There is change in the air. You can feel it with the dwindling crowds at Trump’s blathering and boring rallies. You can see it with the dramatic declines in Fox News viewership: down a stunning 27 percent in October over the same month last year. And you can measure it at the ballot box: Nearly 44 million people have already voted early by mail or in person, suggesting record overall turnout likely to outpace 2018, which surpassed the 1914 record rate for a midterm election.

The reasons have been accumulating and increasingly hard to miss, which explains the fury in the country and the growing tumult. Over the last six weeks, I’ve written about four of these reasons:

1. Donald Trump is a traitor.

2. We are facing a psychiatric emergency.

3. We are under attack from an enemy within.

4. The growing recognition that this cannot go on for two more years.

Rewind to November 6, 2024. This situation was tragically predictable. How exactly we would get here, what exactly would be the details of the desecrations and destruction, may have been impossible to know. But the dreadful trajectory? That was knowable.

Yes, we’re all carrying the trauma of unreliable polls and sickening outcomes. But I want you to know that I’m writing from a place of optimism right now, based on the expanding prospects for a Democratic takeover of the House and the Senate.

And that portends the return of something we used to have and desperately need again: checks and balances. Our government was designed to have three equal branches, each fulfilling its constitutional duty. That includes a legislature that can contain lawlessness and abuses of power by an executive branch convinced that the Constitution, rule of law and serving the American people are not its concern.

With that in mind, I revisited what I wrote on that terrible day after we learned that over 77 million Americans had voted to return Donald Trump to power. I hope that by sharing it now you will be reminded that we possessed the knowledge then to prepare and combat the coming deluge. And yet: Too many of those in power have treated the last 721 days like every damned outrage was a surprise that they couldn’t have possibly prepared for; or, worse, they proved they lacked the resolve to fight as ruthlessly as required against an enemy this morally rotten, corrupt and cruel.

The essay, entitled “What the Voters Chose, What We Do Now,” began like this:

The American voters made their choice last night. With everything that is known and knowable about Donald Trump, they chose to re-elect him and return him to our White House. They have chosen this precarious path that turns its back on the American democratic experiment and grants him the power to act on his worst instincts and darkest desires. They have told us that questions of character and decency, compassion and honesty do not represent what matters to them in their nation’s leader.

It continued by offering some detail on what we would be facing:

We can expect that women’s reproductive freedom will be just one of many rights and freedoms that Trump and the newly empowered Republicans will take away as they pursue their agenda of change, accelerated by a Senate majority and the backing of a corrupt and radical Supreme Court. This choice by a majority of our fellow Americans will put millions of migrants and many other marginalized and vulnerable populations in danger—not to mention our free press and other critics of Trump. It also puts our planet at further risk as the climate crisis is deemed fake and of no consequence.

This is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s the nightmare I feared and prayed would not come true. It portends a despotic, authoritarian future fueled by anger, grievance, the desire for vengeance and the misbegotten notion that a strongman can easily solve problems that are complex and often global in nature. It puts our democratic alliances in jeopardy as this chosen leader kowtows to Russia and Vladimir Putin, turns toward and is flattered by other dictators, seeks to abandon Ukraine and endangers NATO.

“I was wrong in expecting that a majority of voters would recognize the danger and reject him,” I noted, which led me to this obvious conclusion: “There’s no getting around the fact—clearly asserted last night—that we are living in a country that is not committed to a progressive future. At least for the next four years.”

And here’s where I’m happy to say that I was mistaken. Because while not enough Americans ensured that we would avoid our current nightmare—especially the 89 million who chose not to participate—I was wrong to assume that the pursuit of a progressive future would take four years.

We are on the precipice of a dramatic, possibly historic, shift in the power of Congress. And that shift will likely be led by two groups of Democrats: First, those who have grasped that their business-as-usual approaches to governance have failed to meet this moment. And second, the more progressive candidates who have surged in popularity because of their commitment to confronting Trump, corruption and the oligarchy.

By setting their sights on extreme economic inequality and a broken political system that has failed to provide the most basic rights to ordinary Americans, the progressives (along with awakened old school-types) are positioning themselves to deliver affordable healthcare, housing, food, utilities and more.

This “freedom from want”—which that famous “radical” Franklin Delano Roosevelt described in his “Four Freedoms” speech way back in 1941 as war was raging in Europe—remains a goal our rich society still struggles to achieve.

But FDR was quite clear then what the task included. He succinctly described “the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy,” calling them “simple, basic things.” These included “equality of opportunity, jobs for those who can work, security for those who need it, the ending of special privilege for the few, the preservation of civil liberties for all [and] the enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.”

Simple, right? And yet too many Americans feel further and further away from realizing that basic vision of a healthy and strong democracy for themselves.

But in just a few days, the outcome of the midterm elections will tell us whether there will be a new Democratic majority and new leaders who will pursue positive change to serve the actual needs of Americans. This—including turnout large enough to override efforts to deny the voters’ will—rather than two more wasteful years of Donald Trump’s unchecked stupidity and abuse.

It’s been my deep wish that we would never have fallen this low as a nation. But it’s my optimistic belief that Tuesday November 3 will reveal that Americans have finally gotten the message—and in their fury will not just hope for leaders to take strong, transformative action but demand it.

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As we near the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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And while opposing Donald Trump is another key motivator, David Hogg, co-founder and president of Leaders We Deserve, insists that is not enough. “I want people excited voting for [progressive Democrats] because they know that we are actually going to get things done,” he says, adding that “we need a government that actively looks after its elders, but also looks after the next generation simultaneously.”

David—whose national prominence and gun control activism emerged in the wake of the Parkland high school shooting in 2018— has been energetically committed to recruiting and electing young progressives who are focused on concrete change that can make life in America better. “We try to find the best young people of our generation and give them the resources and advice that they need to win and be loyal only to their constituents and delivering for them,” he says.

I hope you’ll check out this latest Six Questions interview. David shares his ideas on what young people need, on leadership, on the prospects for a midterm blue tsunami, on what gives him hope—and more.

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We’re making hundreds and hundreds of billions, trillions, of dollars…we’re making money like this country has never made before. [People will say} ‘he’s bragging about making all that money while people are suffering at the pump.’…I don’t give a damn. I’m going to say it: We’re making a fricking fortune. —Donald Trump on Saturday

In just eight days, the American people will make clear which party and which candidates should lead us into the future. America is on a precipice, and the decision voters make will decide whether we will pull back from the edge and toward something better or accelerate over the cliff.

The binary choice is not particularly nuanced. Stick with the Republicans who have chosen cruelty and chaos, corruption and incompetence. Or vote in Democrats—the only remaining American party—who recognize the crisis facing our democracy, can hold the criminals accountable and are motivated to pursue a more equitable and affordable future.

Let’s rewind to underscore what’s at stake. The preamble to the U.S. Constitution, signed in 1787, begins with “We the People” followed by a succinct mission statement:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Those words, “We the People,” and the question of who “We” includes have been at the center of our nation’s complicated history, including America’s bloodiest war. When the Civil War launched on April 12, 1861, Black people were still defined as property in many states.

Slaveholders took strength from the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which asserted that Black people of African ancestry possessed “no rights which the white man was bound to respect” and can claim “none of the rights and privileges which [the Constitution] provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”

The great Frederick Douglass’ refutation of this argument, written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, dissected who “We the People” referred to in the Constitution’s opening words:

‘We, the people’—not we, the white people—not we, the citizens, or the legal voters—not we, the privileged class, and excluding all other classes but we, the people; not we, the horses and cattle, but we the people—the men and women, the human inhabitants of the United States.

This decision, which former slave Douglass denounced as a “vile and shocking abomination,” was made by the nation’s highest court “while four millions of our fellow countrymen are in chains—while men, women, and children are bought and sold on the auction-block with horses, sheep and swine—while the remorseless slave-whip draws the warm blood of our common humanity.”

Soon, the nation took up arms and more than 600,000 Americans died in a four-year war that contested who counts as “We the People.” This led to constitutional amendments to end slavery (13th) and assert who has the rights of citizenship (14th). It would take until 1919 for Congress to pass the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote, that is, to include women in the preamble’s opening words.

