The Aura of Invincibility is Fading

Plenty of people are now taking swings at Trump

“Make no mistake—the US is now the bad guy. We are aligned with Russia,” former Republican Denver Riggleman posted on Bluesky. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote: “This vote is a disgrace. Trump’s senseless betrayal of the alliances that have kept Americans safe since World War II and his fealty to the murderous aggressor Putin are a national security threat.”

At issue was the shameful vote in the United Nations. “The United States voted with Russia, North Korea, Belarus and 14 other Moscow-friendly countries Monday on a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and calling for its occupied territory to be returned that passed overwhelmingly in the U.N. General Assembly on Monday,” the Washington Post reported.

Whitehouse was part of a group of senators who repudiated the lie that Ukraine was responsible for Russian aggression. Nine Senate Republicans even joined with Whitehouse and eight other Democrats to introduce a resolution commemorating the third anniversary of the war and pledging “unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while condemning Russia’s illegal aggression and attempts to seize Ukrainian territory.” The resolution also “recognizes Ukraine’s democratic progress during wartime and emphasizes Ukraine’s right to be included in any discussions with Russia about its future.”

But the question remains: what are Republicans prepared to do in the face of Trump’s sellout? (They could insist on continued funding or pass additional sanctions; they could even hold hearings!)

Meanwhile, in a rare Oval Office rebuke, French President Emmanuel Macron pointedly contradicted Trump’s comments last week that assigned blame to Ukraine for the war. “This is a responsibility of Russia because the aggressor is Russia,” Macron said. When Trump suggested Europe had simply loaned money to Ukraine, Macron corrected him again, this time with a noted pat on his arm. “No, in fact, to be frank, we paid,” Mr. Macron said. “We provided real money, to be clear.”

Trump tried to slough it off, but a larger point was made evident: criticizing Trump to his face no longer fazes some world leaders.

It’s not just Ukraine. Criticism of President in Name Only (PINO) Trump and acting president Elon Musk has become more frequent and bipartisan. The White House effort to punish the Associated Press for sticking with “Gulf of Mexico” (rather than adopting Trump’s meaningless directive to call it “Gulf of America”) brought skeptical questioning from a Trump-appointed judge, although he declined to issue a temporary injunction before the next hearing, the New York Times reported. “While Judge McFadden said he was hesitant to force the Trump administration’s hand, he seemed sympathetic to arguments against the White House, including that its actions appeared to be designed to coerce or punish the news organization over a language choice, which, he repeatedly said, amounted to ‘viewpoint discrimination.’”

The judge pointed out that:

“While there would appear to have been ‘any number of content-neutral reasons’ for excluding The Associated Press’s print journalists and photographers, it was clear that the administration had picked a fight with the organization over its content.”

And when Ed Martin, interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, had the nerve to tweet that federal prosecutors were the “president’s lawyers” in the case, he was blasted. Even on X, Martin’s utter misrepresentation of the role of the Justice Department drew readers’ rebuke: “The DOJ is not the personal law firm of the President. The Attorney General represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested.”

Martin’s confirmation hearing should be…interesting.

And let’s not forget the Musk memo fiasco. Over the weekend Musk ordered every federal employee to come up with five bullet points to explain what they did last week or face termination. A number of department heads balked at the request. An amended lawsuit filed on behalf of several unions and other groups sought to block the firing of any employees under this directive. After seeming to back up Musk, the White House “clarified” that the requirement was voluntary. Monday evening, the Office of Personnel Management sent out another memo reiterating the deadline but allowing that department and agency heads could “exclude personnel from this expectation at their discretion.”

However you look at this, Musk’s blunder provoked the first real split within the Musk-Trump regime and forced the duo to back down. “The administration’s surprising about-face reflected the degree of unease even among senior Trump officials about the scale and ambition of Musk’s effort to gut the federal government, which has already disrupted some functions,” the Washington Post reported. “And while agency leaders were given discretion, some departments had not signaled that they were rejecting Musk’s mandate — leaving the door open for certain federal employees to be let go if they did not comply.”

Maybe world leaders, U.S. politicians, and even MAGA cabinet members and agency heads can read the polls and watch the furious town halls and protests across the country. Once they see Trump might not be so popular after all—and Musk and his people even less so—they might start standing up to him more often.

Perhaps, Republicans around the country with an eye toward elections later this year and in 2026 might figure it’s time to put some distance between themselves and the fading president. After all, he’s a lame duck with a hugely unpopular agenda. Why tie their fate to him?