America’s real problem with 'madman' Trump has nothing to do with him: analysis

U.S. President Donald Trump walks after a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Former Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist and The Rumpus managing editor Lyz Lenz said the nation’s problem with an obviously “madman” president is not the biggest problem facing it. It is the powerful people who put the madman in charge.

On Monday, at a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony, Trump began ranting about the curtains, said Lenz.

“He was talking about the war on Iran, and he said that he doesn’t get bored. Then, he turned and pointed at the gold curtains. ‘See that nice drape? When that comes down right now you see a very, very deep hole, but in about a year and half from now, you’re gonna see a very, very beautiful building. And there’s your entrance to it right there. In fact, I think I’ll even, I’ll save money on the doors because you can’t get more beautiful than that. I picked those drapes in my first term. I always liked gold, but I think we can save a lot of money. I just saved … I just saved curtains.’”

“America is being led by a madman. But that’s not the concerning part. Because if he were just a madman, just someone ranting about curtains, he’d never be able to unilaterally start a war,” said Lenz. “He’s a madman who is supported by an entire system — an entire administration; an entire media ecosystem, too — that believes in what he is doing.”

"This administration wouldn’t exist without Elon Musk’s and Jeff Bezos’ stacks of cash,” said Lenz. “Every Trump rally I’ve been to in the past year has had advertising from Amazon, Coinbase, Lockheed Martin, and Palantir This administration wouldn’t exist without the Heritage Foundation’s endless stream of policy papers that seek to make the horrendous seem intellectually reasonable. It wouldn’t exist without Karoline Leavitt’s furious defenses, or David Brooks’ passive hand-wringing about the left.”

If the Epstein files teach U.S. voters anything the problem is “never just one man, one moment or one action,” said Lenz. It is the hundreds or thousands of other people who willingly enable the one-man problem so they can profit from it.

“It doesn’t matter whether Trump is out of his mind or not,” said Lenz. “It doesn’t matter if he’s a narcissist, if he had a stroke if he secretly has cancer, or anything else. Because the problem with America isn’t just the problem of one man. It’s a whole system that props him up, does his bidding and sponsors his propaganda. It’s all the sane people behind him.”

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