Which brings us to today. At a campaign rally for losing GOP Senate candidate Mike Collins, Trump spewed these grotesque words which I quoted above: “We’re making hundreds and hundreds of billions, trillions, of dollars…We’re making money like this country has never made before…We’re making a fricking fortune.”

And who is this “we” to which he refers? “We” is he. “We” is the Trump family. “We” are his billionaire cronies profiting off of the corruption and crime. “We” are the oil and gas executives who gave millions and millions to his campaign with the promise that he would serve their interests once he was re-elected. This is the “we” who Donald J. Trump cares about—always has, always will.

The struggles of ordinary Americans clearly bores him. He keeps telling people—and showing—that he will not act in Americans’ best interest.

And forming a more perfect union? Establishing Justice? Insuring domestic Tranquility? Promoting the general Welfare? Securing the Blessings of Liberty?

These fundamental concerns of our founders, expressed in the prized territory of the Constitution’s preamble? If there’s any chance that Trump ever read it, we can be sure these words bounced right off him, possessed of no meaning to him, simply a distraction from his depraved and bottomless hunger to exploit our country on the ruins of public liberty.

In a matter of days, we can learn that this reality finally sunk in with a tsunami-level of Americans.

As of yesterday evening, more than 28 million Americans had cast their ballots either in person or by mail. This pace is well ahead of the 2022 midterms. And the breakdown by party registration: 45.1 percent Democrat and 30.7 percent Republican. As The Guardian observed, “The party gap is particularly pronounced in North Carolina, Kansas and Iowa—all states that traditionally favor Republicans.”

In eight days, Americans have the chance to say in a loud and resounding voice that enough is enough. This is the moment when Americans can make clear that “We the People” demand respect, demand to be heard, demand to be excluded no more by a man and his party that are singularly focused on serving themselves.

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As of this writing, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and first trillionaire, has pumped more than $445 million into the midterms in an attempt to strengthen the Republicans’ chances of winning. That includes dropping $77 million into his America PAC in the first half of October, as well as $71 million for Senate races in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Maine and Texas. In the Texas race between James Talarico and Ken Paxton, Musk has reportedly spent $181 million, which includes a $158 million donation to the Senate Leadership Fund, an amount that was then forwarded to the Paxton-connected Texas PAC.

Musk, whose companies include Tesla and SpaceX, has aggressively targeted Talarico on his X platform by calling him “a creep,” insisting “there’s something deeply wrong” with him and lying that he would “vote to take away your kids and transition them.” Musk, who has an estranged transgender daughter, also loudly pushed the lie this month that Talarico was being treated at a mental health center in Ohio.

The Democratic candidate’s response: “There is something deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator.” A new Talarico ad, in a close race that has flown past $500 million in advertising, expanded this thought: “Elon wants to buy up our land, he wants to buy up our water, and now, he wants to buy his own personal U.S. Senator. Texas is not for sale.”

Musk’s singular effort to decide the outcome of our elections would be enough to fuel our anger. But in the last two weeks, we’ve also been learning about his role in determining the fate of war-torn Ukraine in its life-and-death battle against Putin’s Russia. All of a sudden, speed restrictions were put in place for Starshield, the military-grade version of the satellite internet service Starlink owned by SpaceX, which have disrupted Ukraine’s drone operations and air defenses. This is on top of Trump’s treasonous betrayal of Ukraine by buying Russian diesel.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Musk ordered the slowdown, while Musk claimed such a decision was coordinated with the Pentagon and “ultimately POTUS.” Trump’s typical obfuscation: He said he didn’t know who was responsible, “but I would like to find out.” But make no mistake that the U.S. government has spent billions to develop and operate the technology; Musk, a private citizen, is positioned to switch it on and off, thereby influencing foreign policy and the fate of millions in the middle of a war.

A letter sent to Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Friday by several House members, including Rep. Ro Khanna, demanded “an immediate, government-wide investigation into the decision to restrict SpaceX's Starshield satellite-based intelligence and military support services in Ukraine.” The conflicting reports “raise broader concerns about the intersection of political influence, federal contracting, and the substantial taxpayer-funded business interests of Mr. Musk's companies.”

As they rightly conclude, “American taxpayers should never be left guessing whether the responsibility for critical national security decisions lies with their elected government or a private citizen with substantial financial interests in federal contracts.” They also promised that the next Congress “will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Mr. Musk’s businesses, including whether these companies meet their contractual obligations, and whether adequate safeguards exist against political interference, arbitrary service restrictions, and misuse of federal resources.”

To be sure: Elon Musk is pumping half a billion dollars into the midterms in a desperate attempt to keep the Republicans in control of Congress to ward off investigations of him and his companies. Half a billion is a small commitment for a man whose fortune hovers around a trillion dollars. His businesses have been built with a reported $38 billion of U.S. government funding, which is to say our taxpayer dollars.

And Musk is now using that fortune to push his white supremacist and other hateful views on X, try and decide the fate of our democracy, and determine the fate of other sovereign nations. As I noted in the days after the 2024 election, when I cut my regular posting on the increasingly vile X, “Nobody elected Elon Musk.” That post garnered over three million views, but the reality of Musk’s extreme and inordinate power has only gotten worse.

How long can we tolerate Elon Musk deciding our elections and foreign policy? How critical is it that investigations immediately begin if and when the Democrats take back power? Should Starlink and SpaceX be nationalized to minimize Musk’s power? What do you think of confiscating these companies, something that has been done at other times in American history (including the Revolutionary War and Civil War) when men abandoned their allegiance to America and committed treasonous acts? And do you think Musk’s heavy hand in the midterm elections will backfire as voters reject his disproportionate influence?

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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As the midterms grow closer, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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If you asked me before this Trump era whether I expected to be writing at length about depravity and moral dissolution, I would have doubted it. Yes, past presidents have made obscene choices that led to profoundly unnecessary mass deaths; look no further than George W. Bush with Iraq and Richard M. Nixon with Vietnam. The immorality of such bloodshed should never be minimized because it was carried out under the framework of war, that is, the legitimation of murder.

But the moral failure also extends deep into everyday life. Today we find ourselves held hostage by a hateful regime whose policies force children to go hungry, poison our air and water, make food unsafe, put the lives and limbs of workers at risk, abuse vulnerable populations and make basic healthcare increasingly unaffordable. Behind every dangerously careless policy are men of doubtful moral character who demonstrate contempt for the struggles of everyday Americans and their responsibility to keep them safe.

The last few days have seen a sickening escalation of depravity and degradation, the kind of moral rot that is rarely so visible and yet seems to be infecting a wider and wider circle. At the center of this circle, of course, is Donald J. Trump, a singularly repulsive individual who’s referenced thousands of times in the Epstein files, is an adjudicated rapist and displays his bottomless capacity for abuse—to members of the press, to the rule of law, to our country and its foundational values—virtually every day. All this on top of his treasonous betrayal of Ukraine by openly allying with Vladimir Putin.

Just this Wednesday he could be found abusing CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins: “You’re a dummy. You’re a low-IQ person, you’re a dummy and you work for CNN.” It’s way past time when one of these access reporters—or a whole group of them—finally say that they will not take his nasty bullying any longer.

But just as Trump tears down his perceived enemies in an effort to shame or destroy them, he often does the same with his sycophants, turning them into the worst and most degraded versions of themselves—perfect to do his bidding. Let me explain.

First is the sniveling obeisance this week of Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff—the real estate guy who’s been transmogrified into a diplomat. You may have heard what he said to Putin—morally repugnant words that call to mind Neville Chamberlain’s kowtowing to Adolf Hitler.

“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian,” Witkoff said to Putin Wednesday in St. Petersburg. “You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that. I commend you, and I thank you again.”

This to a murderous sociopath whose imperialist fantasies have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians, with overall casualties exceeding two million. This to the man responsible for kidnapping and starving tens of thousands of Ukrainian children, assassinating journalists and political rivals, happily escalating missile strikes on civilian targets. Witkoff glorified this sadistic war criminal ostensibly because he permitted the release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American school teacher who was living in eastern Ukraine and was taken and tortured by Russia after its invasion in 2022.

How soulless must you be to call a man like Putin a humanitarian? How morally rotten must you be to seek business opportunities for Trump in Moscow while your beloved Kremlin business partner is murdering innocent men, women and children?

