son who struggled with addiction, Trump’s response on social media of blaming Reiner for having “Trump Derangement Syndrome” led to widespread blowback from Republican and conservative corners, many of which had previously been too fearful to speak out publicly against him. Conservative WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan wrote “Trump May Be Losing His Touch,” noting, “he’s surrounded by mood shifts, challenges and ominous signs.”

This week Trump struck back at media outlets and others who continue to raise questions and concerns about his health and age, likening it to sedition and treason. Trump continued to advance his own version of reality, calling affordability a “Democrat hoax” and “con job,” as he at long last held an event in a U.S. city, which was meant to address affordability concerns, a top issue in the country, but did not. More off-year elections this week showed a 10+ point slide away from Trump’s 2024 performance, amid continued malaise over the economy, and Trump’s handling of other key issues.Defense Department Sec. Pete Hegseth continued to be at the center of the storm, as a Pentagon inspector general report found he had endangered U.S. troops with his use of the Signal app. A top story this week continued to be the legality of a second strike of an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean, as Trump and Hegseth bobbed and weaved on releasing video and other requested information. Health and Human Services Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr. also continued his anti-vax campaign, with his handpicked immunization committee issuing troubling new guidelines.The Trump regime issued a shocking National Strategy document this week, completely changing the focus on global threats away from countries formerly perceived to be U.S. enemies, to instead attacking European allies and Ukraine. Trump, desperate for recognition on his foreign policy, was awarded with an odd inaugural peace prize from FIFA, a soccer league, at the Kennedy Center. Trump later mused about renaming that center for himself, after this week rebranding the U.S. Institute for Peace with his name.Overall, Trump’s behavior is increasingly inconsistent, even by his own past standards, and odd. He is increasingly unfiltered, both in being openly racist and personally insulting two more female journalists this week, for a total of six in recent weeks. The issue of age and the pushback from Republicans has clearly taken him off track, and he seems this week to be spinning and raging, without focus.

For what should have been a quiet holiday week, Week 56 was packed with bombshell news, and escalating chaos and rhetoric from the Trump regime. The week started with Trump grasping on to the adage “never let a crisis go to waste,” when he used a Thanksgiving Eve shooting by an Afghan national of two National Guard troops as a prelude to make the most significant changes to his immigration policy during the second regime.Notable this week was Trump’s increasingly unhinged rhetoric, and his late night social media posting storms, including one late night marathon of nearly 150 posts over a two hour span! This type of maniacal behavior was more typical during his first regime, often at times when he felt under attack or out of control; notably, this was the first week of his acting this way during the second regime.Trump has a lot to be upset about: Republicans are at long last pushing back (because of election results, NOT because they finally found a moral compass), and big news stories hit this week, including questionable intent by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in their negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, and a second strike on an alleged drug vessel that may amount to a war crime. Trump’s so-called war on drug cartels took an ironic twist this week when he pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was found guilty of flooding the U.S. with cocaine, for which he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Trump also weighed in on the close election in Honduras, and baselessly alleged fraud.Finally, since the NYT reporting last week on signs of Trump’s fatigue and aging, there has been a renewed focus by our media on Trump’s health, which up until now had been largely absent, unlike their seeming obsession with former president Joseph Biden’s age and cognitive health. This is another plot line that Trump hates, because it diminishes his strongman status. However, you will note what we were not talking about this week: the Epstein files.

This week started with an enraged Trump signing into law the release of the Epstein files, but that story quickly faded to other headlines. Trump’s longtime ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, became the first MAGA true believer, in either regime, to resign. Reporting indicates other House Republican lawmakers may not be far behind, claiming mistreatment by Trump, his regime, and Speaker Mike Johnson. This week Trump seized control of the GOP midterm election strategy, sensing at last that the country is turning against him, and he cannot simply message away very real concerns about affordability.Trump’s retribution campaign hit some embarrassing speed bumps this week, with cases against James Comey and Letitia James being dismissed, and six Democratic lawmakers, whose video evoked his ire, stood firm. Republicans, too, are increasingly pushing back against Trump, a shift that seems to frustrate and infuriate him. Trump tried, successfully, to change the subject from the Epstein files with a push for a peace plan between Russia and Ukraine, but as Republican senators spoke out against what amounted to a Russian wish-list, his regime looked like the keystone cops, and his plan sputtered.Notable this week is reporting by the NYT on Trump’s signs of fatigue. I wrote about his Friday afternoon meeting with incoming New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, where a seated passive and pacifist Trump seemed to have run out of gas (read here). Trump has suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks, some public, some being swept under the rug, like the disbanding of DOGE, and he is desperate for a win.

