Donald Trump’s second term of presidency has been exhausting both to the United States and much of the world. But mostly to himself.
After wrecking the joint for two years, he has run out of puff and is poised to suffer a defeat that will be a new “shot heard round the world”.
Polls strongly suggest that Trump’s cowed Republicans are about to lose control of not just the House but perhaps even the Senate, to the Democrats, in Tuesday’s midterm elections. This offers the beginnings of a corrective to the damage that Trump and Co. have inflicted on the US.
Once the land of the free, America under Trump teetered towards autocracy as he defied courts on deportation orders, turned the Department of Justice into an instrument of retribution and misused national security for political ends.
Trump appears to have lost traction. While he lined the pockets of wealthy supporters, sacked many public servants and curtailed many public services, including Medicaid funding, ordinary people suffered. Promised jobs failed to materialise, interest rates are up, and national debt has skyrocketed to a record $US41 trillion ($58 trillion).
His heartland is shaken. Farm states feel abandoned. The Hispanic community feels unfairly targeted by ICE raids.
But oil is his most electorally painful self-inflicted wound.
Arrogant and culturally tone-deaf, Trump’s illegal Middle East war has not only turbocharged fuel prices but needlessly cost the lives of US soldiers and Iranian schoolgirls and – of utmost concern to Australia given our defence treaties and AUKUS submarine splurge – forced a global retreat of American power. Even some within the Republican Party are questioning his support for Israel and his support for Russia against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Republicans have been undermining democracy, redrawing electoral boundaries, releasing a blizzard of executive orders unconstitutionally claiming state election powers were a federal concern and overturning the Voters’ Rights Act which safeguarded against racial discrimination as the administration tried to disenfranchise large numbers of voters, claiming fraud that could not be found.
Now, the man who did nothing when supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, asserting the election the previous November had been hijacked by radical left Democrats, is suggesting that cheating Democrats will steal this midterm election.
The reported huge turnout in early voting – easily overshadowing the roll-up in the 2022 and 2018 midterms – suggests massive disenchantment with Trump’s failure to keep campaign promises, attempts to subvert democracy, and his corruption have finally hit home.
Will Trump accept the result or claim the result is rigged?
Either way, Trump will continue to do damage. Despite the US Constitution and tradition, he can defy Congress with executive orders and continue to wage war. But should the Democrats win both houses, you would like to think that even the sycophantic Republicans, who let Trump get away with murder, money and mayhem, will respect the will of the people even if their deluded leader is in denial.
After 10 exhausting years of Trump, we hope the people of the United States exercise their right to vote and start the beginning of his end.
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