That, of course, would also be a question for his crony Jared Kushner as they’ve plumbed for billions in the Middle East while the death toll rises in Trump’s war of choice in Iran.

Then there’s the odious, bottom-feeding Vivek Ramaswamy, who decided to release a video highlighting the mother of Amy Acton, his rival for Ohio governor. This is the mother that Acton has not seen since she was 12 years old, when she was removed from the woman’s custody after experiencing years of rape and sexual abuse from her stepfather. Rather than face justice, he became a fugitive and fled—and Acton’s mother went with him.

It’s a miracle that Acton has overcome that horrific history to become a physician and an accomplished public servant. But never mind that for Ramaswamy, who saw an opportunity to shove a seriously unwell person into a political ad and falsely claim that her daughter lied about her traumatic past.

Here’s how Acton’s younger brother described what Ramaswamy did:

After [their stepfather] was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died. This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core—a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.

And here’s how candidate Acton responded: “I think it was a terrible thing to do this to someone who is not well, as my birth mother isn’t. I know my opponent will stoop to anything to get ahead.”

It’s been encouraging to see politicians from across the political spectrum condemning the ad, including Ohio’s GOP governor Mike DeWine. But of course Ramaswamy—a Trump-bred candidate—has offered no apology. Instead, he has doubled down, spending some $4 million to keep running it.

Now I’ve got a clearer picture of what “scum of the earth” means. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “scum” as “a slimy film on a solid or gelatinous object” or “a low, vile or worthless person or group of people.”

Surely this repugnant event would be an opportunity for the Donald Trump/Peter Thiel-bred JD Vance to do the right thing? Nope.

This Catholic convert, who wears his religion on his sleeve, has been busy conveying his disgust. But not for the hideous ad or the heinous neglect and abuse that a fellow human suffered as a child. No, Trump’s vice president saw an opportunity to score political points.

“I have to admit that I’m a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America,” Vance said at an Ohio campaign rally Wednesday.

It should be no surprise that Vance’s boss Trump also defended the ad, even believing it strengthens Ramaswamy’s case for governor. This is what depravity looks like.

In ten days, Ohioans and all Americans have the opportunity to say what they think about these morally rotten men (and others such as Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.). I hope voters take Trump’s advice and vote like he’s on the ballot. His poisonous impact is not hard to find among the Republican candidates.

We must not let these depraved Trump loyalists continue to degrade our nation without consequence. Every day they are free to pursue their moral corruption is another day we must spend cleansing the stain they’ve made. We have much work ahead of us.

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As we near the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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“The signals, the intel are there,” Frank said, noting Trump’s efforts to claim election fraud now and after the election. He expects to see unqualified lawyers positioned as election monitors to claim they witnessed fraud, then FBI agents and Homeland Security officials insisting they need search-and-seizure warrants to seize ballots. The goal: cause disruption and chaos. “I think they will be successful in sowing confusion and a lack of credibility in the outcome of certain elections and in certain places,” Frank said.

Frank also flagged the growing role of foreign interference, noting that it has already started. “I think Putin is very, very desperate to maintain Trump and the GOP in power,” he said. “It literally ties to his existence.”

What does that look like? “I think he will pull out all the stops,” Frank said. “It could be everything from propaganda online and social media all the way to instigating civil unrest, fights and rumors that result in potentially violent action. And again, we have seen these attempts by Russia before.”

Yes, these are reasons for alarm, but Frank’s optimism stems in part from conversations he’s had with four secretaries of state. “They’re ready,” he said. “It doesn’t mean—and this is really important—it doesn’t mean that the bad stuff isn’t going to happen, but rather the secretaries of state and attorney generals are practicing, rehearsing, and the plan is in place with judges and lawyers and 24-7 standby, and they’ll be ready to file. But please don’t confuse that with ready to prevent, but rather ready to challenge— and we should be prepared.”

We too should be ready. That means not being surprised when the cries and lies of fraud grow louder, especially after the election. And the strongest way this attack can be minimized is by continuing to work to increase voter turnout, making the outcome too big to rig.

I hope you’ll give this conversation a listen (and check out The Frank Figliuzzi Show that Frank hosts in partnership with Lincoln Square). I am making this recording available to everyone today, not just paid subscribers, because it’s important that we all are informed and not surprised by what will likely come. Please do share it—and if you’re not a paid subscriber, I hope you will support this work by becoming one.

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As we near the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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Two bombshell reports have further exposed the corruption of Donald Trump and his family—and the scale is even more appalling than we knew. One, from the Not Above The Law Coalition, comprised of more than 150 organizations, examines the more than $2.9 billion in cash and gifts pocketed by the Trump family. The other is from The Washington Post, which gained access to a previously undisclosed list of 67 donors to Trump’s ballroom project who gave more than $330 million combined. The list is a “who’s who” from the oligarchy greasing the wheels of the Trump grift machine.

The data described is alarming, yet I suspect we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The corrupt exploitation of our government by Trump, his family and his cronies is likely far larger and more egregious than we know now—hidden in secret offshore accounts and reliant on corrupt intermediaries around the world. A former Treasury official, for example, noted in June that the Trump regime has taken control of some $8 billion in Venezuela oil revenue with “no transparency and minimal oversight” on the sale or where those funds have gone. Her article’s headline: “Where Has All the Money Gone?”

It’s encouraging that “corruption in government” topped voters’ concerns in a new poll—suggesting that this category of abuse will help fuel the anti-Trump anger at the ballot box. But it’s important that the electorate who cares about our democracy and ethical behavior also can understand how this corruption makes our world poorer and more unjust—and why it must be stopped.

Here’s how The Washington Post underscores its findings: The list of 67 donors includes “previously undisclosed contributors who have benefited from regulatory decisions, government contracts and, in one case, a pardon for a family member.”

This includes donors who’ve gotten an investigation dropped (EchoStar/Dish Network owner Charlie Ergen gave $25 million), were pursuing Venezuela oil investments ($10 million from two donors) and more. Unsurprisingly, the list is heavy on tech and financial services companies, such as Apple ($25 million), Nvidia ($25 million) as well as the largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin ($10 million). These are individuals and enterprises looking out for themselves, not the good of our country.

In its report, the Not Above the Law Coalition goes farther in describing how the Trump grift hurts everyday Americans.

Its report, titled “Let Them Eat Cake: Cost of Corruption,” notes that the Trump family—including Donald, Melania, Don Jr. and Eric and not including Ivanka and Jared—has pocked more than $2.9 billion in cash and gifts. The list of sources—tracked by the Center for American Progress’ —includes crypto ventures, legal settlements, the Qatari jet and other corporate deals. That includes $2.4 billion after the administration deregulated the crypto industry, including $1.5 billion from World Liberty Financial token sales.

What are the consequences of corruption at this scale? Per the report:

• The money the Trumps took could pay for a full year of SNAP food benefits for about 1.3 million people.

• The “Big Ugly Bill” Trump signed that further enriches the wealthiest among us has already cut off 5.2 million people from receiving SNAP to pay for their groceries.

• Trump’s pardons stripped away nearly $1.7 billion in restitution, fines and forfeitures that would have been paid to victims and taxpayers.

And the coalition’s conclusions:

• “Donald Trump promised to bring down costs for American families. Instead, he turned the presidency into the most profitable venture of his career.”

• “Under Trump, government decisions come with a price tag. Foreign governments, corporations, and allies seeking favors no longer need to lobby the United States government. They can pay the president’s family instead.”

• “Trump promised relief for working families. His own family got it instead.”

• “Trump's self-dealing goes beyond his family's bank accounts. He rewards loyalty over the law, while victims and taxpayers pick up the tab.”

The 2026 midterm elections finally arrive in two weeks. Nearly 10 million voters have already cast mail-in and in-person ballots. If the Democrats retake the House and the Senate, voters should expect combatting corruption at the top of the agenda. Imagine: members of Congress actively pursing an end to the illegal self-dealing and treachery.

As Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff declared at a campaign rally this weekend, "If you're involved in any of this [corruption], next year you'll be raising your right hand and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God, in front of the United States Congress!"