Two weeks after Democrats decidedly won the election, this week we see a shift: the first instance of Republicans pushing back against Trump during his second regime. The Epstein files started as a drip, drip, with Trump and his senior regime officials trying to intimidate four House Republicans into not signing a discharge petition. But once the horse was out of the barn, by the week’s end, the House voted 427–1 to release the files, and hours later the Senate did the same under unanimous consent.The swing was a remarkable shift for Republicans, who up until now had blindly abdicated their role, and had been unshakably obedient to Trump. Not to do the right thing per se, but sensing the American people turning on them ahead of midterms, with a Marist poll showing voters favoring Democrats by 14 points, the highest level in eight years. Trump’s approval continued to hit new lows with several pollsters, as did his handling of major issues, including affordability, which he haplessly continued to assert this week is really not an issue. Just 20% approve of his handling of the Epstein files.The regime continued its quiet work of dismantling federal agencies from within, and carrying out Trump’s orders. Yet another head of FEMA resigned this week, and there continues to be alarming exits and firings from the Justice Department and Fannie Mae, both at the center of Trump’s retribution campaign. In other federal agencies like DHS, agents are being reassigned to help on immigration, as Trump abandoned largely unsuccessful efforts this week in Chicago and Portland.Notably in closing are Trump’s blatant conflicts of interest, and how easily he is escaping accountability. Lest we forget how many inspectors general he has already fired! This week Trump’s pardon of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao came back into focus. As did his family’s significant business dealings with Saudi Arabia, as Trump hosted crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in an extraordinary state visit.

This week’s list has multiple examples of Trump’s continued efforts to rewrite the history of his first regime, and to seek retribution for lawsuits and other actions against him after. Much of his focus during his second regime has been towards establishing a new version of the historical record of these times, recasting himself as a victim and a hero, and obliterating the truth. He has been aided in this endeavor by a compliant Republican Party, which has yet to push back on his not normal, and often lawless, actions.The election results and their aftermath have revealed how out of touch Trump is with the state of the American people during his second regime. I have posited that this is a result of his surrounding himself solely with loyal sycophants, who likely are fearful of sharing actual reality, and instead practice flattery. Trump continued to showcase his White House renovations this week with an interview on Fox News, while at the same time denying SNAP food payments to low-income Americans, and even going so far as an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, two times, to not have to make payments which were due on November 1.Eight Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to end the government shutdown on Monday, and Trump declared victory as the measure headed back to the House of Representatives, which convened for the first time in seven weeks. A Democrat who won a special election in Arizona was at long last sworn in, and could be the deciding vote on measures to bring attention to the Epstein files.

This week, on Election Day 2025, Democrats swept virtually every competitive election across the country, in a thorough rebuke of Trump and his policies. In two key governor races in New Jersey and Virginia, where candidates won by 13 and 15 points, every single county and demographic shifted towards Democrats. The election came as the country entered the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which Americans mostly blamed on Trump and the Republicans.Trump continues to be remarkably tone deaf to the plight of most Americans during his second regime. As funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ran out, leaving tens of millions of low income Americans at risk of going hungry, Trump posted images of his ostentatious renovation of the Lincoln Bathroom, and hosted a Great Gatsby themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago. I wrote more about it here. By many other measures, the American people are discontented and suffering, but Trump seems completely removed from the reality of what is happening to real people, perhaps a byproduct of his second regime being an echo chamber of sycophants.Also this week, we saw more examples of the media losing access to the regime, and media outlets losing staffers or being shuttered. Trump and his agency heads also continued their targeted firings of perceived enemies or anyone who might question or in any way hinder Trump’s agenda and drive for retaliation. We saw the first slight pushback from Senate Republicans, symbolically voting to undo Trump’s tariffs, and the question now really is: will Republicans, after the Election Day drubbing, stop blindly following Trump’s every wish and whim? Mind you, the House of Representatives was last in session on September 19, although unlike furloughed federal workers, they continue to get paid.

