Trump’s Momentum Is Gone — And the GOP Is Paying the Price

Republicans are waking up to the reality that Trump is dragging them toward electoral disaster.

(Housekeeping notes: Of course I'm a broken record: please check out “The Last Republican” if you haven’t yet. Apple TV, Amazon, Google. Yesterday I put out a youtube video calling on the Republicans to finally admit the truth about trump and Epstein: VIEW HERE .)

Party leaders are reeling. Pollsters are puzzling. And campaign consultants are setting off alarms for 2026. The Republican Party—which is really the Trump Party—is scrambling to explain what went wrong in the last election. Many of the “experts” are insisting that the problem was Trump not being on the ballot and thus the base wasn’t motivated. I say the GOP was swamped for other, far more serious reasons.

First, Trump is losing momentum. After rushing out of the gate, he has stopped putting forth new initiatives and capturing headlines.

Second, the policies he has put in effect are starting to bite, and people don’t like how it feels.

Third, his administration is corrupt and incompetent, and people know it.

We cannot deny that from Day One to mid-summer Trump behaved as if he had a mandate to disrupt everything, and he raced faster than anyone could keep up. Armed with the infamous Project 2025 report (published by the Heritage Foundation), he ticked off agenda items one by one.
Sweeping arrests of immigrants? Check.
Destruction of foreign aid programs? Check.
Mass government agency firings? Check.
A tariff war with China? Check.
Tax cuts? Check.
Health care cuts? Check.
Eliminating incentives for alternative energy? Check.

The list could be longer. It doesn’t even include the record number of executive orders. But you get the idea: Trump and his people devoted enormous energy to pushing an agenda that, with the exception of the tax cuts, the public largely opposes. In poll after poll, his policies have lost support.

In February, Reuters found that just over 50 percent approved of Trump’s immigration policy. After four months of ICE roundups, arrests, and deportations, that number had slipped to 44 percent. In October, as Trump fought to cut Medicaid and raise insurance rates, the AP reported that 60 percent of those surveyed were “extremely” or “very” concerned about their own healthcare costs rising under Trump’s regime. And this was before people saw their new premiums.

When Trump gutted the aid programs run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), many Americans didn’t know much about the agency’s mission. As the press tracked the withdrawal of food and medical assistance abroad, people started to wake up. In May, Pew found that while 35 percent approved of the cuts, 45 percent opposed them. In July, Oxfam published a poll showing that three-quarters of Americans support sending food and medical aid to other countries. (Most people dramatically overestimate how much we spend on foreign aid, often guessing about 25 percent. In reality, it’s less than 1 percent of the federal budget.)

Americans were never enthusiastic about Trump’s tariff battles with trading partners. In February, as Trump began threatening tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Gallup found that 82 percent believed trade boosts the U.S. economy. By late April—after Trump made a chaotic on-and-off tariff push against China—solid majorities believed tariffs would hurt the economy in both the short run (70 percent) and the long run (62 percent). In May, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs reported that 84 percent believe free trade is good for their personal bottom line. Remarkably, despite Trump’s constant China bashing, more Americans still view Beijing as a “competitor” rather than an “enemy.”

At home, stories of corruption in the administration are piling up. Many center on the Department of “Justice,” where indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James reek of Trump’s promise to punish his perceived enemies. Meanwhile, Trump has used his pardon power for political ends—most notably pardoning roughly 1,000 people convicted for crimes committed during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Then there’s Attorney General Pam Bondi, who declined to prosecute border “czar” Tom Homan after he was filmed accepting a $50,000 cash bribe from undercover FBI agents posing as businesspeople seeking government contracts. (This happened in 2024, before Homan was even appointed.) Bondi has also backed away from federal probes into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes and connections with the rich and powerful—including Trump himself.

A complete list of scandals would take pages, but at minimum we should note:
• The destruction of the East Wing of the White House.
• The illegal detention and deportation of U.S. citizens.
• False testimony in federal courtrooms.
• Abusive conditions at the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center.
• Unjustified troop deployments in U.S. cities.
• The failed Department of Government Efficiency, which spent more than it saved.
• And petty moments like the macho West Wing shoving match between Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Many outrages came and went so quickly that it was hard to focus on any single one. (Do you even remember when Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy?) But the past government shutdown—the longest in history—was different. Its effects spread nationwide. For the first time ever, SNAP benefits faced suspension. Lawsuits forced Trump to make partial payments, but the shortfall squeezed recipients hard.

Reliable data won’t come for months, but the press is full of anecdotal accounts of working-class parents struggling to feed their kids. On November 7, The New York Times reported on one mother who has begun dumpster-diving behind a Walmart and another who said she was down to her last few dollars. Food pantries are overwhelmed. Retailers expect declining sales.

It gets worse. Because of the shutdown, and the standoff between Democrats who wanted to maintain healthcare subsidies and Trump who wants to cut them, millions discovered they’ll be paying hundreds more for coverage. These subsidies—largely helping middle-class Americans—were at the center of the shutdown fight. The cuts are so unpopular that even hyper-MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has come out against them.

Last week, federal authorities announced that shortages of air traffic controllers forced the cancellation of up to 1,000 daily flights. With unpaid controllers moonlighting to survive—and resigning in droves—fatigue and staffing shortages are real safety issues. Cancelations may have eased strain on the system, but travel became a nightmare. And voters won’t be blaming Senate Democrats.

Republicans in Congress have taken note of recent election defeats and are even more worried about 2026, when every House seat and one-third of the Senate will be on the ballot. Yes, the GOP has been gerrymandering—but so have Democrats—and enough swing districts remain that a dozen races could flip the House.

Meanwhile, Trump’s incompetence is visible in the shocking number of vacant federal leadership positions. As the Washington Post reported last week, the administration has failed to staff more than two-thirds of the most critical jobs in government. Some nominations are stuck in the Senate, but in many cases no one has even been nominated—despite Trump supposedly taking office with a list of 50,000 vetted loyalists.

All of this—the shutdown, the vacancies, the scandals, the failed trade policies, ICE raids, rising healthcare costs, the election results—shows that while Trump thrives on chaos, he is hurting his party and alienating the American public. That’s why GOP lawmakers are now calling him a “lame duck,” a drag on the party.

In recent days, Trump has confirmed the “lame” label by slumping in his limousine and dozing off in front of the press. Here’s hoping the coming year gives us more of the same—and another crushing election for the GOP.