Trump administration: Weather the coming storm then win in 2026

The coming Trump Administration will attempt shock and awe. Testosterone will be spewed endlessly about deportations tariffs, and invading countries. We need to push back hard in these first few months and force them into setbacks.

Many of his plans will blow up in his face due to his blundering and overreach. Tariffs will cause serious inflation. Deportations will mean construction slows, crops don't get harvested, and huge protests. Yes, it's going to get ugly.

However:

"This country remains very evenly split and Trump doesn’t have nearly the mandate that his minions are trying to portray. The House of Representatives is as close as it gets and has a weak Speaker who’s completely unable to manage the chaos caucus."

"Trump cannot help himself. He’s an agent of chaos who has to inject himself into every story, whether it’s helpful or not. He nearly derailed the budget to cause a shutdown and weakened Johnson even more. He empowered Musk and is now upset he’s stealing the spotlight and his influence. And as always, I remain hopeful that the American people will see the terrible consequences and push back to correct his oversteps."

We live in a divided country

Trump does not have a mandate. The House margin will be smallest since 1931. He had a trifecta in the first two years of his first term and accomplished little. We can stop him now. Trump has shown he is bored with governing, except for how it personally profits him. That's why he's the happiest when he can hold court at Mar-a-Lago and boast about all the fancy people coming to visit him. I mean, how insecure and pathetic is that? A soon to be president bragging about important people coming to visit him. And when he's actually in the White House he shows zero interest in policy, foreign affairs, or governing except for grifting and having tantrums on social media.

It will get crazy, at first

I expect the first few months of the Trump administration to be ugly. There will be deportations of citizens, tariffs that will crater trade, and general incoherence. He recently said he wants to invade Mexico to get the cartels, yet is plotting to find a disease, any disease to use as a pretext to close the border. That's what I mean by incoherence. His reckless, senile actions might well tank the stock and bond markets.

These will be opportunities for us to win now and in 2026. We will have to weather the incoming storms while we do it. Focus on the legislature and courts, Congress.gov is an invaluable resource to keep up with the status of bills. You can get alerts on bills, legislators, and committees. Let your legislators know your views, especially if you live in a red state. It really does make a difference.

Make noise. Protest. I do not think we are doomed, far from it. We can force them into retreats and have a good chance taking both Houses in 2026 and the presidency in 2028. If we fight. Starting now.

Josh Marshall of TPM sums it up well.

A better way to look at all of this is that we remain in an intense, sometimes violent and close to deadlocked struggle over the future of the country. It is no more done today or tomorrow than it was four years ago.