Trump’s 'lame-duckery' is picking up some brutal speed

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during an event with Artemis II astronauts, NASA Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA Pilot Victor Glover, NASA Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Mission Special

Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. says President Donald Trump’s power is winnowing away—and this might be the best thing for him.

“You heard it here first. Donald Trump’s lame-duckery is picking up speed. As it does, his government will start acting like a normal government,” assured Jenkins. “This might even benefit Mr. Trump’s reputation in the final two years of his presidency.”

Examples Jenkins cites are entertainment giants and their news divisions rolling over for Trump a year ago, paying off his lawsuits, canceling his late-night critics. But now Disney is firing back with lawyers and lawsuits, defending its ABC broadcast network and challenging the Trump’s intimidation tactics, and demanding Trump call off his Federal Communications Commission dogs.

“No, Disney’s courage didn’t go up,” said Jenkins. “Trump’s approval ratings have gone down. So has his personal prestige amid the Iran bungle. Perhaps not surprising, this recognition begins with business elites 3,000 miles away from Washington. Expect it to spread east.”

Jenkins second example: Trump shut up when private equity kingpin Mark Walter sold his Los Angeles Lakers under pressure from Trump’s Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, over accounting questions. Jenkins said the resulting sale of the team become a tabloid sensation — yet Trump managed to keep his constant noise out of the equation.

“In fact, in the hoo-hah over the Lakers, titillating to the media on both coasts, Mr. Trump has been a non-factor. He’s had nothing to say about the blowup in the … L.A. royalty who built the Laker dynasty and are divided over whether to part with their minority stake,” argues Jenkins.

He’s also been oddly quiet as Walter also considers selling the Dodgers amid the World Series drama. This is weird because Trump loves nothing more than inserting both his nonstop opinions and noise into drama.

“It’s all here yet Mr. Trump’s instinct to insert himself has gone into abeyance,” said Jenkins. “File it under the dog that didn’t bark. Is Mr. Trump sensing how much Iran has punctured his mystique? Maybe he’s worried he’ll tweet something and no one will care? Whatever the cause, it’s no coincidence that the industry most sensitive to personal prestige — Hollywood — recognized it first.”

“Call it a down payment on what the world will feel like — less colorful but also less grating — when Mr. Trump is no longer president,” Jenkins added.

With the United States' 2026 midterms only two and one-half months away, Trump continues to deflate from weak approval ratings in one poll after another — including 33 percent from Reuters and 35 percent from YouGov/The Economist. The numbers aren’t so bad, however, that White House insiders believe they can’t fall even lower in the weeks ahead, however.

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