This is the week when Trump’s ‘Let them eat cake’ era truly came to the forefront. Juxtapose Trump’s demolition of the White House East Wing to construct a $300 million ostentatious ballroom with cutting off food stamps for 42 million of America’s neediest, who count on government assistance to put food on the table! Add to that hundreds of thousands of U.S. government and private sector workers either losing their jobs, or their income — while Trump regales in the former, and tries to obscure the latter.All the while, Trump and his family continue to use the office of the presidency for their own financial gain. In this second regime, Trump makes little effort to conceal the ‘pay to play’ nature of his presidency. Technology, cryptocurrency, and other corporations push money his way for favors, like tariff relief or merger approval, or even pardons or government lawsuits being quietly dismissed. Countries have learned to do the same, flattering Trump like a dictator to get their way.As the government shutdown entered its fourth week, the second longest in history next to the shutdown in the first Trump regime, Congress has completely abdicated its power to Trump. The House of Representatives has not even been in session since September 19! One Republican senator described it as, “The Congress is adrift. It’s like we have given up.” Trump continues to order military strikes in Central and South America, and insert himself into other countries’ politics.

This week Trump ordered the demolition of the White House East Wing, which seems an apt metaphor for the state of our democracy. He has assumed unbridled and unprecedented power, and is acting on his worst impulses, while sycophants throw millions his way in an attempt to curry favor.Trump is very publicly pursuing his enemies using the apparatus of federal agencies, at which he has installed loyalists into leadership roles to carry out his every whim and fancy. Who could have imagined in one week another indictment, classifying those who speak out against him as terrorists, siccing the IRS on perceived enemies, and seeking $230 million from taxpayers for perceived slights? And that’s just the tips of the waves in a very disturbing week.Reading through the broken norms this week, I am struck by how many would have been previously unthinkable, even during the first regime. The list of atrocities is startling! I encourage you all to read through this long and disturbing list. Information is still power. It is imperative that we keep informed of what is happening, so we will find our way back to normal.

This week had the sharp scent of authoritarianism, as Trump and members of his regime continued to put forth actions to block free speech. Ironically, this comes after a centerpiece of the right’s complaints in the 2024 election, and prior, was being censored, and Trump’s myriad of lawsuits over the same. Wide-ranging examples of restricting free speech this week included castigating a singer for his lyrics; firings and revoking visas over comments critical of Charlie Kirk; forcing a social media company to remove content; and attempting to restrict media access to the Pentagon.The paradox noted this week by an NYT columnist was that while Trump promoted peace abroad, he was siccing the U.S. military on its citizens in Democratic-run cities. Portland poked fun at Trump’s invented crisis there, dressing up in costumes to protest the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence. Things took a turn for the worse in Chicago, as ICE agents used tear gas on residents, including police officers and onlookers.The mood of the country remained largely somber, and increasingly divided, not only by party and ideology, but also in the broadening gap between those who have access and are benefiting from Trump’s economic actions, versus those who have seen their financial well-being negatively impacted. Trump and White House budget director Russell Vought seized on the continuing government shutdown to devastate agencies, cutting jobs in what Trump called “Democrat-oriented” positions, including the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The implications of the regime’s continuing federal employee cuts are already being felt well beyond blue states and cities.

This week Trump and his White House budget director made dramatic threats of mass firings of federal workers if the shutdown continued, in an effort to get Democrats to capitulate. As the shutdown neared the end of its first week, and Democrats appeared to have the upper hand, Trump escalated, threatening to withhold to back pay from furloughed workers. Cracks began to appear, as air traffic controllers, already in short supply with previous Trump cutbacks, stopped showing up to work, and delays spread to airports around the country.The other big story this week was Trump escalating his threats to send National Guard troops to two Democratic cities, Portland and Chicago. After a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled he could not deploy the Oregon National Guard in Portland, the regime tried an end-around of deploying the California National Guard there, which the furious judge also temporarily blocked. As the week closed out, Trump deployed the Texas National Guard to Chicago, in what the Illinois governor dubbed an “authoritarian march,” while Trump threatened to throw him and the mayor of Chicago in jail, and possibly invoke the Insurrection Act.Meanwhile, the country’s mood continues to sour. Just 17% say Trump’s policies are making them financially better off. Trump finds little support for deploying military troops against the wishes of governors (37% approve), and an overwhelming 83% say the U.S. military should remain politically neutral.

