Donald Trump’s Second Term, Year One

In the first year of his second term, Donald Trump has upended the Constitution, the laws, and the international order. And nothing is stopping him.

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Friday, January 23, 2026

(Ed. Note: I originally intended to publish this last Tuesday, the anniversary of Trump 47’s inauguration. Then, it was going to be Wednesday. But circumstances and a field trip with Marfawitz intervened, so some of the references may be dated, in spite of my efforts to remain au courant.)

Today marks the end of the first year of Trump’s second term – three years to go! It’s been one of the most traumatic years of our national history, and all the signs are pointing to things getting worse.

I am writing this on Monday, the national holiday dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his pivotal role in the long crusade for civil rights for all Americans. King and his message of inclusion, justice for all and nonviolent resistance to tyranny are out of fashion these days. Outright racists like Stephen Miller and neo-Nazis like Nick Fuentes have the nation’s attention, arguing for a Christofascist nationalism that has no room for minorities or immigrants.

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Quote of the Week: “Fuck shit up, and dare anyone to stop me.”

— Donald Trump’s New Year’s Resolution

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I should probably start by admitting that I do not know if this is Donald Trump’s New Year’s Resolution, or if he even makes them. To the extent that such resolutions usually reflect some self-awareness of imperfections and the desire to improve on them, I suspect Donald Trump does not make resolutions. After all, this is a fellow who can’t remember ever asking God for forgiveness. Introspection and self-correction are not in his wheelhouse.

What he does have is a lizard-brained animal’s instincts for danger and even subtle changes in the environment. Consider how different December 31 was from last January 20, his second inauguration. On the one hand, he has accomplished more than our worst nightmares would have predicted:

· He seized control of the federal government and budget from the Congress, which surrendered without a fight.

· He turned the Supreme Court into a rubber stamp for his overreaches and declared rhetorical war on the so-called “independent” judiciary.

· The Department of Justice is, at best, his personally controlled law firm and, at worst, enablers of his ongoing criminal enterprise.

· He’s stuffed the Cabinet and the upper echelons of the federal government with the seediest, most corrupt, most incompetent bunch of grifters, sycophants and poltroons in U.S. history.

· He has turned his immigration policy (“we’re going after the criminals”) into a race war that indiscriminately terrorizes and deports longtime U.S. citizens as well and placed standing armies of mugs, thugs and pugs in Democratic cities.

· He ordered the literal retconning of the January 6th Insurrection, recasting it in official government documents as a patriotic revolt against a stolen election.

· He tore down the East Wing of the White House with asking anyone’s permission, intending to build a huge ballroom (surely to be named after him) in its place.

· He took over the Kennedy Center, rebranding it as the “Trump Kennedy Center” as part of his goal to seize the touchstones of American culture.

… and many other outrages.

On the other hand – and this is what keeps the Lizard-Brain up at night – he is no more popular for all these accomplishments.

His stewardship over the economy is, at best, uneven. Grocery prices and other essentials have not gone down, to the point where he claims “affordability” is a Democratic hoax.

The brutality of his immigration pogrom (“the cruelty is the point”) repels voters.

His naked corruption and graft, apparently to his surprise, offends voters who expect more from a President.

As a result, his approval ratings have dropped by double digits over the last year, especially on issues (immigration and the economy) where voters once reposed significant trust.

The Lizard-Brain looks into the future and does not like what it sees – his own continuing (and increasingly evident) physical and mental decline, likely loss of at least the House (and maybe the Senate?) to the Democrats this fall (with accountability and perhaps impeachment to follow), more open rebellion from the GOP leadership, and a simmering battle for the 2028 presidential nomination that screams “lame duck.” (It is, of course, an open question whether Trump will defy the 22^nd Amendment and put himself up for president again. Come to think of it, it’s an open question whether Trump will prevent the 2028 elections from occurring; he suggested the other day that, because things are going so well (!!) now, we might not need elections in 2026.)

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This is unsustainable, obviously. The really bad news is that the democratic institutions designed to counterbalance a dictatorial Presidency are failing, from the Supreme Court to the Congress to the media to the people. We are now in full Trump the Mad King mode.

Consider the three issues that have absorbed most of the political bandwidth this year: Venezuela, the ICE murder of Renee Good, and Greenland. In each of them, the defining characteristic has been the overreach and transgression of previous bounds of decency and acceptability.

In Venezuela, he has siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars of oil revenues into back accounts he personally controls while taking no steps to stop the corruption and brutality of the Maduro/Rodriguez regime he left in place.

The government, and Trump especially, have treated the murder victim Renee Nicole Good as if she and her family were the “enemy” – no expressions of sympathy or investigations into her murder, and instead an FBI/DOJ investigation into her “domestic terrorist activities.”

Trump’s obsession with Greenland has turned into a standoff between Trump and the entire European community, and Trump gave us a big ‘tell’ in advising the Norwegian prime minister that seizing Greenland might be okay because that government had robbed him of the Nobel Peace Prize. (It would take a Powerpoint presentation to explain everything that’s wrong with that accusation.) Trump has since settled down, saying he’s got “the concept of a deal,” but as Nick Cataggio predicts, Greenland will be back in the headlines soon.

The common thread in all these issues is the sheer presumptuous insanity of Trump’s claims and the methods he wants to use. And we should not kid ourselves – it will get worse during 2026, as the Lizard-Brain wrestles with the sound of inevitability.

Buckle up, Mr. Anderson.