While he may have managed to score reelection last year with a popular vote lead, Donald Trump's "avalanche of outrages" over the course of 2025 have reaffirmed that he is "unfit for office," according to an extensive and scathing breakdown from the editorial board of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
As the board noted at the start of its new piece, it "spent 2024 warning of the dangers a second Trump administration could bring." As his first year back draws to a close, the board argued that none of his shocking decisions and actions have been surprising; it's only surprise about it all has been "the speed with which he has upended the American Experiment."
Suggesting that voters last year may have been swayed by Trump's "undeniable luck, charisma, and bravado" and "nostalgia for a pre-pandemic America," the board argued that his reelection has proven to be "a folly" where he is "no longer constrained by the guardrails the conservative establishment placed on his first presidential stint." His first term, meanwhile, was "a fluke," which saw his "worst impulses... kept in check by his cabinet" and with an economy that "sailed swiftly on the course inherited from President Barack Obama."
"Instead of allowing inflation to continue to abate and the U.S. economy to live up to its label as 'the envy of the world,' he haphazardly and likely illegally instituted tariffs on global trading partners that amount to a tax on American consumers," the board explained. "Rather than sitting back and taking credit for curtailing immigration at the southern border, which concerned a large number of voters, he’s lost public support as masked federal agents abuse, harass, and intimidate immigrants and citizens alike."
The board continued: "Trump’s signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is set to make the rich richer and the poor poorer, all while a shrinking middle continues to lose faith in America’s institutions — some of which have willingly acquiesced to whatever Trump demands."
All the while, Trump has also been using the presidency to enrich "himself, his family, and his cronies" at the expense of everyday Americans, a push typified by the Big Beautiful Bill tax cuts, which disproportionately and overwhelmingly favor the wealthiest Americans. Indeed, a recent report from Politico found that the economy is currently being propped up by spending splurges by the wealthiest 10% of US residents, while everyone else struggles to get by and becomes increasingly agitated over Trump's mishandling of their economy.
"As 2025 ends and a new year begins, we must not allow the avalanche of outrages to numb us to the fact that Trump remains unfit for office," the board concluded.
