Trump tries to dominate at the UN as his approval ratings plummet and even some Republicans stray from the script

Donald Trump stood before the United Nations on Tuesday and threatened to “annihilate” Iran. Yet even as the most powerful man on the planet flexed his military muscles, he was powerless to keep the gravitational pull of domestic politics at bay.

Heading into the UN building in New York, the US president was questioned by Kaitlan Collins, an anchor at CNN, which he had banned from the White House before a judge ruled against him. “I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me,” the 80-year-old snapped. “You should not be here covering me.”

The lashing-out was a reminder that even Trump, who has expanded executive power and dominated the national consciousness, finds some things beyond his control. Indeed, 20 months into his second term, there is a widening gap between the president’s self-perceived invincibility and the reality of his waning influence.

Federal courts are reining him in. Congressional Republicans are straying from the script. Poll numbers are tumbling to historic depths, driven by persistent inflation, rising fuel costs and an increasingly unpopular war in Iran. For the first time since his improbable political resurrection, Trump’s aura of authority is fading.

  • sns@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 hours ago

    America isn’t like this because Trump is president, Trump is president because America is like this.

    • BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      16 minutes ago

      I point to the likes of Mitch McConnell who has been working to undermine our government for decades, just that instead of someone with half a brain they got Trump instead so have to go with him.

    • FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca
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      1 hour ago

      Exactly. Everyone is scapegoating Trump like he’s the cause of everything evil. But if he were just some fringe lunatic nobody agreed with, he would have been laughed out of the primaries immediately. The problem isn’t him, it’s the system that allowed him to even have a chance of being elected, and that includes the government, the billionaires running it, and a large percentage of voters

    • hoppeduponcoffee@lemmy.zip
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      7 hours ago

      Nailed it. Trump to America is like Ringo to the Beatles. He’s a perfect fit.

      He’s also like the Joker. He’s a reflection of hypocritical, first-world corruption, capitalism and consumerism. The citizens rely on Batman (establishment wealthy centrists) to save them every four to eight years. And when Batman fails to truly change material conditions, they let out the Joker from Arkham again, who promises to maintain their first-world consumerism.

      Of course, the joker is a psychopath who wrecks shit, so he also fails on his promise to improve material conditions. He worsens them. The citizens get pissed and cry out to billionaire Batman again. Joker gets thrown to Arkham again for four to eight years. Rinse and repeat, without ever looking within themselves to see how they perpetuate the evil cycle of exploitation.

      Even if voters didn’t directly vote him, they still support the system via there dollars to all the corrupt things. It’s exactly by design to serve the capitalist class. Batman and Joker are from the same DNA of the wealthy lineage.

      If Americans woke up and addressed the true problem, which originates from their collective obsession with materialism and stop relying on Batman to save them from the Joker, then the joker has no reason to stick around and Batman becomes irrelevant.