Proof that 'historically illiterate' Trump is 'crashing out': conservatives

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., en route to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, August 21, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

On Friday, a prominent conservative journalist called it: President Donald Trump is “crashing out.” This is according to National Review senior political correspondent Jim Geraghty, who argued that Trump’s latest meltdown comes as his plans fall apart.

“In the last 24 hours,” posted Geraghty, “Trump has shared on Truth Social a chart declaring he is the greatest president, above George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and, er, Woodrow Wilson; posted an AI-generated image of him walking arm-in-arm with Dolly Parton; declared the Strait of Hormuz ‘U.S. territory’ again; and enthusiastically announced that ‘the U.S. Geological Survey has officially designated the former Lake Ontario to be renamed as Lake America in all official USGS electronic documents.’”

Based on this, Geraghty comes to a straightforward conclusion: “He is, as the kids say today, ‘crashing out’ — raging, fuming, lashing out, flitting from one concern to the next, frustrated that so many of his efforts have come to naught.”

As Geraghty noted, Trump had posted a chart ranking presidents, placing himself at the top. At the bottom, it declared that presidential “failures” included Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Warren G. Harding, and Ulysses S. Grant — the last of whom famously led the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy during the Civil War. He later posted another image declaring five presidents who “built” America (including himself), and five who “broke” it. Included on the “broke” tier was Woodrow Wilson, who the previous chart declared was “great.”

The president also shared a fake image of himself walking with the recently deceased Dolly Parton, who he claimed “really liked me.” In reality, Parton was careful to maintain a nonpartisan stance, twice turning down Trump’s offer of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she famously supported issues such as LGBTQ rights and and spent money out of her own pocket to fund coronavirus vaccine research.

Trump went on to post taunts at Canada and Iran, photos of horse statues being coated in gold, a smattering of other photos relating to his D.C. vanity projects, and an article with the headline, “Trump's chilling five-word response when asked if he'll declare national emergency to control midterm elections.” In the article, Trump revealed his thoughts on whether he would declare an emergency to seize control of the midterms, saying, “Stranger things have happened.”

Other conservatives noted their disgust amidst Trump’s latest social media outburst. “He routinely abuses power in cruel, vindictive, and self-enriching ways,” said former Marco Rubio Staffer Gregg Nunziata, who slammed the president’s “childish and historically illiterate buffoonery on the world stage.”

Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the conservative outlet the Dispatch, took issue with "the fact that the sitting president — during a war, in the lead up to the midterms, during a period of great anxiety — is casually posting about how he’s the greatest president ever. I get that defenders think it’s brilliant because it’s trolling. That’s pathetic in its own right. But a president trolling about how awesome he is when his approval rating is in the low 30s isn’t smart, clever, or wise. It’s sad and disturbing."

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