Things were already 'going badly' — then Trump was hit by 2 'major defeats'

Passengers wait in line to access a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint inside the domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. March 27, 2026.

In the past 24 hours, President Donald Trump has been hit by two “major defeats” to his current agenda, which, as the Bulwark points out, come as things were already “going badly.”

Both at home and abroad, difficulties loom that threaten to upend the Trump Administration, from chaos at airports to a floundering war on Iran and its global economic consequences. Through it all, Trump and his allies have attempted to spin these disasters, but have been unsuccessful as his approval rating has cratered. Now he’s received two more blows.

The first came late yesterday, when a federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration had overstepped its authority with attempts to deem the AI company Anthropic a supply chain risk. This story dates back to February, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued the company an ultimatum, demanding Anthropic remove the safety restrictions from its AI model or the government would either ban it or take it over. Anthropic publicly refused, so Hegseth attempted to carry out his threat.

But now such actions have been temporarily blocked, with the judge declaring, “Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government.”

Then hours later, the White House received another setback.

For weeks, a congressional standoff has prevented that passage of a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats arguing they could not support a budget without certain concessions on ICE. The lack of DHS funding has meant TSA agents working without pay, in turn resulting in waves of resignations and callouts, driving egregiously long lines at airport security checkpoints. The issue has dragged on, first because Republicans refused to accept Democratic proposals to pass a DHS budget that didn’t include ICE — which would allow TSA to get paid while giving Congress more time to debate ICE funding — then because when Republicans began to waver, Trump demanded they not make a deal.

But then overnight, Senate Republicans agreed to the Democratic offer. DHS and therefore TSA will now receive their funding, and Republicans will attempt to pass ICE funding later.

“The Republican capitulation is a significant win for the minority,” says the Bulwark. “Again and again, it’s the same story. Trump presides over an administration built in his image: Careless, thoughtless, blunderous, sloppy, arrogant, and foolish, it approaches every situation as a squeeze play no matter how many such squeezes blow up in its face.”

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