If you listed the worst years in American history, 2025 wouldn’t be near the top. Our economy is growing better than most of the world. Total nonfarm employment is up slightly year over year. Inflation is under 3%. The southern border is secured. U.S. murders are on pace for the biggest yearly drop on record.
America isn’t involved in any major wars. The war in Gaza has ground to a halt. Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed terror groups are significantly weakened. The U.S. and Israel destroyed key Iranian nuclear facilities. And even though America dithered over critical aid, beleaguered Ukraine hangs on as Russia’s invasion approaches its fourth anniversary.
This year had its share of bizarre developments. No American president has ever ruled the news cycle like Donald Trump. He’s omnipresent, completely dominating coverage, constantly in front of cameras and inundating us with round-the-clock Truth Social posts.
His pace is unrelenting. He throws at reporters so much fluff—personal asides, fulminations about adversaries real and imagined, commentary on culture and self-congratulation—that the press and public often ignore important things.
This pace is also unsustainable. There are signs that the public is tiring of his hyperbole and insatiable desire for retribution. Increasingly, they may hear only the offensive or cruel things he says.
Has the president convinced himself that he doesn’t need to sell his policies and actions? It appears that he believes he can will people into agreeing with him by claiming his achievements are the biggest, best and most amazing in American history. He’s gone way too far by slapping his name on buildings (the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) and government programs (the Navy’s “Trump-class” battleship). He might receive a fawning reaction from his MAGA base, but the average American finds such narcissism off-putting.
Americans would be much more likely to support Mr. Trump if he explained what he’s doing and asked for patience as his administration makes necessary changes. But that isn’t his way. Presidents do best when they underpromise and overdeliver. The opposite—overpromising and underdelivering—angers voters. They often take out their anger at the ballot box.
This year, Americans were also increasingly fascinated by conspiracy theories. Take Jeffrey Epstein. It isn’t enough that he committed heinous sex crimes and then took his life before being tried. Many people feel the need to place him at the center of a worldwide conspiracy of wealthy, powerful people. These co-conspirators murdered him in jail, it’s said, because of the threat he posed to them. Mr. Trump’s failure to deliver the goods on this vast plot has undermined his followers’ confidence in his Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Health-related conspiracies abound. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims that drug companies are promoting vaccinations that cause autism. He has also said that the Covid-19 shot is the “deadliest vaccine ever made.”
It gets darker: Prominent MAGA voices are reverting to antisemitic tropes, asserting that Israel and Jews in general are running America’s foreign policy. It gets weirder: One podcaster claims that French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife is a man. Many voters rightly see all this as deranged.
Other happenings signal that significant changes may be on the horizon. MAGA is engaged in internecine warfare, with different people who claim to represent and lead the movement viciously attacking one another. Populists and traditional conservatives are increasingly at odds over important policy issues. The Democratic Party has its own internal battles, pitting socialists against moderates and liberals. These divisions are likely to intensify as 2028 approaches.
