Trump is losing in courts, Congress, and the polls. Be more worried, not less. | Editorial
The courts and Congress are pushing back. But the damage is mounting, and complacency may be the biggest threat of all.
Donald Trump continues to inflict historic damage on the United States through his corruption, incompetence, and cruelty. But amid the daily chaos and nightly fury, Trump has suffered significant losses that should give citizens who support the Constitution and democracy a glimmer of hope.
He’s lost in Congress, the court of public opinion, and courtrooms across the country. Even the Iran war has turned into a no-win situation. Adding to the indignity, Trump was roundly booed in his hometown by Knicks fans when he made an appearance at an NBA Finals game at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Monday.
But here’s the thing about Trump: He’s never more dangerous than when he’s losing.
He continues to dismantle democracy even as the country prepares to celebrate 250 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. And he still wields immense power over his MAGA base.
But fissures abound.
Just look at Congress. After largely serving as lapdogs, (some) Republicans who control the House and Senate have begun to push back.
The Senate shelved Trump’s brazen scheme to create a $1.8 billion fund to reward loyal lackeys prosecuted and convicted of crimes, including the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — but passed on reining in his tax audit chicanery.
Senate Republicans also dropped $1 billion in security funding for Trump’s ballroom — an obscene waste of tax dollars that keeps growing in price and size as many Americans struggle to make ends meet.
In a rare rebuke, four GOP House members — including U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) — joined with Democratic lawmakers to pass a war powers resolution that called for ending the conflict in Iran that is costing taxpayers $2 billion a day and sent oil prices soaring.
In defiance of Trump’s refusal to help Ukraine, 18 House Republicans joined Democrats to pass a measure to provide more than $1 billion in aid and impose new sanctions on Russia. (Recall how Trump repeatedly said he would end that war within 24 hours after returning to office.)
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.) called Trump’s continued deference to Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “moral blindness” that “communicates weakness.”
The sudden turn against Trump by some GOP lawmakers is likely driven more by the looming midterm elections than any allegiance to their constitutional oath.
Trump’s poll numbers are sinking. There are even cracks among white working-class voters without a college degree who now disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy. They could tolerate Trump’s lies, corruption, and incompetence, but not $5-a-gallon gasoline.
At the same time, Trump — who has spent a lifetime litigating thousands of grievances — is losing in many courtrooms on issues big and small.
On Monday, a judge voided “in its entirety” Trump’s scheme to impose $100,000 fees on employers seeking visas for skilled foreign workers — one in a series of misguided moves by the administration to target immigrants, which hurts all Americans.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s cockamamie plan to impose tariffs on countries in a way best described as willy-nilly. Beyond being fiscally stupid, the court found Trump’s signature economic policy was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court will soon rule on Trump’s signature immigration policy to end birthright citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or those on temporary visas.
The sudden turn against Trump by some GOP lawmakers is likely driven more by the looming midterm elections than any allegiance to their constitutional oath.
Most legal experts believe Trump will lose this case because birthright citizenship is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment. Even Trump predicted the court would “probably rule against me.” As it should, since the law is not on his side.
A federal judge ruled that Trump’s name must come off the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The judge said the law is “crystal clear,” and that only Congress can change the name.
After beating four criminal indictments, Trump is still subject to the law.
In fact, the Trump administration has lost 70% of the more than 600 lawsuits it has faced over the past year or so. The record of futility underscores Trump’s overreach, since the federal government traditionally prevails in court.
Judges and grand juries have rejected many of the slapdash legal arguments from the Trump administration. The U.S. Department of Justice has parted ways with thousands of career prosecutors and is forfeiting its credibility with the bench.
The losses are real. And they matter. But democracy doesn’t survive on court rulings and poll numbers alone — it survives because people keep showing up.
Trump’s losing streak obscures the harder truth that he continues to trample the rule of law, attack countries, install lackeys, line his pockets, and upend the economy — moves that systematically weaken the U.S. at home and abroad.
It is, after all, a reminder that the arc of the moral universe can bend toward justice — even in these “dark, disturbing, and dangerous times.” The bending, though, is up to us: follow the Constitution, hold wrongdoers accountable, and vote.
