Trump nosediving as his presidency is dragged down by 'failure after failure': analysis

Donald Trump's presidency is increasingly being dragged down by problems he created, but now cannot control, causing him to lash out at the forces holding him to task, according to a new analysis from Politico.

In a piece published Monday, Kyle Cheney, a senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, argued that Trump is losing "one battle after another" as he causes problems and loses the ability to "control the narrative" surrounding them. As he laid out, the list of such issues engulfing his second term is extensive and growing.

"Gas prices surging. Unemployment climbing. War with Iran threatens to engulf his presidency," Cheney wrote. "The fracturing of his political coalition. The collapse of his signature trade-negotiations-by-tariff strategy. Relentless scrutiny of the Epstein files. A public backlash to his agenda that could swamp Republicans in the midterms. Failure after failure to criminalize the conduct of his political adversaries."

With all of these crises stacking up, Cheney highlighted a Truth Social tirade from Sunday night in which Trump directed his anger at "the few functioning checks on his power," in particular, "the media, independent regulators and — most pointedly — the federal judiciary," reserving major ire for the Supreme Court, after it struck down his treasured tariff authority, with which he had attempted to economically pummel foreign countries into doing his bidding. This, Cheney argued, "was a remarkable attack," given how often the conservative-majority court had ruled in his favor prior to the tariff decision.

“This completely inept and embarrassing Court was not what the Supreme Court of the United States was set up by our wonderful Founders to be,” Trump's post to Truth Social read. “They are hurting our Country, and will continue to do so... All I can do, as President, is call them out for their bad behavior!”

"That admission comes as Trump has appeared powerless at times to shape the fallout of his own decisions — even though they may control his, and his party’s, fate," Cheney wrote. "The war in Iran has rattled markets and sent gas prices surging, while Americans have largely looked askance at the prospect of a prolonged military conflict that has already claimed the lives of several American service members."

He continued: "His effort to suppress interest in the sex trafficking operation run by late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein went largely ignored and has drawn extensive international attention and an expansive review by Congress — rare pushback by the GOP-controlled House against Trump’s own appointees. Meanwhile, Trump’s MAGA coalition appears to be splintering over the war in Iran, with factions accusing each other of being shills for foreign governments or even criticizing Trump for falling victim to interventionist forces in Washington."