Why the Trump Circus Show is About to Implode

Good news for those feeling distraught - here are a dozen or so clues that the crap show is nearly over

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The Orange Circus Freak Show, helmed by the ever-odious Rump Von Stinkpants, rolled back into town six weeks ago for a second act—this time with a new headliner: Elon the Giant Turd. His bloated spectacle quickly overshadowed the usual buffoonery of Sir Stink, and not in a good way. At first, the crowd sat in stunned silence, unsure whether to laugh or recoil. Then came the boos—low, rumbling, and relentless—swelling into a cacophony of jeers. By the time the first tomato flew, the floodgates had opened. Now, drenched in red from a relentless barrage of rotten produce, the cast of this grotesque farce is likely to soon find themselves chased out of town for good.

I’ve been watching the clues for several days now and have thoughtfully come to the conclusion that there will, indeed, be a happy ending to this dreadful live-action story. It’s been a bit touch and go up until now, but I’m feeling confident. Stay with me as I parse through the evidence.

For years, Donald Trump has defied political gravity, escaping scandals and legal jeopardy that would have ended any other politician’s career. But now, the signs of his decline are flashing in neon. From embarrassing mistakes to backfiring rhetoric and open resistance from institutions that once tolerated him, Trump’s hold on power is definitely slipping and the nation’s checks and balances - though threatened more than ever before - show signs of holding up.

The Stupid Mistakes Are Piling Up

Take yesterday’s breach of military secrecy—one so absurd it could be mistaken for satire. This was not just a leak. This was a breach of the most embarrassing and dangerous kind. Not only did these morons conduct a security planning meeting on Signal, an insecure public platform, (so they could text on the toilet instead of putting on a suit and playing grownup in the security of the White House) but they freaking invited the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, without noticing. They gave away secrets the journalist felt were too sensitive (and dangerous) to share.

Trump made things even worse by denying knowledge of the fiasco a few hours later. As national security specialist Tom Nichols noted: “If the President is telling the truth and no one’s briefed him about this yet, that’s another story in itself. In any other administration, [the chief of staff] would have been in the Oval [Office] within nanoseconds of learning about something like this.”

We’ve played this game before with stolen documents stored in a Mar-a-lago bathroom. And yet the clown was re-elected. So we know that the fiasco alone will not likely save us. But let’s keep going.

And then there’s the immigrant fiasco.

Trump’s DOJ proudly announced that hundreds of detained immigrants were dangerous gang members, only for it to be revealed later that zero were gang members. Zero. As of Monday, the immigrants are still being held in El Salvador in inhumane conditions while Venezuelan attorneys are working on their release. (See my story about the travesty here).

Reports are also coming out of women immigrants being tortured in a facility in Miami. Immigrant women say they were held "like animals" in ICE detention and subjected to conditions so extreme they feared for their lives.

Chained for hours on a prison bus without access to food, water or a toilet. Told by guards to urinate on the floor. Held "like sardines in a jar," as many as 27 women in a small holding cell. Sleeping on a concrete floor. Getting one three-minute shower over three or four days in custody.

USA TODAY studied, four cases of women held at the Krome North Processing Center in Miami – a detention center reserved for men, none had criminal records.

These cases bear a chilling resemblance to the Jews sent to concentration camps, igniting a growing fury.

When the Message Backfires

Trump fancies himself a master of messaging, but he’s been misfiring. In one example, Trump’s recent attacks on President Zelenskyy and his blatant deference to Putin were supposed to rally Americans against further aid to Ukraine. Instead, the opposite happened.

A recent Gallup poll shows that 46% of Americans now believe the U.S. isn’t doing enough to help Ukraine—a 16-point jump since December. More Americans now favor supporting Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty, with 53% saying we should stay engaged even if it means a prolonged conflict.

Trump’s threats against our allies have brought about similar sentiments - strengthening the country’s resolve against shows of aggression and increasing sentiments of sympathy with our allies - especially those threatened by Trump (Canada, Greenland, Gaza and Denmark).

If he thought his propaganda would sway public opinion, he was right, just not in the way he had in mind.

The Military Strikes Back

It’s a well-known secret that Trump, like a toddler playing with tin soldiers, is itching to put his generals to work. Remember when he used General Milley unwittingly in his first term to stand behind him on Lafayette square? And during his campaign for round two, how he stated he’ll use the military on “the enemy from within” if reelected?

He’s dropped hints of the use of the insurrection act or martial law in the last two months, but so far he’s held back. While it’s not clear what, or who, is keeping him restrained, but the reason for the restraint is becoming quite clear. The military will not have his back.

Word is the higher ups at the Pentagon don’t just dislike him…they hate him. While he was successful in replacing the leaders in other organizations (DOJ, DBI etc.) the firings within the DOD only served to infuriate the others.

