Donald Trump has successfully managed to steer attention away from his involvement with his old friend Jeff Epstein. He did this by an amazing sleight of hand: ridding himself of Attorney General Pam Bondi (the source of his Epstein headaches) while generating a mediafest that was not a war, but an “excursion.” Recently it was announced that, since Bondi is no longer Attorney General, she will not appear before the Congressional committee investigating the Epstein files. Meanwhile, we declared a cease-fire in Iran even though it was not even known what was agreed and what was still disputed.. Of course, we have to run away from Iran at all costs because it wasn’t about nuclear arms, it wasn’t about oil, it wasn’t about Hezbollah. It is and always was about Jeffrey Epstein.
Woe be to the unfortunate next President. That person will feel the need to heal a divided country, but the wounds in this country are so deep that scars will be the best we can hope for. Likewise, our next President will feel obliged to repair America’s image abroad. There will be generous and sincere appeals to the European Union and NATO, with America claiming that Trump was an aberration, that all is now to be forgiven, that America is back on track. And we’ll be fooling ourselves.
America has lost its coolness. In the recent past, it was cool to be a German kid wearing an American flag t-shirt, torn jeans, reading American best-sellers. Now that America has openly supported the neo-fascist Alternative for Germany, somehow it’s not so cool any more. Or take a look at Denmark, once one of the most famously pro-American countries in Europe (and that’s saying something.) We’ve sent political operatives into that country in an attempt to have them identify potential Danish allies who are willing to subvert their own governments and prepare to transfer Greenland to U.S. control. You can easily imagine why it’s not cool to be pro-American in Denmark these days.
How can our next President repair this damage? How do we regain our reputation, our prestige?
It will be catastrophically difficult. We will have to get our fiscal house in order without further damage to the welfare state. This will, no matter what tricks the rich claim to have up their sleeves, require a major increase in taxes across the board. Trump’s tax breaks, which makes everyone happy around April 15, will have to be rescinded. Tariffs will have to return to the modest amounts they were before Trump’s foolish assault on world trade. Paying off a $39 trillion debt will require more than just tax increases. It might require other schemes that haven’t been thought of yet.
China right now is trying mightily to pick up the pieces left of American influence. They have far surpassed the U.S. in providing access to food, good housing, and health care for everyone. Just 50 years ago, the average family income in China was $450. Now,especially in the cities and suburbs, incomes are high enough to provide a growing middle class with the means for a comfortable life.
I wish I could say, “Don’t doubt that we can do it,” but that’s sounding more and more like pablum, like political lidocaine. It’s going to take more than dreaming, more than posturing. It’s not going to be easy.
We can start by declaring Trump unfit to hold the office of President. Yes, this is much harder than it should be, because the Democrats lied about Biden’s cognitive decline in his last year in office. We’re going to need some Republicans to cast off the clown’s costume they’ve been forced to wear for the Trump presidency. If you think that’s difficult, just think of how hard the next four years are going to be.
April 10, 2026