He's insane: The leaked backlash that could wreck Trump’s second term

Last week, I said the president is insane. Donald Trump has been proving the point since.

• On his social media site, Truth Social, he posted an image of a map with Lake Ontario crossed out in red and "Lake America" superimposed over the lake in gold lettering.
• In another instance, he posted an AI-generated video of himself kicking over a sign for Lake Ontario, installing a new one reading "Lake America," then dancing to "YMCA."
• He posted an AI-generated video of a platoon of Canada geese armed with machine guns, carried with human arms, invading Canada, presumably, to rename Lake Ontario. The geese have Trump-style golden hair. This is all done to the "Hawaii Five-O" theme song.
• He posted an AI image of himself wearing sun glasses and a black suit, carrying a machine gun, while bombs are going off in a background scene that I guess is supposed to evoke a desert village in Iran. Over the top of that is written: "NO MORE MR NICE GUY."
• Last night, he posted a video of Kharg Island being "blown to smithereens." It is clearly an AI-generated video of Iran's main oil depot being destroyed, but Trump does not say so.

When the second Trump term began, such "trolling" might have been "cuter," to use the word Aaron Blake chose to describe the "renaming" of Lake Ontario. But with a never-ending war, and with never-ending inflation on account of a never-ending war, the cuteness is gone.

Even so, Trump keeps doing it, apparently expecting a different result.

Because he's insane.

And it's getting worse.

There is a bipartisan backlash against AI and data centers. Communities nationwide are pushing back. Yet today, Trump said critics just want to be "backwards and poor." He added: "If [communities] want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. ... If you kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame."

The economy lost a monthly average of 27,000 jobs over nine months ending in March of this year, according to new government data. Economist Danielle DiMartino Booth told Fox that number stands in contrast to the minimum number needed – 36,000 – to cover population growth. Yet Trump repeatedly brags that "there are more people working today in the United States of America than at any time in the history of our country." (Yes, there are more people working today than in the past, because more people exist today than in the past.)

And expect more shock at Stop & Shop. On Sunday, Axios said analysts warn "that global food inflation would hit 5 percent in the first half of 2027, nearly double what it was in the first half of 2026." I guess that's no problem. “I inherited very, very high costs, and they’re all coming down now,” Trump said August 4. “The food, the groceries, it’s all coming down.”

USA Today columnist Rex Huppke said this morning that "as the midterm elections draw near, Trump and Co. have nothing to brag about. We know this because Trump brags more than anyone, and all we’re getting from him is garbage and insipid distractions.”

True, but the distractions are no longer a sideshow.

They're the main event now.

Because he's insane.

Is it any wonder that top military brass have no confidence in the commander-in-chief? The Post reported Sunday on a secret internal memo called the Secretary of Defense Orders Book in which Pentagon leaders said the war against Iran, which has reached the six-month mark, is unsustainable and risks weakening America's ability to confront threats elsewhere in the world, namely China. One source told the Post that the war is "too much for too long."

The Post: "The US European Command, the US Pacific Command and the US Southern Command, along with the Navy’s top admiral, responded with what is characterized in the SDOB as a 'non-concur,' those familiar with the assessment said — meaning they disagree with the secretary’s order to extend their forces but will execute it nevertheless."

Translation: They'll do as they're told, but they believe the war is over. Iran won.

Why would they have confidence?

• The Strait of Hormuz is closed.
• Iran is intractable.
• Global allies are alienated.
• Global adversaries are laughing.
• Munitions are depleted.
• Military morale is in the toilet.

But most of all, the people in charge are not trying to win. The "secretary of war" cracks "jokes" about transgender people in uniform. The vice president tells Trump whatever he wants to hear. The commander-in-chief busies himself posting AI-generated videos of Kharg Island being "blown to smithereens." War is hell. War is hard. Trolling is much more fun.

Military leaders basically held a no-confidence vote on the commander-in-chief, and he lost.

Because he's insane.