I think one of the best sign that we may have seen the peak of Trump’s power is this headline today:

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/18/media/disney-abc-fcc-trump-lawsuit-the-view-retaliatory

Disney settled with Trump in December 2024 and paid $15 million for the most bullshit lawsuit ever. Paramount settled in July 2025 and paid roughly the same amount.

Now, heading into the 2026 midterms, Disney is going on offense and suing the Trump administration over what it says is retaliatory treatment.

To me, the significance of the lawsuit is that some very rich and powerful people who once seemed terrified of Trump’s retaliation are becoming less afraid of him.

There are now polls showing Democrats with a real shot at winning both the House AND the Senate. That’s crazy. If that happens, Democrats would be in a position to haul people from the Trump administration before Congress and force them to testify.

And Trump’s people have to know their history. Scooter Libby, J. Steven Griles and David Safavian were all convicted during the end of the Bush years. That’s part of why the Todd Blanche appointment was so important to them.

None of this means Trump disappears. I still think he’ll remain beloved by roughly a third of the country (which, despite inflation, Iran and everything else, still polls at that level). That number may even improve with time. Like I said before, I don’t think he goes to jail. I fully expect his name to end up on buildings, parks and institutions.

And I know things will get worse before they get better. As Trump feels his power slipping, I expect him to push even harder to hold onto it and do even more outlandish things.

But I think he’ll be doing that from an increasingly weakened position. Even Republicans are pushing back on him more. Ultimately, I don't he will be able to hold onto power indefinitely.

I’d feel very differently if his name were going to be on the ballot in 2028.

I’d also feel differently if he didn’t increasingly look and sound like a wet turd on a rainy day.

I, of course, could be wrong, but I wanted to put a stake in the ground and make a call before we go into the Midterms, one we can check back on.

Make your call.

Poll result (12 votes) He won't leave Office (0 votes) Vote It will require taking up arms to remove him from office (6 votes) Vote He will be calling the shots behind the scene. Ivanka 2028 (0 votes) Vote He will be a nuisance, but far less of a concern than now (1 votes) Vote He will be neutered and fighting lawsuits until he dies (3 votes) Vote I have no idea (2 votes) Vote

aside from that, assuming he can't weasel his way back into power (causing a constitutional crisis greater than our current one), i think he's like that evil villain who has a spell over all these people, and once they are dead (literally or politcally), the spell breaks and at least the ones who have some normalcy to them snap back to reality.

To my other point, who helps a person overthrow a government if you think they'll drop dead any moment now.


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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Trump looks terrible and the dementia is getting hard to hide. There will be no more Trump after he leaves; he is done. The issue post Trump is not Trump but the systems the Trump regime has forced into place.

The damage he has done will literally take generations to fix. The money that was stolen from the American people will never be replaced, nor will the tax money not paid by large corporations ever be recouped. It will take billions to get us back to where we were environmentally at the end of Biden's administration. Our regulatory guardrails are in shambles.

I don't have faith that voters are going to have the kind of patience that it will require to untangle all of the shit Trump has placed us in so my feelings are that we are fucked for many decades.

__________________________________________

Maybe there are two types of people in the world: those who favor humans over ideology, and those who favor ideology over humans. I prefer humans to ideology, but right now the ideologues are winning.

when the red wave didn't happen. The prosecutions backfired and they all circled the wagons around him

Theyll move on from him when its politically safe and pretend they weren't all in. And they'll do it with the greatest of ease because these are utterly shameless people. I mean look at how they're fake outraging over this Ossoff thing while continuing to support one of the most prolific mysoginists in history

wasn't.


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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

but I can’t wait for the day it happens.

until then, I don’t trust America nor his base to ever move on from him.

shit is weird af.

someone posted his answer to childcare cost and the dude rambled and sounded like a kid who didn’t do his book assignment.

and yet, folks voted for him and think he is some type of savior anointed by God.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

>someone posted his answer to childcare cost and the dude
>rambled and sounded like a kid who didn’t do his book
>assignment.
>
>and yet, folks voted for him and think he is some type of
>savior anointed by God.

... where he was talking about how trump has never in his life spoken intelligently about a single subject, ever. The dude he was debating shut up real fast when asked to provide an instance of trump saying something smart about any subject at all, ever.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

And the reason is that folks for whatever reasons still support him. The answer to your question will depend on of if the masses that support him will have sway and influence on the Republican party once he leaves office.

I have to imagine a large part of that depends on how long he will remain alive after he leave offices because for better or for worse, I don't see anyone else taking Trump's mantle once he leaves this mortal coil. I could be wrong and being too presumptuous, but I don't see him handing off his MAGA influence off to anyone else in his fold due to him being too egotistical and vain, which is a good thing in a sense.

To somewhat scary thing is assuming MAGA dies off with Trump, who/what will replace that on the right.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

and kills themselves, once the leader dies?

So many of these people base their entire identities on being Trump supporters. It’s their entire personality and life. What do they do when he’s gone?

>and kills themselves, once the leader dies?
>
>So many of these people base their entire identities on being
>Trump supporters. It’s their entire personality and life.
> What do they do when he’s gone?

https://www.instagram.com/p/Db6zPH4O7Ja/

Y'all buy those labels, I was born supreme

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

He is an unlimited cash machine. Israel is getting the war they always wanted. no way he is leaving. People around him just have to figure out how to keep him in office. Probably will be executive powers during a war so elections will be postponed and he will hide out in his bunker ballroom.

--
Sometimes you have to look reality in the face and say 'No!'
-Ben (Reaper)

If you need any help, don't. Hesitate to ask.

I think he'll have some pull. His base worships every little thing he does and there will be some of them who will forever look back on this time as their "good ol' days."

But I also think that there may be a lot of competition to see which right-wing clown can be the next Trump. There will be GOP candidates doing their best to mirror him (very similar to what Desantis did in his first run for governor). They'll claim that they're the next best thing to keeping him & his ideas in office.

A good bit of this depends on just how much more disastrous his presidency can be. I'm not dying on this hill but just throwing some ideas out there.

I question how much Trump himself would welcome that, even if he's out of office.

I am morbidly interested to see who'll snatch the crown on the right when Trump leaves office though. Hopefully it'll be a ton of infighting on the right, which will result in a Democratic president winning easily.

I have a feeling things won't be that easy, especially if the Democratic party will have infighting among themselves, which I can see happening if someone leaning hard to the left (someone with close leanings to the Democratic Socialist Party) gains national momentum and goes against the more centrist/big monied interests in the Democratic Party.

"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.

Byron Donalds. Does look like he will end up Governor of Florida.

Short a scandal, I think he will be around a while and his star will only rise.

But the fact is, as much of a coon as he is, he isn't as awful as Trump.


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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

There's been lots of speculation of him dealing with medical issues.

Father time just taking him out is probably the best chance of him being a non factor post 2028

R.I.P. Loud But Wrong Guy
Dec 29th 2009 - Dec 17th 2017