As evidence, there was a shocking move where the Pentagon leaked Trump’s plan to brief Musk on a top-secret operational war plan detailing how the U.S. would counter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

This was no minor security slip. The war plan included classified strategies for destroying Chinese invasion forces, countering their satellite surveillance, and protecting U.S. military bases in the Pacific. Briefing Musk—an unelected businessman with a history of erratic behavior—on such sensitive material was an unprecedented breach of national security.

The leak was a clear message from the military: we will not let Trump compromise national security for personal or political gain. The Pentagon’s resistance is a major escalation, signaling that even those who traditionally stay out of politics are no longer willing to play along.

To read a detailed version of this event from a West Point history professor, I encourage you to go to @victorkravchuk on Substack.

Military support is key to Trump’s plans (see Elon Musk, Dark MAGA and the Technate: The Billionaire’s Plot to Replace Democracy) Without it, his wild power grab turns to fairy dust.

The Courts Are Blocking His Power Grabs

A federal judge recently halted Trump’s mass deportation executive order, ruling that it violated due process. Trump, predictably, lashed out, but Chief Justice John Roberts delivered a firm warning: follow the Constitution or face the consequences.

On Monday, A federal judge ruled that DOGE has no right under federal law to access sensitive personal information at the Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Department of the Treasury.

Trump was counting on his buddy McConnell’s court packing to stomp over the constitution. Judges are showing their ethics and loss of patience with Trump’s maneuverings.

Losing Support Even Among His Base

The cracks are showing even in MAGA world, who are starting to feel the hurt from policies on all fronts - job losses, farmer’s hurting, social security, Medicaid, Medicare, education, military funding. Political parties have angered large groups before, but never on so many fronts at once.

Activist groups are holding “empty chair” town halls in Republican districts to show how abandoned some red-state voters are feeling. A dozen town halls over the last week have featured angry voters yelling at a picture of their no-show Republican lawmaker.

When you promise everything to everyone while planning to only serve yourself, people are bound to notice.

Getting Organized and Mobilizing

In February alone, more than 2,085 protests took place nationwide. That's an increase from 937 protests in February 2017, the first full month of the first Trump administration. And the numbers of protests have increased exponentially this month.

Heather Meaney-Allen, who who leads an Indivisible chapter in Williamsburg, Virginia, said participation in her group's weekly protests have skyrocketed since Trump's election, with energy unlike anything she has seen in nine years of activism.

Protestors hold signs in Roseville, Calif. on March 8, 2025. Daryl Stinchfield

Fight Oligarchy

Bernie Sanders, accompanied by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have set out on a Fight Oligarchy tour, packing venues all over the country, with thousands waiting outside.

From Megan Peck at the New York Times, who interviewed attendees: “In hours of interviews with all kinds of people…two unbroken trends emerged: Everyone I met was having money problems. And all of them were frightened, some for the first time, that the country they’d always counted on was sliding away because of President Trump.”

Hands Off!

Three resistance groups - Third Act, Indivisible and MoveOn have teamed up to organize a day of mass mobilization on April 5. Hands Off! National Day of Action, with the goal of a million protestors marching on the nation’s capital, and others on their state’s capital. This is to be the first of several.

It’s fair to say that the country was stunned in month one of Trump and Elon’s reign. But they woke up a sleeping giant. The organizers are organizing. People are stepping up. Things are getting done.

The 3.5% Rule and the Coming Reckoning

To end on a final positive note, let me remind you of the 3.5% rule, in case you’re unfamiliar. Erica Chenoweth a political scientist, delivered a popular TedTalk in 2013 on the impact of nonviolent action. Her conclusion, taken from studying over 300 maximalist movements from the past 100 years, (an aim at the exponential exposure, challenging and abolition of power) is that nonviolent movements are twice as likely to succeed as violent movements, and that mass mobilization is critical to movement success, such that no movement that mobilized 3.5% of the population has ever failed.

“Numbers really matter for building power in ways that can really pose a serious challenge or threat to entrenched authorities or occupations,” Chenoweth says – and nonviolent protest seems to be the best way to get that widespread support.

Once around 3.5% of the whole population has begun to participate actively, success appears to be inevitable.

Mobilizing 3.5% of the United States population equals almost 12 million people. With 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, we’re talking an average of 235,000 people per state.

We’re not a nation that rallies easily. Other countries can teach us lessons in drawing crowds to protest oppressors. We’re used to the privilege and security of being a superpower. But we CAN to this. We’re well on our way.

The Final Act?

Trump’s tenure has been defined by chaos, but the tides are turning. The military is openly defying him, his base is fracturing, the courts are blocking his overreach, and the opposition is gaining momentum.

The circus may not be over yet, but the tent is collapsing.

For those who have fought Trumpism from the beginning (it’s been how many years? A hundred or so?) now is the time to keep pushing, don’t lose interest. We’re reaching peak mobilization.

We’re making history, dammit. And we’re on the right side.

🔥 What will you be doing on April 5? Drop your plans in the comments 👇

Happy Resisting,

Rosie

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