Week 85 - The Return
Trump sees "no limits" to his powers, and shows what he cares about
Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.
Trump just doesn’t care. That is a great takeaway from this week’s list. He views his power as absolute, saying in an interview that he has not been humbled by the Iran War, but instead learned that there are “no limits” to his power. He feels unbridled by public opinion or what is good for his political party approaching midterms. His concerns seem wrapped up in his legacy as a great conqueror abroad, while also enshrining his legacy in our country’s capital, as would be typical of dictatorships.
Trump has lost the war with Iran that he started, abandoning all of his stated objectives, for fear of his legacy being compared to former President Herbert Hoover. It wasn’t his falling approval, reaching new lows on issues as well, or the crisis of affordability hitting most Americans, it was the stock market. After spending the past decade criticizing former President Barack Obama for releasing $1.7 billion in funds to Iran in completing the JCPOA, the Trump regime opened U.S. dollar-denominated oil sales for the first time in four decades, planned to released tens of billions more from frozen accounts, and set up a $300 billion fund for Iran. All in all a humiliation for the U.S. and our world standing that will surely have lasting world impacts.
Meanwhile, Trump spent the week obsessed with his D.C. legacy, this week on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, inventing stories of “vandalism” to cover for gross incompetence. The Kennedy Center remains under wraps, quite literally, after his name was removed. The White House complex is a literal mess. His regime continues to struggle with the basic tasks of the federal government, the tolls of which are increasingly coming to bear, and instead is focused on his campaign of retribution. On the edges the Republicans, out of their own self-interest, are turning on him.
Select pollster American Research Group found Trump’s approval at a new career low of 30% approve, 66% disapprove. On his handling of the economy, Trump also reached a new career low of 26% of approve, 70% disapprove, down from 41% approve at the same point in 2018.
A study by the Center on Budget and Policy found that 8 months after Trump’s megabill passed, participation in the SNAP food assistance program fell by 4 million people, or 10%. In 13 states that provide data, participation of children fell by 808,000, half of those states’ declines.
A Gallup study found just 49% of Americans could afford healthcare between Oct. 27-Dec. 22, 2025, the lowest level in the five years of the study. The study was conducted prior to Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill that was set to take away Affordable Care Act subsidies in 2026.
On Friday, in what was billed as remarks to Air Force service members at Andrews Air Force Base, Trump visited the new Air Force One gifted to him by Qatar, telling reporters Qatar “was so nice,” and “See, a normal president wouldn’t do this.”
The gift had little precedent as the Constitution bans presents “from any King, Prince, or foreign State” unless approved by Congress. Trump claimed it was a gift to the nation, not him, even as he will keep it after he leaves the office as part of his presidential library, an unprecedented act.
NYT reported that the White House shut down a criminal probe opened in Brooklyn after Trump granted clemency to David Gentile, a private equity executive convicted in a $1.6 billion fraud scheme, after Gentile paid $2.5 million to people or companies to facilitate his clemency.
Trump nominated James Gadwood, a tax lawyer at Miller & Chevalier, the tax preparation firm that represents Trump’s holding company DJT Holdings LLC, to become the top lawyer at the IRS. Trump pulled his first nominee, and has largely left the IRS rudderless.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman bought $50 million in stock in his former company, Shift4 Payments, in May, a month before SpaceX, a business partner of the company, went public. Isaacman oversees SpaceX’s NASA contracts, raising a possible conflict of interest.
Late Wednesday, Trump again signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, ironically at the Palace of Versailles, before a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit. Trump had signed electronically on Sunday, his birthday, as well.
Trump explained his desire to strike a deal as not wanting to be compared with former President Herbert Hoover, saying, “I didn’t want to see an economic catastrophe.” Notably he repeatedly said he did not think about American’s financial situation and loved inflation.