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As we near the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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The joke is that Katie Zacharia’s exit as White House Press Secretary after five days is barely half a Scaramucci. (Recall that Anthony Scaramucci lasted just 11 days as Trump communications director back in 2017.)

You would be right to think that her rise and fall is a story of incompetence—both hers and the people who hired her. I would also suggest it’s another example of the gargantuan levels of corruption of Donald Trump and his so-called government: Zacharia was barely vetted (no one questioned her claims that she was a lawyer?), she wasn’t given the time to prepare for her first press conference, she was clearly plucked for the job because she is a Trump sycophant and an Ivanka-lookalike rather than an outstanding communications professional.

A Fox News poll released this week offers a powerful indictment of the Trump regime. When voters were asked about what issues they were “extremely” or “very” concerned about, corruption in government topped the list. In fact, a massive 88 percent said they were either extremely or very concerned about it. That’s Fox News, not typically the outlet you would expect to provide information that gives an honest appraisal of the current occupants of our White House. (The poll’s respondents self-identified as Democrats and Republicans in roughly equal measure: 43 percent and 41 percent.)

But there it is: As we approach the midterms, we can be encouraged to know that voters are grasping the reality of the sickening scale of corruption—and they’re mad as hell about it. What were the other top issues that these voters were concerned about? Inflation and high prices (85 percent), gas prices (83 percent), healthcare (80 percent), government leadership (79 percent), the war in Iran (75 percent) and crime (73 percent).

Fox noted in its report that “Democrats lead on 10 out of 13 issue concerns,” as well as this encouraging morsel: “If the election were today, 54% of voters say they would back the Democratic candidate in their House district and 45% would support the Republican. That is outside the margin of error.”

So what about you? What issue concerns you most? How confident are you that others share your concern? If corruption tops your list, which example angers you most? And what issues do you think will get people to the polls?

November 3 is barely two weeks away and early voting has already begun. No Kings events around the country today aim to boost early voting and turnout. You can check here to find an event for this “Day of Action” near you.

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity of the America, America community to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated. (Do note the robust comments section that is open to paid subscribers everyday.)

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In the incessant flood of violations and desecrations, I usually feel obliged to move onto the next horror after spotlighting the previous one. Sure, I try to spotlight the larger concepts and the deeper realities that cut across these events. But I’m always concerned that what gets lost are the fundamental points of connection that can illuminate this nightmarish period in our history.

Of course, each piece of writing is discrete, yet concepts reoccur. Regular readers will recognize that certain psychological concepts repeat (malignant narcissism, sociopathy, sadism, cognitive decline, derangement, mental illness), as do certain political terms to explain what we’re facing at a systems level (authoritarianism, fascism, despotism) as well as particular words to capture the people who’ve facilitated this criminal horror show (sycophant, enabler, accomplice, henchman, operative).

I try not to be hyperbolic, that is, to undermine my assertions with language that is overly exaggerated or bombastic.

But that caution needs to end now. Because Donald Trump is a traitor.

And he’s not simply a traitor in the loose sense of someone who commits an act of betrayal that makes clear they are not only not on your side but actively working to undermine your side. (“You traitor,” said the kid to his best friend after he started hanging out with the class bully.) Donald Trump is a traitor in the very particular sense laid out in the U.S. Constitution written and agreed to in 1787.

This can be found in the clause pertaining to treason, Article III, Section 3, as follows: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”

I inched up to this notion of a traitor in my essay “We Are Under Attack From an Enemy Within” on October 5. But this was more concerned with the ways in which Trump was ignoring the Constitution by defying court orders, rejecting Congress’ power to control spending and pursuing myriad tactics to subvert the outcome of our federal elections.

All serious, to be sure, but unlikely to rise to the specifics laid out in the Constitution.

But then came Trump’s appalling announcement last week that he was doing a deal with Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Russia amid its murderous war against Ukraine. As I noted on Monday, this surely represented a “deepening betrayal” of our democratic ally in a life-and-death struggle to hold onto its independence and survive as a nation. And it was far from his first betrayal.

But what followed this “deal”—this explicit plot to side with Russia, an enemy of America—was the loss of the military-grade satellite internet service Starshield from SpaceX and battlefield intel-sharing with Ukraine at a time when Russia was escalating its ballistic missile attacks. Trump denied that Starshield or intel were cut, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensnky said expected early warnings didn’t happen twice. “Once again, no warning from our partners,” Zelensky posted Tuesday on social media

Who do you believe? In fact, according to new reporting from Reuters based on multiple sources, the order to limit Starshield came from inside the White House.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.

Please tell me how Trump making a deal with Putin that breaks Congress’ sanctions against Russia, provides potentially billions of dollars to fund its murder campaign and gives Putin a green light to expand its attacks—while demanding Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russia’s oil refineries and undermining the needed tools to sustain its defense—is not giving an enemy “aid and comfort”?

Yes, the pro-Putin crowd will try to say that Russia is not our enemy, just as they will deny that Russia interfered in our elections. They may also repeat Trump’s talking points, which is to say the Kremlin talking points, that NATO is an aggressor and poor Russia is just trying to defend itself against offensive Western nations. In so doing, they will refuse to acknowledge the duty of America to stand by its Western allies who are under attack.

They may also parse the question of whether Russia is an enemy of the United States because we are not at war with them. As if Russia’s various attacks on our cyber systems, election systems and those of our democratic allies are not attacks of an adversary. As if we are not made less safe by the expanding militarism of Russia in Europe.

“It's painful when President Trump chooses one ‌side, not our ⁠side,” Zelensky said this week on behalf of his betrayed nation. He was choosing his words very carefully, perhaps with a dim hope that the diseased occupant of our White House will be persuaded to change his mind. But Ukraine’s leader also resumed attacks on Russian refineries.

And then there’s the august New York Times, whose headline writer could only muster this pale summary: “Trump Gives Putin a Hand in Russia’s Economic War with Ukraine.”

But these are not times for weak caution. Ukraine is fighting for its life, indeed defending against Russia’s march against democracy, both within and beyond its borders. A victory there will only empower Putin to keep going.

And these are times to pick sides in America, to tell the truth and stand up against the fascist march of Trump and his sycophantic operatives who mock our Constitution, ignore the rule of law and sidle up to our nation’s enemies.

That’s why I believe it’s necessary to call Trump a traitor and why it’s critical that Americans do their duty to save our republic from an enemy within who will burn it all down to enrich himself and avoid accountability for his crimes.

There are just 17 days until the midterms when we can prove that we will not be held hostage any longer by a traitor—and that we will begin a process of holding him and his accomplices accountable. It can’t come soon enough.

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In case you missed it, you can listen here to my Six Questions interview with Indivisible’s Ezra Klein about Saturday’s No Kings events around the country and the goal of driving record levels of early voting and overall turnout.

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As we near the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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For this latest episode of Six Questions, Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, a key organizer of No Kings and Trump opposition, joined me to provide his insights on early voting, overall turnout and what Democrats must do when they retake the majority. His call to action:

This should be the biggest early vote in a midterm in American history. This should be the biggest turnout in midterms in American history. That’s important…because we have an authoritarian who will take advantage of any uncertainty.

I hope you’ll give the recording of our discussion a listen. And I hope you’ll join No Kings on Saturday and do what you can to help ensure a record vote. Nothing is more critical than turnout, turnout, turnout.

One last note: Anyone paying attention to Trump’s traitorous alliance with Putin against Ukraine and his dangerously accelerating derangement recognizes this election really is the most consequential one in our lifetimes.

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What problem does Donald Trump solve by making a deal with Russia’s Vladimir Putin? Not bringing down the price of diesel, since 2.25 million barrels of oil only represents about 16 hours of daily U.S. consumption. Not quelling the fury of American farmers, truckers and all those who depend on diesel for their livelihood since they can grasp that such a deal will not end their struggles. No, the problem he’s trying to solve is the dwindling prospect of Republicans winning at the midterms, which is to say he’s only trying—once again—to save his own skin and avoid accountability.

To accomplish that goal—the only thing that really matters to him as he and his corrupt family continue to exploit our nation’s highest office to line their pockets—requires Trump to betray America’s democratic ally Ukraine, which is fighting for its sovereignty and survival. So Trump is loudly targeting President Volodymyr Zelensky as the scapegoat for the problems he’s created by waging an illegal war of choice against Iran.

