Simon Rosenberg on Trump’s no good, very bad year
"It’s grotesque. He’s become a grotesque figure."
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The fundamental dynamic of the first year of Trump’s second term was that the success he had accruing near dictatorial power came at this cost of his political popularity, which has fallen so low that he’s now openly musing about trying to cancel the midterm elections.
Not only is Trump’s approval rating 16 points underwater — worse than any other modern president a year into their term — but because he’s losing on every key issue it’s hard to see those numbers improving anytime soon.
To go deep on Trump’s political missteps and how he’s set Republicans up for failure this year, we connected with old friend of the newsletter Simon Rosenberg, author of the Hopium Chronicles.
We last talked to Rosenberg in the spring of 2024, when he made an impassioned case that the Trump campaign was in more trouble than people realized at the time.
But just over two months later came Biden’s disastrous debate performance, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Rosenberg wasn’t wrong about the reasons Trump was a terrible candidate — if anything he overestimated the rationality of the American electorate. It didn’t take long for a deep sense of buyer’s remorse to set in, however.
“The thing that’s been most interesting to me in some ways is that Trump is no longer even pretending to be a champion of working people,” Rosenberg told us. “In terms of who he’s advocating for, he’s gone from being a protector of the white tribe to a protector of 100 American oligarchs, and that’s one of the reasons his politics isn’t working.”
“It’s all an issue of who he’s become — a vain autocrat who is building himself a gilded ballroom and falling asleep,” he added. “He’s implicated in the Epstein affair by Epstein himself, right? It’s just too much. It’s grotesque. He’s become a grotesque figure.”
“It’s similar to historical figures like Nero or Caligula. Their madness took over and they started doing wildly destructive things. Trump is in that place.”
A full transcript of the conversation between Rosenberg and Public Notice contributor Thor Benson, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows.
Thor Benson
How has this first year of Trump 2.0 played out compared to what you expected?
Simon Rosenberg
There are two things about the past year that can be true at the same time. One is that Trump has done more damage to the country than I expected. The second is that he’s been rejected by the American people in a way that was also unexpected.
These are related, obviously, because the harm he’s done to the country has been so significant. It’s created major backlash against him and Trumpism. That’s encouraging. But Democrats have to become more focused on mitigating the damage he’s doing in addition to gaining power. We have to develop another muscle to challenge him far more forcefully every day.
We shouldn’t just believe the solution to all of this is having a successful November. We need to weaken the regime, advance our agenda, and win back power. Ultimately, I’m discouraged by how venal and malevolent Trump has been this year, but encouraged that there has been a clear public repudiation.
Thor Benson
