In this shorter live, I walk through a series of moments that together paint a disturbingly clear picture of where we are right now. I start with a Fox News interview that almost defies parody: Donald Trump openly fantasizing about receiving a Nobel Peace Prize, misnaming countries, babbling about wars he claims to thinks that he stopped, and publicly embarrassing both himself and the United States in the process. The clip is ridiculous and revealing.
From there, I dig into the looming farce of a Venezuelan opposition leader being pressured into theatrical political humiliation that benefits Trump personally, while likely accomplishing nothing for democracy in Venezuela. It’s another example of Trump’s corrosive effect on anyone who comes too close—what Rick Wilson once summed up perfectly: everything Trump touches dies.
The second half of the live turns to the economy. Drawing on economist Justin Wolfers’ analysis, I break down why job growth appears to have stalled since Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day,” how markets were manipulated by the apparent leaking of payroll data, and why we may already be in a quiet jobs recession. I also zoom out to the global picture: allies cutting trade deals without the U.S., China outmaneuvering us economically and technologically, and an administration too incompetent and narcissistic to notice—or care.
Taken together, all this noise is warning. This is not normal and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
