Looking past the performative cruelty to see the reality of Trump's collapsing agenda
August 11, 2025
Robert B. Hubbell
In ways large and small, the Trump administration is failing. The performative cruelty is playing well with about one-third of Americans, but is driving Independents, persuadable Republicans, and nearly every Democrat to oppose a sitting president with greater fervor than at any point in modern presidential history. The tide has turned, but the Mad King wades deeper into the swelling surf, commanding the waves to retreat. It is only a matter of time (and hard work on our part) before he will be swamped.
Watching the spectacle is difficult because legacy media outlets are reporting breathlessly on each dramatic but futile gesture while ignoring the slow but inexorable rising tide. That’s the story—that Trump's hollow gestures and detachment from reality are not signs of strength or achievement but the signs of a disordered mind and corrupt motives that are creating chaos, making Americans less safe and free with each passing day.
Trump will make grand gestures this coming week, but they will be made-for-TV melodrama—the only trick of a one-trick pony. He is fooling fewer people, and even those who willingly suspend disbelief to support him are exhausted by his ever-changing demands to believe in irreconcilable conspiracy theories whose only goal is to conceal Trump's guilt.
Yes, it can be hard to watch. But know that the sound and fury emanating from a rapidly declining Trump signal the beginning of the end of Trump and his enablers.
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