This week we see an increasingly unbridled Trump, taking previously unthinkable actions in the light of day, and facing little or no pushback, nor consequence. Trump finally got his wish for retribution against former FBI director James Comey, with his newly installed U.S. attorney, garnering an indictment — although barely. Rather than retreat, Trump bragged to reporters that there would be more indictments of his perceived enemies coming.Comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show returned to air to a record audience, with Nexstar and Sinclair shortly after agreeing to air the show again, in a victory for free speech. Financial media reported that the lesson parent company Disney learned may be a turning point for previous capitulation by media companies. There were also several court rulings this week in favor of free speech, and against the Trump regime.Defense Department (aka Department of War if Trump gets his way) Secretary Pete Hegseth convened a remarkable meeting at Quantico, flying generals and admirals stationed around the world back to Virginia, to deliver what turned out to be his standard anti-DEI, warrior stump speech. Trump also made his way to address the audience in a 73 minute rambling speech, 44 minutes of which was a repeat of random, unrelated remarks he had made in recent speeches. When Trump did turn to matters related to the military, his first remark was related to using the U.S. military on the country’s own citizens, and allowing Democratic-run cities to be “training grounds” for the military.As the week closed out, the government shut down, as Democrats at long last did not capitulate to Trump’s desires. Trump and Republicans lied repeatedly about what was happening, and sought to place the blame on Democrats, as Trump threatened to cut hundreds of thousands more federal workers. It was unclear if this was possible, given, as we have covered in this project, several agencies have already sought to hire back employees fired by the regime. Trump also suffered a rare Supreme Court loss as the court ruled Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook could stay in place, hours after private company ADP showed more negative employment data, and the day after Trump pulled his nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This was quite a week! What strikes me the most in summarizing one of the longest lists of broken norms so far is the lack of pushback that persists. Trump is by all accounts unilaterally making decisions on foreign policy, economic policy, healthcare issues, censorship, prosecutorial discretion, and more. He has become so brazen that he feels comfortable saying out loud, and repeatedly, that the Justice Department must go after his enemies — something previously unthinkable — and firing those who refuse to do so. He also this week, on several occasions, lashed out at his enemies, which includes apparently every American who disagrees with him. His words, at Charlie Kirk’s funeral: “I hate my opponent. And I don’t want the best for them.” His words, at the United Nations to world leaders who allow immigration and clean energy: “Your countries are going to hell.”Mind you, the American people are not happy. An AP-NORC poll found 75% of Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, including more than half of Republicans. Trump’s approval stands at the lowest of his second regime. Yet Trump, unlike in the first term when members of his party and regime would push back, is not having boundaries erected before him. Not by Congress, nor the Supreme Court, which is again and again expanding his power, in the shade of the aptly named shadow docket, offering no explanation for their rulings. So as has been his pattern in both regimes, with no boundaries or pushback, Trump pushes norms further, and grasps more and more power.Also alarming this week are Trump and his regime’s attacks on free speech. Members of his regime are doing his bidding now. Disney suspended comedian Jimmy Kimmel after the FCC threatened to take away broadcast rights; the FTC is wielding deal approval for media companies as a cudgel; the Pentagon restricted journalists’ access; even West Point academy was sued for silencing professors. On this one issue, there is some muted pushback from conservatives, mostly out of fear that when the shoe is on the other foot, it will come back to haunt them. Ironically, the notion of the “woke right,” something unthinkable just months ago, became a thing this week.

The main story this week was continued political violence in the nation, as conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered while giving a speech on a college campus. While the killing was one in a long list of bipartisan violence and threats, Trump and his regime seized on it to baselessly promote conspiracy theories about a vast left-wing effort, including liberal groups, donors, and protestors.As it turned out, the alleged murderer grew up in a Republican family, in a red district, and was registered as unaffiliated, but that did not stop Trump and his allies from threatening broad measures which would undermine the fabric of democracy and the rule of law, in an effort to score political points and silence dissent. Even the conservative WSJ Editorial Board criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi’s threats to prosecute hate speech, in an op-ed saying she “needs a free speech tutorial.” The public also didn’t warm to Trump’s behavior, as an Economist/YouGov poll found his approval at the lowest level of his second regime. The only benefit for Trump has been to drive the Jeffrey Epstein story out of the top news stories.Much of Trump and his regime’s attempts to seize power and act unilaterally is a continuation of the increasingly autocratic behaviors we have chronicled in this project. This week we continue to see attempts to silence dissent, push boundaries to act without consent of Congress, use divisions as red meat for his base, and a reordering of the world order. The economy, a point of strength for Trump during his first regime, has become his weakest issue, other than his handling of the Epstein investigations. On his overall handling of the economy, his net approval was -17, while his handling of inflation was net -30.