MAY 12, 2026 – Today I inadvertently observed the Dear Leader’s press conference, so-called, before his departure for “Chi-EENa.” One more blather session such as that one and the country will need therapy along with remediation.
In my jaundiced view, what was readily apparent in Trump’s interactions with reporters was how remarkably out of touch the guy is with the realities of his own making: the mess over Iran, the financial insecurity of a wide swath of the population, and the ascendancy of Chi-EEna proportionate to America’s descendancy.
Among Trump’s signature speech patterns is the phrase, “We’ll see.” It’s a manifestation of his lack of strategy, and behind that, a lack of concern for the cares of the world beyond himself. His mind operates like that of a gerbil. Before a thought has completed itself, it dissipates. There’s no capacity for anticipation, analysis, or planning; only for personal obsessions and retribution.
This lack of a plan is most evident—and consequential—regarding Iran. He really has no clue what to do about the current stalemate. All he can say is, “We can’t let Iran get nuclear weapons. You can’t let crazy people have nuclear weapons.” He’s oblivious to the irony that the rest of the world sees in such a statement, issued by a “crazy” person who’s commander in chief of a major nuclear power—and for the record, the only one to have unleashed The Bomb on a civilian population.
He uses the “nuclear card” to respond to journalist questions about the war’s effect on the economy. “Americans understand,” he says, “because they don’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons.” If polls are to be given any credence, this is such reckless speculation by Trump, it must count as a lie. At this stage, most Americans don’t care about prosecuting the war. In fact, they want the exact opposite; they want the war to end and the return of gas prices to under three buck a gallon.
In a blazing lack of empathy, Trump said today regarding the economic effect of the war, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situations—I don’t think about anybody.” I think it’s the second time he’s told the truth, the first time being at a 2016 campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa, when he said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” Today, he threw more salt in the financial wounds of regular folks struggling to fill their gas tanks by telling them he’d thought the price of oil would actually be higher. He then spat in their faces by highlighting with repetitive fanfare, the rock’em, soc’em stock market. I guess in his worldview, such commissions of political malpractice are the equivalent of his standing in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shooting somebody.
Now he’s off to Chi-EEna, but to accomplish exactly what, neither we nor he has any idea. I’ve read enough about Xi Jinping to know that as between the astute Chinese president and his hyper-narcissistic American guest, the good money says Xi will eat Trump’s lunch before Trump can say of his chopsticks, “These remind me of my big beautiful ballroom. Did I tell you about it? Let me tell you about it. When you visit America later this year you’ll get to see it. I think you’ll like it, but we’ll see.”
Trump as uncouth wrecking ball personified is old news. What’s far more shocking than Mr. Outrage himself is that the cumulative effect of his sociopathy hasn’t yet caused the Republicans in House and Senate to abandon him. Or to get to the heart of the matter, that Trump’s harm to the interests of America and its people hasn’t caused his approval ratings to crash to zero. Under these circumstances, one must ask, “Who still are his backers and apologists and why?”
As to what lies ahead for him, for us, for the world . . . “We’ll see.”
Subscribe to this blog and received notifications of new post by email.
© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
