Ex-staffer says 'washed-up' Trump slouching into his 'Fat Elvis' era

President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

As the weight of political gravity crashes into him with ruthless strength, a former first-term Donald Trump staffer wrote for MS NOW that the "washed-up" president is officially slouching into his "Fat Elvis" period.

Matthew Bartlett previously worked in the Department of State during Trump's first term in the White House, before abandoning ship as part of the staff exodus that followed the January 6 attack on the Capitol. These days, he works as a political analyst for MS NOW, offering insights and pointed criticisms of his former boss.

In his latest piece for the outlet, Bartlett wrote that, as Trump comes to the end of a decade in politics, he is more washed-up and tired than ever, and primed for a wipeout in Tuesday's midterm elections. He also compared his former boss to "Fat Elvis," a term for the infamous late period of Elvis Presley's life in which the legendary singer and former heartthrob put on a noticeable amount of weight and struggled with his public performances, all leading up to his eventual death.

"After a decade of Donald Trump on the political scene, he is entering his 'Fat Elvis' phase: tired, old, overweight, awful-sounding, embarrassing-looking," Bartlett wrote. "There are suspicious minds even among the MAGA base. He is caught in a trap, can’t walk out and many don’t believe a word he’s saying."

He added further: "A presidency in decline is no way to run a country, much less a midterm election campaign. His numbers, like his second term, are unrecoverable. There are no successes to point to, no actionable agenda to promise. In desperation, the president has resorted to Santa-like promises of new business openings, oil pipelines and cash bonuses that are unlikely to ever materialize. But what may have worked in 2024 does not work in 2026, and voters don’t believe in Santa anymore."

Bartlett further predicted that the last two years are almost certain to be "politically torturous," as the Trump administration grapples with new Democratic majorities in the House and possibly the Senate as well, casting doubt on how much either side will ever be able to get done. During this period, as always happens when the going gets tough for Trump, Bartlett added that the president is likely to get much "worse."

"He orders bogus prosecutions. He picks fights with allies, and sides with dictators while he starts a war that he can’t win, can’t end and may escalate again. And the only time he is upset about corruption is when he doesn’t benefit from it," Bartlett wrote.

He later concluded: "The midterms may be coming to an end, and the Trump presidency may be too, but the next two years will give rise to what is next for America. Trump will still be in office and will still have the power to inflict damage and sow chaos in our nation. Yet through Trump’s twilight, the process of choosing the next president will allow Americans the chance to define and maybe defy the future. And the sun always rises on the horizon."

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