In Trump’s false and twisted telling, Zelensky is responsible for the high price of diesel and has not done enough to bring the war to an end. Trump would never admit that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the war he started has driven up fuel prices. Instead, he blames Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries for his problems, ignoring Putin’s culpability and rejecting Zelensky’s courageous effort to dry up the oil revenue funding the war.

“He’d better damn well stop,” Trump told reporters Saturday “It’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.” He also said, “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does.”

It’s no wonder that Zelensky, one of the world’s heroes, is furious. He’s dealing with a so-called U.S. president who’s now stripped away any veneer of an alliance with Ukraine by expanding his allegiance to Putin and assisting his murderous war campaign. He well understands that the deal strengthens Russia and mocks—indeed, illegally violates—the sanctions passed by Congress in order to cut off oil revenues for Putin’s war against Ukraine. In a long post on X, Zelensky explained:

Any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious weakness. It plays into Russia’s hands—allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world…

Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.

That was Friday. And on Saturday, Zelensky’s fears were confirmed.

“Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” he wrote, adding that, “in Russia, they take any easing of pressure to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they can keep dropping bombs on cities.”

And on Sunday, when ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Zelensky why he’s being blamed for the war, he said, “Because it’s more difficult to stop Putin than to pressure others. Because it’s more simple to speak about the prices and connect it with Ukraine when everybody in the world understands because of the war in the Middle East the prices are rising…people have to hear reality.”

Not only does this deal betray Ukraine, it also betrays NATO and other countries which support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s dangerous expansionism. Purchasing Russian oil also violates a 2022 law, specifically titled “Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act,” that bans all Russian petroleum products and can only be overcome by Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine. This betrayal has even convinced some Republican lawmakers to openly criticize their Dear Leader.

In a sign of Trump’s weakness and rising desperation: As of this writing Sunday, Trump has claimed both Russia and Ukraine have agreed to an energy ceasefire “effective immediately,” yet neither country was aware of such an agreement.

It’s hardly the first time Trump has abandoned reality in service to Russia. In Helsinki in 2018, he betrayed 17 U.S. intelligence agencies that confirmed that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. He’s also continued to strengthen Putin and betray our democratic system by his relentless lie that Russian interference is a hoax.

Don’t forget his welcoming top Russian officials into the Oval Office in 2017, only recorded because a photographer from Russia’s state media was in the room (U.S. press was denied access). And who can forget his disgracefully abusive meeting with Zelensky in our Oval Office on Feb. 28, 2025?

Other betrayals can be traced straight from his “promises” during the 2024 presidential campaign. He would end the Russia-Ukraine war in “one day.” He would quickly lower prices on all goods, including getting gas below $2 a gallon and deliver 2 percent mortgage rates. (Gas is now averaging over $4 a gallon, up over a dollar in the last year, and mortgage rates now exceed 7 percent.) He’s also the guy who promised to be a dictator only on day one.

How many of the 77 million-plus Americans who voted to return him to power now feel betrayed by his indifference to their needs and their struggle to get by? How many American voters care—even among the 89 million-plus eligible voters who chose to stay home in 2024—that he has abandoned a democratic ally fighting for its life in service to the murderous dictator Putin?

How many understand that he’s doing so not out of principle or a genuine expectation that it will bring down prices, but in hopes that it strengthens his hand to do business deals with Putin? Will they recognize the con this time—that he’s aiming to fool enough of them into voting for Republicans in order to save himself from investigations that a Democrat-led Congress will pursue into his corrupt and illegal dealings?

The November midterms are three weeks away. Voters can make it clear how they feel about the mounting acts of betrayal by an increasingly desperate and deranged White House occupant who will do anything to save his own skin.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy and confront the Trump regime’s corruption. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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The depravity and degradation continues to expand. The latest planned deviancy: live-streaming an execution by firing squad on December 3 for all to see. This appalling desecration of human civilization has been cooked up by the sadistic mind of Killer Pete Hegseth. As if Trump’s America couldn’t get any sicker.

No doubt Killer Pete’s boss, himself a depraved sadist who has a thing for murderous dictators, could not be more excited. Asked if he approved, Trump said yesterday, “Absolutely.” After all, he’s been imagining executions since at least 1989 when he bought a full-page newspaper ad demanding that the Central Park Five be put to death. “I want to hate these muggers and murderers,” Trump wrote then. “They should be forced to suffer.” Never mind that they were later found to have been wrongfully convicted.

Few would doubt that Nidal Malik Hasan, a former army psychiatrist who in 2009 killed 13 people and wounded dozens more at Fort Hood in Texas, should be punished for his horrible crimes. Death by firing squad for this crime would be the first U.S. military execution in more than six decades. But the decision to let the public watch is a barbaric new low for these ugly men who continue to ratchet down any basic human decency. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Killer Pete said Thursday, “because people need to understand there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”

In other words, in his warped mind, we all need to watch this live snuff film to really understand. As for employing a firing squad, the last time the U.S. military did this was in 1945 when Private Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion during WWII. The last high-profile public execution was the 1936 hanging in Kentucky of Rainey Bethea, a 22-year-old Black man who was convicted of raping a 70-year-old white woman.

Clearly, Killer Pete—a blight on humanity—wants to bring back those good old days. Publicly displaying an execution would put the U.S. in the charming company of Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. Pete and his family must be so proud; another valuable life lesson for his four children and three stepchildren. By matching Hasan’s terrible crime with another depraved and deviant act, he is trying to force Americans to “define deviancy down.” That’s the tendency coined by New York senator and sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who observed that societies faced with shocking or deviant behavior respond by lowering their moral standards for what is permissible. This so-called war secretary is determined to expand the country’s appetite for and acceptance of public executions as a fact of life.

So what do you think? How much lower can Hegseth and Trump go? Are you surprised by the plan? How concerned are you that the public display of an execution will add to the downward spiral of deviancy? Is there any world where such an act actually teaches witnesses about the gravity of the crime—or is it an incitement for other sick minds to pursue deadly acts? And do you think the stain of this event can ever be washed away?

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy and confront the Trump regime’s corruption. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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It was all there from the beginning. The bottomless narcissism, the serial abuse, the attraction to violence, the pathological lying, the potential for disaster.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,” Maya Angelou said.

Too many Americans refused to believe Donald Trump when he showed us who he was in October 2016, before the first election, when the Access Hollywood tape came out:

“I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

He was already convinced of his invincibility earlier that year in January:

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible.”

That invincibility was reinforced on July 1, 2024, before the second election, by the Supreme Court supermajority’s immunity ruling:

[By] criminally prosecuting a President for official conduct…the President would be chilled from taking the ‘bold and unhesitating action’ required of an independent Executive…the threat of trial, judgment, and imprisonment is a far greater deterrent and plainly more likely to distort Presidential decisionmaking.

On that same day, Justice Sonia Sotomayor explained the danger in her dissent:

The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now ‘lies about like a loaded weapon’ for any President that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation.

In January this year, after attacking Venezuela and threatening Greenland but before launching a war of choice against Iran, New York Times reporters asked him if there were any limits on his global powers. Trump said:

“Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Now, on Wednesday in the Oval Office, he responded to a question about whether he expects that Democrats will try to impeach him if they take back the House and Senate:

“I could’ve done very bad things to Hillary Clinton. I could’ve done very, very bad things to Joe Biden. I could’ve done very bad things to Barack Hussein Obama…I can do whatever I want, if I want.”

We’ve seen how that goes.

We are a country at war, led by an immoral, narcissistic, sociopathic and corrupt criminal who’s been told that he can count on immunity for nearly anything that he does. He has surrounded himself with a cabinet of sycophants. He has been enabled by a political party that has bowed down to his every demand.

We have every reason to expect that his recklessness will get worse. He told us that he can do whatever he wants. He is untethered from reality. His cognitive decline is accelerating. He is convinced of his own godlike greatness, ready to go farther and farther if he’s not stopped now.

Americans are already casting their ballots for the midterms. Election day is coming in 24 days. This is our last chance to save our republic from this unfettered danger who refuses to face facts.

We should not be afraid of this loser. We should be uplifted by this final opportunity to do the right thing and reassert sanity by overwhelmingly defeating the Republicans who have chosen loyalty to a madman over the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people.

