As Trump's reign implodes, tell MAGA 'I told you so'

Americans who are still connected to reality owe it to their right-wing neighbors to be unflinchingly honest

- ROBERT REPINO GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

BOLIGE SPENCER PLATT Getty Images.

PRESIDENT TRUMP deployed agents to Portland, but no crisis justified that response.

I ONCE HELD WHAT seemed to be a perfectly rational belief: that even the staunchest supporters of Donald Trump would change their minds once his incompetence and hatred directly affected them.

That logic tracked with the dominant narrative of the last decade, going back to when pundits first claimed that Trump supporters were motivated not by hatred but by something called “economic anxiety.”

Trump’s economy has now arrived, and it’s as catastrophic as the experts predicted. Despite his promises not only to curb inflation but also to bring prices down, there is no relief in sight, because Trump never had a plan for dealing with any of that. Housing remains out of reach for many, unemployment is rising, and, thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill Act, Medicaid is about to eject millions of recipients to help offset a budget-busting tax cut for rich people.

Across the country, Republicans are discovering that their loyalty was a one-way street. A red county in Maryland lost its badly needed FEMA aid. A Nebraska clinic closed due to imminent funding cuts. In North Dakota, Trump's tariffs have cost soybean farmers the Chinese market. An Indiana cement factory lost a $500-million grant to reduce its carbon footprint because the administration doesn’t believe that climate change is real. And now, a government shutdown hinges on Trump's refusal to provide subsidies to people on Obamacare — many of whom voted for him.