Trump may have already planted the seeds of his political collapse

Over the last six weeks, President Trump has been spending political capital like a drunk at a casino who insists he’s got “a system.” If history is any predictor, his second term trajectory may already be set — right off a cliff, pedal to the floor.

Too soon to say that? Consider former President Joe Biden, who, in his first weeks in office, reversed Trump’s border policies and unleashed another flood of pandemic relief cash. These moves ultimately helped create his two biggest political headaches: a migrant crisis and runaway inflation so bad that even Dollar Tree had to raise its prices.

Then Biden made it worse by shrugging the problems off. Immigration, his administration argued, was “cyclical,” and inflation was merely “transitory.” Neither explanation turned out to be accurate. His approval ratings tanked immediately upon his disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and never recovered.

Now it’s Trump’s turn to step on a rake. His approval ratings j u st went underwater, meaning he hit this particular milestone even faster than Biden. According to a new Ipsos poll, three in five Americans think the cost of living — you know, the issue that likely won Trump the 2024 election — is “going in the wrong direction.”

As you might recall, Trump promised to bring down food prices on day one. Well, here we are, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is telling the public to deal with high egg prices by raising their own chickens.

I understand the appeal. Raising chickens — at least in a world without bird flu — might sound charming, and I bet many environmentally conscious liberals would find it quite nostalgic. But for most urban and suburban Americans, this is like the secretary of transportation suggesting we tackle rising gas prices by riding horses to work.

If a Democrat had said anything this absurd, Fox News would be hosting an emergency town hall titled “Biden’s Barnyard Blunder: The War on Your Wallet.” But somehow, this little nugget of genius has barely registered. Maybe people are too busy choosing between a carton of eggs and keeping the lights on.

Meanwhile, Trump seems hell-bent on seeing just how much economic misery voters can stomach. His latest stroke of brilliance? Slapping tariffs on Canada and Mexico — because nothing fixes inflation quite like boosting prices.

Planning to build a house? Brace yourself for soaring lumber costs. And in case that wasn’t enough, his mass deportation plan threatens to gut the construction workforce, sending labor costs through the roof. It’s a perfect one-two punch: fewer workers, pricier materials and a housing market already on life support.

Don’t worry, though — rather than acknowledge the flawed approach, Republicans are already laying the groundwork for the inevitable fallout of Trump’s policies by claiming that Americans are willing to suffer high prices for Trump.

Right. Keep telling yourselves that.

Speaking of scams, Trump just announced something called a “strategic crypto reserve.” I don’t know what that is, but I do know if you put “crypto” and “Trump” in the same sentence, somebody is getting fleeced. And it ain’t him or his fat-cat friends in the tech industry.

This brings us to Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. On paper, cutting waste sounds great. In reality? A foreign-born billionaire with a ketamine habit and a collection of surprise baby mamas who is firing American workers en masse is the kind of thing that plays terribly — especially when some of the laid-off employees are Trump voters who somehow believed he would only go after other people.

That’s right. It turns out that the so-called “deep state” includes regular folks, many of them military veterans, who don’t love being laid off by a billionaire space cadet or one of his Gen Z minions.

Then there’s the looming foreign policy catastrophe: Trump has made an art form of alienating allies, but his decision to pause military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine could have severe consequences — like, say, Russia steamrolling right over Ukraine.

A majority of Americans, per Ipsos, actually support Ukraine fighting back with U.S. weapons. So Trump starts off in a minority position, and that’s before his policies risk pushing Ukraine toward a very public collapse (a scenario one can only hope doesn’t unfold).

If Ukraine falls and the headlines are dominated by reports of Russian war crimes and images of tanks rolling into Kyiv, Trump’s already fraught position could unravel.

In short, Trump is charging ahead like a man convinced he has an ironclad mandate. He’s making the kind of big, flashy moves that typically blow up in spectacular manner. After all, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

He has slipped out of tight spots many times before, so maybe he’ll pull it off again.

Or maybe, just maybe, his bill is finally coming due.

Matt K. Lewis is a columnist, podcaster and author of the books “Too Dumb to Fail” and “Filthy Rich Politicians.”

Topics

Carville: Trump polling 'collapse is already underway'

Democratic strategist James Carville said Thursday that President Trump's poll numbers are declining, claiming "the collapse is already underway." Speaking on Fox News's "Hannity," Carville said ...
The Hill - Feb. 21
Europe’s New Reality: Trump May Not Quit NATO, but He’s Already Undercutting It

European officials knew the president’s win would threaten the fundamental precepts of the post-World War II order. But the speed at which it is unraveling has created a crisis of enormous ...
The New York Times - Feb. 20
Farage may have a Trump problem

Reform UK’s leaders risk misreading the British electorate’s appetite for Trumpian policies on climate and Ukraine
Financial Times - 2d
Trump’s tariffs, whether implemented or not, have already hurt the U.S. auto industry

Many in the industry feel that the levies could still be called off. Virtually everyone is hoping that, if enacted, the tariffs will be short-lived. Regardless, uncertainty has already taken its toll.
MarketWatch - 2d
The Constitution has already collapsed, and we are to blame

When citizens are poorly informed, they can be easily manipulated by those seeking to undo our founding principles.
The Hill - 3d
Trump’s first quarter of GDP is looking shaky. His allies are already trying to shoot the messenger.

The Trump administration wants to create a separate report about the economy that strips out the impact of government spending. The Commerce Department already does this.
MarketWatch - 3d
Trump adviser says fired veterans may not be "fit to have a job at this moment"

Counselor to the president Alina Habba said some veterans pushed out of their federal jobs may not want to come into work.
CBS News - 1d
Trump’s regime is fated to collapse

Despite its chest-beating rhetoric, the Trump regime is actually brittle and fated to ineffectiveness, collapse or both.
The Hill - 3d
With RFK Jr. at his side, a measles outbreak could prove 'politically perilous' for Trump

Trump's choice of RFK Jr. to be HHS secretary poses a risk to GOP lawmakers in the midterm elections if measles, bird flu, ebola or another disease rips through the country.
NBC News - 6d