Donald Trump has showed us who he is again and again. We—and I mean an overwhelming number of American voters—better believe him this time.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy and confront the Trump regime’s corruption. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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Consider several of Anand’s over-arching insights which he shared with me in this new episode of Six Questions:

One, “So many systems are not responsive to the needs of Americans,” he said, which creates “the sense of abandonment,” that “no one is listening, no one is coming.” And two, addressing the need for belonging is critical to address what he describes as our “stressed out, fractious, insecure, authoritarian age.”

“I think our crisis of belonging is universal,” Anand explained, and that means answering “the fundamental questions about ‘Who belongs? How do we define American? Who is worthy of humanity in our culture and who is deemed unworthy of it?…And how do we grow the circle of belonging in a moment like this?’”

We explore these and other questions, including how and why Donald Trump has succeeded in building a culture for his supporters, how our politics need to change to counteract the growth of violence and cruelty, and why he believes that the American character is “infinitely stronger than Donald Trump.”

I hope you’ll give the conversation a listen. I promise you’ll learn something if you do.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy and confront the Trump regime’s corruption and crime. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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We humans have a natural impulse to adapt to reality. It has been essential for the survival of our species and the development of civil society. But now, that same normalizing impulse is putting us in serious danger.

Let me be blunt: Too many Americans have absorbed and continue to tolerate Donald Trump’s insane, destructive behavior as a fact of life—a reality to live with. Most of the corporate media has facilitated that mentality as it relies on traditional framing devices that give an air of legitimacy to this crazed and chaotic White House. In their need to maintain access at all costs—and their reluctance to risk their position—they have failed to articulate the very actions that are accelerated the destruction of our constitutional republic.

As we speak, the Trump regime is defying court orders, rejecting Congress’ power to control spending and pursuing myriad tactics to once again try and subvert the outcome of our federal elections. Each of these illustrates a lawless regime and a dangerous despot who feels free to abuse his power and run roughshod over the requirements set forth in our Constitution. But how often do you hear this reality communicated with the clarity and urgency that it deserves?

Just as I believe that we are facing a psychiatric emergency with Trump as a man, I believe we are facing a constitutional emergency with an executive branch of government working to centralize its power at all costs. My friends, we are under attack from an enemy within.

In a less broken political environment, we could count on a cabinet and a Congress to pursue the constitutional mechanisms of the 25th Amendment and/or impeachment to remove Trump and stanch the growing cancer.

But the failure of these institutional mechanisms to provide the necessary checks makes overwhelming clear the necessity of We the People doing our duty to save our republic. This work is currently underway in Democratic campaigns across the country. But in less than a month, each of us has a sacred duty to help end the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate with a massive voter turnout and a resounding Democratic victory—diluting the potential of the Trump regime to subvert the election’s outcome and deny the will of the voters.

In other times, my impulse toward caution would lead me to resist using language that could be attacked as unduly alarmist or hyperbolic. But these are not normal times—and this election is likely our last chance to stop the march of fascism led by Trump and his enablers seeking to hold onto power by any means necessary, democracy and free elections be damned.

We should take seriously Trump’s repeated assertions that he intends to stay in power after 2028—assuming he lives that long. We should not laugh off Trump operative Steve Bannon’s comments last year in an interview with The Economist. “He’s gonna get a third term,” he said. “Trump is gonna be president in 2028. And people oughta just get accommodated with that.”

No, we should not get accommodated to that, Steve.

Nor should we accept the regime’s failure to comply with hundreds of immigration-related court orders resulting in over 700 lawsuits, causing federal judges and other legal observers across the country to decry. Nor should we accept that Trump thinks he can cancel without consequence over $1 billion in Congressionally approved funds for immigration services, foreign aid, education, health research and minority-owned businesses. Nor can we tolerate the growing evidence that the regime is pursuing a sophisticated and nefarious plot to subvert the November midterms to entrench and expand Trump’s maximum, unfettered power.

This regime must be stopped—by you, me and every American citizen who remains committed to self-governance and living in a constitutional republic.

Let me briefly underscore the assertions of our founders when defining the constitutional means by which our society could function without reliance on the demands of a king or a despot and in order to avoid slipping into tyranny.

As for ignoring court orders: The Constitution lays out a separation of powers of each branch of government to protect against possible abuses by one branch over another. Here are the words of James Madison in Federalist 51: “The great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same [governmental] department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others.” Madison called this “essential to the preservation of liberty.”

As for usurping Congress’ power to control spending: The Constitution could not be clearer. This is Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 on spending: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.” This is Article I, Section 9, Clause 7: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” As Madison explained in Federalist 58, “This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance”—that is, to check abuses and overreach by the executive branch.

As for Trump manipulating the elections and subverting the will of the people: A president has no constitutional authority over federal election administration. Period. As Article I, Section 4 states, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.” Moreover, the president has no power to overturn election results or cancel an election.

Of course, these are not the only examples of the Trump regime’s constitutional violations and indifference. The overwhelming levels of corruption, including the repeated taking of bribes from foreign governments and others, obviously transgresses the Constitution’s Emolument Clauses. Nor will simply acknowledging these transgressions stop the abuses, not as long as Trump is surrounded by a cabinet of sycophants and a confederacy of cowards and fellow fascists in Congress.

Yes, I am encouraged that there are Democratic members of Congress who are already writing bills and planning ways to rein in Trump’s abuses and reverse the dangerous expansion of executive power in the years ahead. “We have a massive reconstruction task ahead of us,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the House Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, told The Washington Post.

But none of this begins in earnest until the Republicans lose their majority. And that depends on enough Americans channeling their fury about Trump’s corruption, crime and indifference to their needs and getting out the vote. We are under attack by an enemy in the Oval Office and we can put an end to this expanding emergency.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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Texas, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas. Every one of these typically sends Republicans to Congress. Yet this year every one of these are looking at the the growing likelihood that they can or will elect Democratic senators. To win back the Senate majority, Democrats need to flip four Republican-held seats.

No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas since 1988 (Lloyd Bentsen was re-elected that year). No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994. But a new New York Times/Sienna University poll of likely voters conducted between Sept. 21 and Oct. 1 found Democrat James Talarico leading Ken Paxton 51 to 45 percent.

The last Democrat to win a Senate seat in Alaska was Mark Begich in 2008. The Times/Sienna poll has Democrat Mary Peltola at 50 percent to the Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan’s 43 percent. In Ohio, which has been shifting right over the last decade (Trump won the state by about 11 percentage points) Democrat Sherrod Brown is leading Republican incumbent Jon Husted 49 to 46 percent in the same poll. As for Iowa, which Trump won by 13 percentage points, Democrat Josh Turek and Republican Ashley Hinson are neck-and-neck with 47 percent to 48 percent, respectively.

And then there’s Kansas, where the last time a Democrat won a U.S. senate seat is a jaw-dropping 94 years ago when George McGill was reelected in 1932. Trump won Kansas by more than 16 percentage points in 2024. Yet Democrat Adam Hamilton and incumbent incumbent Republican Roger Marshall are tied at 45 percent. Even long-time, high-profile Republicans in Kansas, such as former Gov. Bill Graves, are backing the centrist Hamilton over the Trumpist Marshall.

While doubters could claim the Times/Sienna polling is an outlier, they would be wrong. A collection of other polls, including the Fox/Beacon & Shaw polling, have found similar trends. The race for Senate in Maine, in which Democrat Troy Jackson is aiming to finally unseat long-time incumbent Susan Collins, is currently tied.

Yes, polls can be wrong. I know that the trauma of previous Democratic losses (Hillary, Kamala) causes Democrats to doubt what their eyes and minds are telling them. But we are exactly one month from the Nov. 3 midterms—and the hard work on the ground by committed supporters to get these candidates elected matters. The trends are not shifting away from the Democrats.

Quite the contrary. Gas and food prices are not going to suddenly drop down. The intransigent and mentally untethered Trump is not going to suddenly exit Iran, discover that affordability issues are real or end his idiotic tariff agenda that has turned long-time friends like Canada into adversaries and created unnecessary economic uncertainty. Nor is he about to curtail his relentless, repulsive corruption (which got a new addition with reporting that Trump henchmen Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are negotiating a multibillion-dollar oil deal with Vladimir Putin).

