Trump Is Getting Weaker

And even some Republicans are finally grasping that it's a mistake to always stick by him

Trump falls asleep at his Dec. 2 cabinet meeting. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The list is growing longer by the day. He can’t stay awake. He takes a fake peace prize from a kowtowing FIFA boss and behaves like he won a Nobel. He can’t figure out that affordability is a real issue. He thinks people believe him when he and his henchman murder people in the Caribbean and claim it’s because they want to stop drugs, not plunder Venezuelan oil. He ignores his promise to deport only hardened violent criminals, the worst of the worst, not mothers and teachers and regular people just trying to get by. He believes that all the gaudy gold crap in the Oval Office looks good and impresses people. He can’t see that embracing a rich, murderous Saudi prince reveals his desperation to be involved with opponents of democracy. He thinks people are so stupid they will endlessly tolerate his taking billions in corruption and grift. He abandons Ukraine and kowtows to the demands of Russia’s Putin and thinks he looks strong by association. He hides the bruises on his hands and the reasons for his MRIs. He pardons a former Honduran president who helped bring 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. and doesn’t think twice about the hypocrisy. He illegally appoints amateurish incompetents to prosecute his perceived enemies, yet they keep failing. He calls for the execution of a senator, combat veteran and astronaut who urged military members to refuse illegal orders, not grasping that a man like this can’t be cowed or silenced. He still imagines that he can get away with covering up the Epstein files, as if the story of his alleged pedophilia will go away. He insists he had nothing to do with the second deadly attack on two survivors clinging to charred boat wreckage, assuming that distancing himself will protect him and his regime from war crime charges. He thinks he can slash Medicaid and oppose healthcare subsidies without consequence, even though millions of angry Americans will lose coverage or are terrified about rising premiums. He lies that his approval ratings are going up, despite nearly every poll showing that his unpopularity is at historic levels. He’s counting on John Roberts’ Supreme Court to stick with him on tariffs, yet the doubtful questions from his trusted justices suggest they may not bow this time to his ignoring the Constitution. He keeps repeating that food prices and inflation are going down, despite all evidence to the contrary. Did I mention that he imagines he can keep repeating affordability is a con job by Democrats and thinking that struggling Americans will be satisfied to go along with his lies?

Smelling failure

Yes, Donald Trump has kept nearly every Republican in line with constant threats and intimidation. But the mounting evidence of his growing weakness has begun to penetrate this monolithic response. That has included the nearly unanimous vote in the House and Senate to release the Epstein files, the Democratic electoral blowout across the country on Nov. 5, the single-digit win last week by a House Republican in a Tennessee district that Trump won by 22 points last year, the bipartisan demands for an investigation of possible war crimes for the deadly Caribbean attacks, the increasingly unavoidable reality of rising public anger against Trump’s unpopular policies and the obvious fact that affordability is a major issue that cuts across party lines as average Americans struggle to make ends meet.

Many among us may have feared that a Trump dictatorship is unstoppable, but Trump’s accelerating weakness is a clear sign that this regime will not last. And the more Republicans smell failure and refuse to go down with this increasingly unpopular president, the more they will find strength in numbers and refuse to silently tolerate his every foolish action.

For now, nearly every Republican has demonstrated near-total obedience, though even this feckless crowd can see that Trump’s hysterical battle with Mark Kelly makes him look like a weak, desperate and flailing old man. You can be sure they all have seen the footage of Trump sleeping in meetings. They too have seen the images of bruises and bandages on his hands, the swollen ankles and the nonsensical talk that his MRIs are perfectly normal and perfect. They too have heard rumors about Trump’s failing health and, even if they say otherwise, grasp his cognitive decline. All this combines to make Trump look more and more like a lame duck each day.

Keeping the pressure on

To be clear, none of this means that we can sit back, relax and count the days until next November’s 2026 midterms when Democrats can retake the House and even the Senate. For the record, that’s 329 days from now. We should all realize that a rat is most dangerous when it’s cornered and fears for its life; the same is certainly true for Donald J. Trump. There have been so many times we couldn’t imagine a way for him to go lower, to act with more cruelty, to be more extreme to distract us or grab attention, to further undermine our democracy. And yet he does.

That’s why it’s critical to treat every day as if he’s growing stronger, not weaker; we should assume he will intensify his hateful agenda to hold onto power and save his own skin. That means we must keep applying pressure until he has been removed from office. To keep speaking out against his and his regime’s recklessness, lawlessness, corruption and violence. To keep reaching out to your representatives to let them know that you reject this regime’s hateful, anti-democratic behavior. To stay committed to public protest and other collective actions that can remind this terrorizing regime that they are engaged in a losing battle, no matter how much their mad king insists he’s all powerful.

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