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President Donald Trump addresses reporters on the White House South Lawn on Friday.
The most volatile president in living memory is increasingly governed by the whiplash of his own impulses.
The disciplined opening months of President Donald Trump’s second term—defined by carefully crafted executive orders that reshaped Washington and recalibrated America’s global priorities—are now a distant memory.
Controversial moves such as shuttering USAID, hollowing out the federal government, and challenging Ivy League curricula were rooted in a coherent strategy forged during Trump’s four years out of office
Lately, Trump appears to be improvising more than usual—and growing increasingly extreme. His brittle temper in Washington, a sharp contrast to his sunnier demeanor on weekends in Florida, is becoming more threatening.
How far he pushes his quest for dominance may hinge on the tension between his impulsive outbursts and the domestic and international realities that occasionally constrain him.
Just last week, Trump ignited outrage with one of the most overtly racist posts in recent White House history, sharing a cartoon video on his Truth Social account that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
Trump has recently intensified his attacks on elections. America’s top intelligence official, Tulsi Gabbard, traveled to Georgia in search of evidence to support his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Last week, he fueled further concern by suggesting he might try to influence November’s midterms through calls to nationalize voting.