Yes, despite the prospects for a seismic Democratic victory in the midterms that results in Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, there’s always reason to wonder and worry whether the habitual party tribalism will lead Republicans to return to the fold. But Trump’s historic disapproval ratings provide a clear sign that Americans are not going to suddenly forget their strong discontent, indeed anger, with this man’s failures and the direction he’s taken the country. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the electorate think the country is on the wrong track.

So, have typically unthinkable wins become thinkable? Are there races about which you are particularly hopeful will flip to the Democrats? What race for the House and the Senate are you watching closely? What candidates are you supporting with your dollars or your time and energy?

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to hear from each other. Please be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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This is the tale of three Americans who told us this week what they think matters. One, who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution to occupy the nation’s highest office, made clear once again he despises the First Amendment and the right of the free press. A second, who left his duties as a Fox weekend host to manage the world’s largest military and the nation’s largest bureaucracy, communicated his toxic belief in lawless violence that endangers every American soldier. A third, who presides over a courtroom, ruled in favor of the rule of law and the need for a justice system that does not harm innocent people.

I’d like to share with you snapshots of each of their public remarks this week. The first is an interview with Donald Trump published by Time magazine yesterday. The second is a so-called “State of the Force” speech delivered by Pete Hegseth on Wednesday. The third is a final ruling yesterday by Judge Todd Edelman in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia regarding David Hearn and the Justice Department’s charge that he destroyed property in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

With just one month until the November midterms, when our country’s fate will be decided, these three men ask us to decide what future we want. In their words which portray their values, they offer us a choice. Let’s take a look.

The despot demands praise

“Why should Americans believe that you respect the free press when you’re restricting access to the White House to some of our colleagues?” Trump was asked.

“Because I do respect the free press, but I don’t respect fake news,” he answered, adding, “If I do the finest thing, if I found the cure to cancer, they would say, ‘Why didn’t he move quicker?’ They are just horrible people, and they’re so bad. So I believe in a free press. I believe in an honest press, but I don’t believe in fake news.”

In other words, the only acceptable press is the one that praises him. And why, in his twisted authoritarian view, is that the correct course?

“I won the election. I won it handily by massive numbers. I won the popular vote. I won all seven swing states,” he said, adding, “If I wasn’t doing a good job, I wouldn’t have won that election by a lot.”

The Time interviewer was ready to move on, but Trump wasn’t. First, he needed to explain his greatness: “I've done great things. I mean, I've done Venezuela. I've done—I can name, I can name 100 great things I've done. I never get good press. I never get fair press. Doesn’t have to be good. All it has to be is fair.”

And how exactly would he assess what’s fair coverage? He focused on his crowds:

You know, yesterday I got tremendous applause from massive crowds that came to Duncan…I went to Tennessee. The crowd went wild. I went to, yesterday, to Chicago. Got the big golf tent. President’s coming. The crowd went absolutely wild…They asked me to make a speech. I said, ‘I'm not going to make a speech. I want to play golf.’ But I said to him—I mean, they had to stop the crowd from—they were going crazy, 100 percent. There was no negative number.

In other words, forget a free press that holds a leader accountable. Forget honest coverage based on facts. Rather, the despot in power is always right. It’s only fair when he is praised. The First Amendment can be tossed away to please him. That’s the country he hopes to make happen if the Republicans continue to control Congress.

The violent cowboys are in

And then there’s sadistic Pete Hegseth. I call him Killer Pete because he’s been telling us from the beginning how much he savors “maximum lethality.” Back in March, just days into his and Trump’s unauthorized war of choice in Iran, he couldn’t contain his excitement.

“America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,” he said then. “Death and destruction from the sky…all day long.” And he said, “Our war fighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly.”

We’ve seen it in the mass casualties in Iran, the extrajudicial killings of humans in fishing boats—and on Wednesday we heard him double-down on his failing toxic vision that puts our uniformed men and women in danger.

His words were bellicose and bombastic. Apparently, they make Killer Pete feel strong.

He addressed his major cutting of top military officers—generals and admirals. “Yes, 20 percent reduction across the board,” he said. “Now the media calls that a ‘purge.’ I call it accountability and long overdue…what the media levels as an accusation, I wear as an accomplishment.”

He was just warming up his hot head. “We are no longer the Woke Department or the Weak Department,” he proudly boasted. “Simple translation of that: No fatties. No trannies. No beardos. No weirdos. No wimps. No radicals. Just warriors. Just tough, ready, committed troops…The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in — with testosterone testing on top.”

And more: “All of you deserve senior leaders who know how to war-fight, who will employ you like the War Department, not the State Department. Who will think outside the box—bold and violent.” And laws be damned: “We will fight to win. Clear missions, full hearts, hands untied.”

This tragically unfit buffoon also picked up on his boss’ hostility toward the press, hepped up with tough and false words. He laid out his hunger for only praise and an indirect justification for his banishment of journalists from the halls of the Pentagon.

“A free press is of course important, but partisan activism that intentionally smears the troops and the historic mission they are undertaking is fundamentally anti-American,” he lied. “It's sick. It's a national betrayal. It's treason, actually. I hate to have to say it, but it has to be said, especially in defense of the great Americans right in front of me.”

This is the vision of the military that this testosterone-pumped “leader” is bent on taking farther. Forget equality. Forget expertise. Forget decades of experience. Forget the law to achieve his violent ends. We’ll get more of this unless Democrats take over Congress. And if they do: The growing hunger to impeach Pete Hegseth may turn into real action.

“No right…to compound the errors”

But don’t lose all hope about the present. Consider Judge Edelman’s determination to free an innocent defendant wrongly charged by Donald Trump’s Justice Department—and to ensure that Trump’s vengeful prosecutors will not try their unjust trickery again.

First, he laid out the case:

In July 2026, the United States secured an indictment against Defendant David C. Hearn for felony destruction of property based upon allegations that he had damaged the lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Within a month, the government recognized that its prosecution lacked merit. It reached this conclusion not because it had misidentified Mr. Hearn as the perpetrator of the alleged act, but because no crime had occurred: the observed damage to the Reflecting Pool was due to a contractor’s ‘rushed and botched’ installation of the lining while conducting renovations, and Mr. Hearn’s actions had no effect on the value of the Pool.

That should have been the end of it, at least if there were a legitimate Department of Justice. But the judge worried that these prosecutors could try to find another way to charge Hearn, who doesn’t deserve this treatment. He wrote:

The government urges the Court to treat this case no differently than any other and therefore to dismiss the matter without prejudice, i.e., in a manner that would hypothetically allow it to re-charge Mr. Hearn with this offense at some point in the indefinite future, restricted only by the six-year statute of limitations…

In the exceptional circumstances posed by this case, the government has no right to retain the ability to compound the errors it has already made, or even to threaten to do so, at Mr. Hearn’s expense.

This is why Judge Edelman concluded that he needed a ruling that would ensure this case was finished. Really finished. In other words, with prejudice. “This case must be dismissed with prejudice, and the government must thus be barred from re-instituting this charge against Mr. Hearn.”

Now that’s a judge who stands up for the rule of law and the responsibility to treat innocent people fairly. He understood that David Hearn, a gold medal-winning athlete who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, could still be at the mercy of a president who despises the Constitution and the truth, an unwell narcissist who prioritizes saving his public image over justice and decency.

This should be what we expect from every judge in every courtroom. We have one month and one day until the midterms when we can decrease the power of a vengeful White House occupant who could not care less about who’s innocent or what the truth is. Just as the words of Judge Edelman provide us a picture of the kind of America we should demand, Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump provide us a picture of the kind of future we will have if Americans fail to stand up and curb their power.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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I hope you’ll check out this candid conversation, in which Hunter shares his views on a wide range of topics both personal and political. Among them: The appalling levels of corruption of Donald Trump and his family, the need for accountability when Democrats take back the majority, his readiness to appear before Congress alongside the Trump children, his love and admiration for his father, and his “biggest disappointment” in his father’s presidency.

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I can’t count how many times I’ve heard that many Republicans oppose Donald Trump, but they only will say so privately. But now, just five weeks until the November midterms, a growing number of Republicans are panicking as they grasp how many voters despise the man they’ve spent the last decade enabling.

