From The New Yorker · David Remnick · · 2m
Trump's unravelling presidency after midterm losses
As voters recognize Trump's uniqueness as a threat, his second term descends into grift, cruelty and the erosion of democratic norms.
In brief
As voters recognize Trump's uniqueness as a threat, his second term descends into grift, cruelty and the erosion of democratic norms. A decade of Trump's presidency has left Americans recognizing the danger he poses, while his current administration operates as a criminal enterprise profiting from power and…
A decade of Trump's chaos
Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the Commander-in-Chief is fascist to the core.After ten years of Trump's unceasing presence, growing numbers of Americans recognize the uniqueness of this President.
“fascist to the core”
Dismissing early warnings
A decade ago, those who warned Trump represented grave danger were met with sneering dismissal.Some on the left insisted Trump was not aberrant but mainstream, where the ordinary river flowed, distinguished only by vulgar aesthetics.
“He is where the ordinary river flowed”
The White House as front operation
Since the second Inauguration, the Trumps and their satraps have operated with all the commercial cunning of the Corleone family, with the White House as their front and their Genco Pura Olive Oil Company.
Attorney General's loyalty test
Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press that the President will never ask him to do something unethical or illegal. He never has. He never will.
“The President will never ask me to do something unethical or illegal”
Endless schemes and grifts
Every week brings word of a new grift, a new meme coin, a Melania doc, a pay-for-access club, or fresh funds from Gulf grandees looking for leverage.Kimberly Guilfoyle, U.S.
“Honey please I need you to get this done for me today”
Signs of unravelling
There are signs that the President is unravelling in alarming ways. Nearly every morning, the Daily Beast publishes headlines reflecting the situation: Confused Trump, eighty, Makes Bizarre Blunder in Late-Night Meltdown.
Proving Putin's point
When Trump threatens Greenland and Canada or greases a media merger in his interest, he proves Putin's point that the United States is no better than Russia.
Slashing aid, costing lives
President Trump unleashed Elon Musk to slash the budget of the U.S.Agency for International Development.According to Atul Gawande's research, the agency's support saved at least ninety million lives in the previous two decades.
Democracy depends on virtue
In seventeen eighty-eight, James Madison warned that the Constitution's fulfillment would depend on the quality of the people as well as the document's written principles.
“To suppose that any form of Government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea”
Election Day arrives
Election Day is November third. In some states, voting has already begun. The choice before voters will determine whether this depredation continues or whether the nation can reckon with what has been lost.
The essence
A decade of Trump's presidency has left Americans recognizing the danger he poses, while his current administration operates as a criminal enterprise profiting from power and dismantling institutions.
