The Midterms and the Making of a Lame Duck President

The upcoming mid-term elections will determine whether the United States has entered the era of Donald Trump’s political decline known as a lame duck presidency. It is not that he won’t be able to create chaos as he is presently doing.

This includes the recent Trump campaign ad that was paid for with taxpayer funds, Trump officials meeting with Alberta, Canada separatists to convince them to secede from Canada as well as Trump allies conducting influence operations in Greenland.

Nonetheless, as one looks at the present political landscape, which includes approval ratings at historic lows, he may be experiencing the results of political gravity. His inability or refusal to address the issue of affordability has led many of his supporters to abandon him.

The alleged corruption by this administration has only added to the anger and disappointment that voters are feeling. His infantile behavior was on display when he showed the photo of an autopen as representing former President Joe Biden to the communist leader of China, Xi Jinping.

It is apparent that the Trump administration fears a Democratic congress which may lead to a number of post election resignations.

The midterm elections will be a clear sign of his declining influence if the Democrats win back the House of Representatives as the Trump administration will become the subject of myriad investigations. This includes the motion by Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Nonetheless, while Trump has lost approximately 70% of his lawsuits, the Supreme Court has provided the administration a potential political lifeline by allowing them to implement their voter identification scheme known as SAVE. Fortunately, the court’s decree is not mandatory as the law “bars the broad purging of voter rolls in the weeks leading up to an election.” Nonetheless, it understandably leads people to suspect that Chief Justice Roberts and his conservative colleagues are determined to help the GOP influence the upcoming mid-term elections along partisan lines.

Unless there is a clear attempt for the president to become bi-partisan, his legislative ambitions will be stymied or solely dependent on executive orders which will be challenged.

Some Republicans have begun distancing themselves from the president. According to the Floridian Press, one of the president’s biggest cheerleaders, Florida candidate for Governor Byron Donalds has removed photos of himself with the president from his website. Florida Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar in an ad has criticized the president’s immigration policy while Iowa congresswoman Ashley Hinson called his policies “bad ideas.” Even Mike Rogers candidate for the US Senate in Michigan has begun to tie the issue of affordability to the war in Iran.

On the international front, the war in Iran has weighed heavily on his approval ratings. Lithuania, despite pressure from President Trump, thus far has refused to lift sanctions on Belarus that would allow them to ship fertilizer to the United States.

It was also reported that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney snubbed Trump at the United Nations General Assembly.

In North Korea, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jon Un has advised that the leader has no interest in meeting with Trump. This despite Trump’s so-called “love letters” between the two.

Even as he touts the security agreement with Greenland, it is essentially the same agreement America has had since 1951.

While China is America’s main competitor his recent meeting with Xi Jinping at the White House did not result in anything of significance beyond photo ops.

Despite the possibility of his becoming a lame duck president, the damage done to American democracy will take a long time to repair.

No nation will be autarkic when it comes to the United States but it is clear that America’s allies are looking to hedge their bets as more and more nations view the US as unreliable.

There’s no doubt that a large segment of American citizens will be elated about the Trump administration being held accountable. Nonetheless, the nation will have to endure a president who is determined, like all presidents, to remain relevant by any means necessary.