Last week the non-partisan American Research Group released a poll last week citing a 29 percent approval rate for Trump—a new low for him. That may be something of an outlier, but I wouldn’t doubt that it captures the increasingly bleak and angry assessment of this failing man.

Consider a CNN poll released last week found that 73 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the war with Iran. As for Trump’s handling of foreign affairs more broadly, 71 percent disapproved.

The collapse on foreign affairs—down 10 points since the start of the year—is hard for elected Republicans to avoid, even among cultists convinced he does no wrong.

Last week Politico quoted a GOP strategist who said that Republicans are capable of reading polls. This strategist, afraid to attach his name to his candid observations, added, “They know he is kryptonite.”

All of a sudden—and, in my view, far too late for any version of redemption or forgiveness—rats are fleeing the sinking ship. They are jumping overboard in the vain hope that they won’t sink along with Trump.

Consider several examples:

• Byron Donalds, the Florida congressman running for governor against Democrat David Jolly, has cleansed his website from the stench of Trump. As the Miami Herald noted, the site used to be dominated by references to Trump’s endorsement: “TRUMP-ENDORSED Proven Conservative Fighter” was the main text on the home page and a button asking supporters to “Chip in to Support Trump Endorsed Byron Donalds” was at the top of the page. These and other such references are now gone and his photo with Trump is now buried inside.

• Florida GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar—facing an increasingly tight race against Democrat Eliott Rodriguez in a district Trump won by nearly 15 points in 2024—has run a commercial criticizing Trump’s deportation operation, noting that half of those detained by ICE had no criminal record. “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” she says in the ad. “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.” (Trump’s response this weekend: Fourteen posts sharing Truth Social users attacking Salazar as “a back stabber” and more, including the need for another Republican to replace her.)

• Mike Rogers, who is polling behind Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the race for Senate in Michigan, released an ad in which he says, “We need to bring prices down. The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly.” This is the same guy who in July called the Iran war “a win-win-win for us” and said, “I don't mind giving the president authority to continue. You can't stop in mid-negotiation.”

• Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, in a close contest for the Senate running against Democrat State Rep. Josh Turek, called for the Iran war “to be brought to a successful and immediate end,” noting on X that “Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran.” This from a GOP congresswoman who’s rejected six House measures intended to cut Trump’s authority to continue the war.

They are not the only ones who’ve grasped that mindlessly kowtowing to a failing Trump is a mistake. Last week Mississippi’s Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called China’s Xi Jinping “a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator” who shouldn’t be trusted—and surely shouldn’t have been flattered with a state dinner. “Quite frankly,” said Wicker, a typically staunch Trump defender, “had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States.”

The rebuke was real, even if we shouldn’t expect Wicker—who’s not up for reelection until 2030—to more broadly reject Trump. Still, I’m sure that Wicker especially enjoyed the images of U.S. military personnel on their knees unrolling and smoothing a red carpet for Xi’s arrival.

Consider one more example of the shifting ground as sweaty Republicans fear the consequences of sticking by deranged and increasingly despised Trump. Over the last month or so, Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, polling behind Democrat David Crowley for the governor’s seat in Wisconsin, has said a few rational things.

He opposed Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, for example. “I believe the Great Lakes are the Great Lakes,” he said a month ago, surely recognizing that Canada is Wisconsin’s top trading partner. He also disagreed with Trump’s plan to import foreign beef to drive down prices, a serious issue for local farmers.

But let’s not doubt the continuing challenge to deal with pro-Trump extremists who have stood by Trump all these years—and who will continue to support Trump’s efforts to subvert our elections and deny the people’s will.

That includes Tiffany, an election denier who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s wins in Pennsylvania and Arizona and said at the time that he would have voted against certifying Wisconsin’s results if they came up for a vote. He is one of more than 130 election-denier candidates who are on the ballot for statewide or federal offices this year.

In the last several weeks, Tiffany was happy to report at a campaign event that the Justice Department is sending federal officials to monitor Wisconsin’s midterms. As he put it, when asked about the election, “And by the way, good news, good news, the federal Department of Justice is coming to Wisconsin for this election to make sure that we have election integrity.”

Tiffany may try to backtrack here and there. He may lead some voters to think he’s distancing himself from Trump on one issue or another. But he is a reminder that the denial of the voters’ will remains a corrosive danger to our democracy’s survival—and unforgivable.

Yes, there are rats fleeing the sinking ship, but Trump’s poisonous influence will still require a major clean-up operation if and when the Democrats regain control in Congress. The need to retake the House and the Senate—and deploy our collective power to hold the Trump regime accountable—could not be clearer. The only way we truly overcome this dark chapter is by refusing to forgive and forget.

There are just 35 days until Nov. 3

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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I don’t usually pay much attention to former Fox host Tucker Carlson or dwell on his observations usually meant to incite conflict. But several nights ago, I saw a clip from Carlson’s appearance on Steve Inskeep’s NPR podcast, Newsmakers, that has haunted me ever since.

In the episode, Carlson recounts a conversation he had with Donald Trump in the Oval Office just days before Trump launched a war against Iran in February. Carlson insisted that he was quoting Trump verbatim.

First, Carlson told Trump that the war is “not about Iran’s nuclear program” and that it’s “being pushed by Israel.” And then, Carlson said, “He looked at me and said, ‘Yes, you’re right. But in the end, we all die anyway. So it doesn’t matter.’ That’s exactly what he said.”

But in the end, we all die anyway. So it doesn’t matter.

Just pause for a moment on the deep nihilism in this statement, the utter lack of morals or principles. This is no philosophical conversation. These bleak thoughts were expressed by a man with the ultimate power to end the lives of millions and millions of people—a man who never should have been anywhere near our White House. It’s yet another reason why he should be removed from office now.

Contrast that nihilism with the moral conviction of someone like James Talarico, the Texas candidate for U.S. Senate. Here’s some of what he says on his website to explain why he’s running:

My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas. He taught me that we follow a barefoot rabbi who gave us two commandments: love God and love neighbor. Because there is no love of God without love of neighbor. Every single person bears the image of the sacred; every single person is holy—not just the neighbors who look like me or pray like me or vote like me…

2,000 years ago, when the powerful few rigged the system, that barefoot rabbi walked into the seat of power and flipped over the tables of injustice.

Sacred. Holy. Love of neighbor. Injustice.

Scholars will need decades to fully sort out how our society became so broken that millions of Americans could be drawn to a man as unprincipled and nihilistic as Trump. That would surely require their digging into the failure of education to teach ethics and civics, the impact of social media, the prioritizing of entertainment above all else. It’s worth considering the power of tribalism that will lead millions of Texans to vote for another blatantly corrupt and criminal candidate like Talarico’s Republican rival, Ken Paxton.

For now, let’s consider the qualities and the kind of people that you don’t just admire or respect, but that you demand in a leader. Back in June 2021, I wrote about how kindness and compassion are expressions of strength, not weakness. I quoted President Barack Obama from his 2019 eulogy at the funeral of Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings that got to the heart of this:

“There’s nothing weak about kindness and compassion. There’s nothing weak about looking out for others. There’s nothing weak about being honorable. You’re not a sucker to have integrity and to treat others with respect.”

I also included a quote from then-President Joe Biden in a proclamation he released on Father’s Day in 2021. It gives a picture of what qualities are important to him:

Like so many fathers, my dad was a man of decency, honor, generosity, and kindness. He had a profound impact on me, and instilled in me the understanding of the basic truth that everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. The value set my father taught me, I taught to my children and my grandchildren.

In this moment, when confronted with cruel, criminal and evil people who despise American values and our democratic way of life, there’s a reason why many of us also talk about the need for intelligent leaders who will fight as fiercely as is required. Dire times demand fearlessness, honesty, clarity of purpose and the readiness to fight fire with fire. Or, as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker put it when describing how to deal with a bully, “Bullies respond to one thing, and one thing only: a punch in the face.”

What qualities do you value in a leader? Are there particular leaders or people that best embody those qualities? Has your thinking changed about what qualities are important? And are you hopeful that there are strong candidates running in the midterms that will model those qualities and both win in November and help drive change in the months that follow?

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

Subscribe now