Alan Zendell, May 29, 2025

Ever since Donald Trump turned to politics, many of us who followed his career for decades had a sense that it was just a matter of time before Americans caught on to what he’s really about. His extreme narcissism aside, his history of business fraud, stiffing people who worked for him when the bill came due, vindictiveness, and relationships with organized crime figures suggested he would govern the same way if he were ever elected. Corruptly.

We were right about all of it except the part about Americans catching on – yet. While Trump’s approval rating is a moving target, currently hovering just above the level that triggers warning sirens for the 2026 midterm elections, his base, so far, is sticking with him. A large factor in that is the utter lack of leadership and unity shown by Democrats, whose only virtue seems to be that they’re not MAGA Republicans.

Another major factor is Republican billionaires’ willingness to pony up huge amounts of cash through PACs and questionable vehicles like foreigners investing billions in Trump’s crypto business. The money flowing into Trump’s accounts is unprecedented. The greediest among wealthy Americans see a one-time window to establish long-term oligarchic dominance that will close the moment Trump’s base deserts him.  In many parts of our country, flooding right-wing media with dollars can buy almost anything.

It’s a matter of time before people see through Trump’s immigration policy to its real underlying intention: seizing power unconstitutionally and threatening courts and law firms when they try to reel him in. There’s a painful reality that makes it difficult to fight back, however. No administration since World War 2 has been able to pass a meaningful immigration law or interdict trafficking in drugs like fentanyl because Americans with power and money don’t want them passed. Millions of small businesses would close without the cheap labor provided by undocumented immigrants, and too many Americans want illegal drugs and are willing to pay for them.

It’s a matter of time before voters realize Trump’s infatuation with autocrats and his boasting about special relationships with people like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are part of his power-mad fever dream. Xi has shown no inclination to bend to Trump’s will, as China looks to replace American markets with others in Europe, Africa, and South America. And the corollary threats to business leaders who manufacture products in China are having no impact, because the economic realities that created the problem haven’t changed.

Putin has demonstrated that there is no “special relationship” with Trump. Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine on Day One of his presidency. Yet, here, on Day 150, Russia is killing more civilians and destroying more Ukrainian infrastructure than at any time since the war began, three years ago, all of this happening under the guise of pretending to be considering Trump’s cease-fire plan. All Trump has accomplished is humiliating Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on the world stage and driving him to find support from Europe, specifically Germany and Poland. America is the loser in Trump’s mishandling of the war.

It’s a matter of time before Americans, especially Jewish voters who Trump panders to by cozying up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, realize that Trump’s only interest in the Middle East is enriching himself. When he thought it would help him win votes, he was all about stopping the killing in Gaza, about which he cares even less than he does about Israel. His bluster about ending the war in Gaza stopped when Arab nations began investing billions in Trump’s businesses and gifts, like airplanes and golf resorts. He seems to neither notice nor care that Gazan civilians are starving and dying, as Israel intends to occupy all of Gaza completely and attempt to annex it.

It’s a matter of time before Trump’s tariff war collapses under its own weight. We’re not very far from that day, as billionaire investors have figured out how to get richer using the TACO strategy. Wall Street coined the phrase Trump Always Chickens Out to remind investors that his on again, off again tariffs, which have changed more than fifty times in Trump’s 120 days in office, are a wonderful opportunity to buy low and sell high, timing trades to his tariff announcements.

It’s a matter of time before the dozens of lawsuits filed against the Trump administration by private citizens, universities, law firms, and state governments reach the Supreme Court. Trump’s batting average in the lower courts is close to zero, as judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans rule his actions unconstitutional. He took a major hit, yesterday, when the U. S. Court of International Trade ruled that all of his Liberation Day tariff orders were illegal.

Finally, it’s just a matter of time before most Americans react to Trump’s pardoning of gang leaders and hardened criminals, because they supported his campaigns.