Is Trump painting himself into a corner?
One anecdote does not a survey make. However, I do have one Republican friend who voted for Trump and who confessed to me recently that he “tends to agree with” me about my assessment of Trump’s shameful Oval Office attack on Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He further acknowledged that, in light of what Trump might do to his Social Security payments, “switching sides would be a possibility.”
This after just 48 days of Donald Trump. Imagine what it could be like after 480 days. I think we all agree that Trump is not going to get any better.
And yes, I think my friend is representative of Republicans today. Notice I don’t say “MAGA Republicans.” He is not MAGA. But he did vote for Trump and he does consider himself a conservative. Republicans are showing up at town halls and loudly proclaiming their fury about Trump’s policies, policies they say they didn’t vote for.
Well, they in fact did. If they didn’t want to read the nearly thousand pages of “Project 2025,” all they needed to do was listen to Trump and Musk. Trump said he was going to essentially put Musk in charge of everything while he attended to his policy to “drill baby drill.” Musk said Americans will suffer “temporary hardship” due to cost cutting measures.
So there. If you didn’t know what you were voting for, Republicans, then you weren’t paying attention. That’s your fault, and shame on you for it. And you shouldn’t be surprised that the “temporary hardship” looks like it could be here to stay.
Of course, if the price of eggs is what you’re upset about, Republicans, your toad-god had this to say about it: “Shut Up About Egg Prices.” In other words, he tricked you into voting for him. You were worried that the price of eggs would go up to $5 a dozen? Now it’s $10 a dozen, and your toad-god wants you to shut up about it. So, pardon me for promoting anything Trump says, but shut up about it.
Oh, and the predicted GDP for the first quarter of 2025 is minus 2.8. MINUS 2.8. Had Trump left things alone it would be PLUS 3 something. Remember the signs that people were slapping on gas pumps? “Biden did this”? Hold Trump’s beer.
Do I think all Republicans (and some MAGAS) are going to admit they were wrong and switch sides? Of course not. But I think enough of them will. And the fury Trump is going to incite with his incompetence is going to provoke hatred so virulent that Republican members of Congress will become terrified of their own constituents. More terrified than they are of Trump.
If you think the blue wave of 2018 was something, look out for the giant blue tsunami of 2026. Trump is painting himself into a corner, and it’s a corner he won’t be able to get out of. No amount of gerrymandering, no amount of voter suppression, no amount of lies will save him. And State TV, AKA Fox News, doesn’t have to do what State TV in Moscow does. Fox News will follow the will of their viewers, not the government. And if their viewers demand anti-Trump rhetoric, then that’s what they are going to get.
When the tsunami of 2026 comes, Trump will be so toxically poisonous that enough Republicans and some MAGAs will either vote for anti-Trump candidates or Democrats. Which means the Democratic candidate is going to win. Which means we will have a supermajority in the House and Senate. Which means in less than two years, Trump and Vance very well could be impeached, convicted and thrown out of office.
Imagine that. That would make the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is second in the line of succession, President of the United States. And who would be Speaker of the House? Hakeem Jeffries. Or better yet, Al Green. President Al Green. Has a nice ring to it, yes?
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.