Ailing Trump Knows His Reign Is Nearly Over by Olivia Ralph

 

Donald Trump may still dominate the news cycle, but inside the White House, the foundations of his power are weakening—and he knows it, according to Trump’s biographer. On the latest episode of Inside Trump’s Head, author Michael Wolff described a White House increasingly gripped by anxiety as the president enters a pivotal midterm year burdened by collapsing polls, international resistance, self-inflicted crises that refuse to fade, and growing alarm among aides that Trump is losing interest in the presidency.   

“If you lose Donald Trump’s interest, you lose Donald Trump,” Wolff said. “He’s not interested in policy. He’s not interested in bureaucracy. He’s interested in unfettered attention.”

According to Wolff, the daily work of governing—incremental wins, trade-offs, and detail—bores Trump, draining his energy at a moment when political discipline matters most. That disengagement has become increasingly visible on the world stage. After heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos expecting to be treated as an untouchable strongman, Trump instead encountered coordinated resistance from allies who, Wolff argued, are no longer content to maneuver quietly around him.

“Trump’s virtue to voters is that no matter what happened, he looked strong,” Wolff told co-host Joanna Coles. “Now he cannot take Greenland, he cannot take Canada, he cannot do any of the things that he has huffed and puffed and said he will do.”

Wolff said the same pattern is playing out at home, where the administration has struggled to contain the fallout in Minneapolis following two fatal encounters involving federal immigration officers this month, further inflaming protests and political backlash. “This has now become a very, very complicated situation,” Wolff said. 

For Trump, Minneapolis represents the kind of crisis he finds hardest to manage: one that can’t be bullied into submission or drowned out by spectacle. “He cannot threaten his way out of it,” Wolff said. “He can’t seem to generate a new headline to get himself out of it,” he continued. “The headlines that are generated are bad headlines.”

That dynamic, Wolff argued, points to a broader problem for Trump as the midterms approach. Governing, he said, demands a tolerance for incremental progress, which is at odds with Trump’s appetite for dominance and immediate results. “The work of the presidency does not inspire him,” Wolff said. “If it becomes complicated, that has to be pushed to the side.”

As Trump disengages, Wolff went on to say, the president has increasingly turned to performative conflict, including high-profile lawsuits and public feuds with powerful institutions. Once effective at projecting strength, those tactics now risk reinforcing the impression of a leader struggling to maintain control.

“There’s only so many times you can sue people for $5 billion or $20 billion,” Wolff said. “You look foolish.” With a little over nine months until the midterm elections, Wolff framed the moment as a genuine inflection point—not just for Republicans, but for Trump himself. “He can’t seem to generate a new headline to get himself out of it,” he continued. “The headlines that are generated are bad headlines.”

That dynamic, Wolff argued, points to a broader problem for Trump as the midterms approach. Governing, he said, demands a tolerance for incremental progress, which is at odds with Trump’s appetite for dominance and immediate results. “The work of the presidency does not inspire him,” Wolff said. “If it becomes complicated, that has to be pushed to the side.”

As Trump disengages, Wolff went on to say, the president has increasingly turned to performative conflict, including high-profile lawsuits and public feuds with powerful institutions. Once effective at projecting strength, those tactics now risk reinforcing the impression of a leader struggling to maintain control.

“There’s only so many times you can sue people for $5 billion or $20 billion,” Wolff said. “You look foolish.” With a little over nine months until the midterm elections, Wolff framed the moment as a genuine inflection point—not just for Republicans, but for Trump himself.

-Newsweek