Trump is 'bored, tired and running on fumes' — and he's given up the fight: analyst

A year into his second term, Donald Trump has undergone a major change in “tactics” as he deflects questions about his policies — and it's an indication that he is now “just running on fumes," an analyst wrote Monday.

Salon’s Amanda Marcotte pointed out that the president has developed an over-reliance on deflecting questions while claiming he is not up to speed on the topic or person he is being asked about, and that often begins with, “I don’t know...”

That is a change from his previous deflections, where he promised everything would sort itself out in “two weeks.”

According to the columnist, Trump’s ignorance act could be just that, but she wrote that it is surprising for a man who has always boasted that he is an expert on everything.

“The president’s willingness to play the stupidest man alive is telling, because he is also a narcissist who has spent his entire adult life demanding that people believe he is the smartest, most handsome, most perfect person who has ever walked the face of the planet,” she wrote. “He’s dubbed himself a ‘super genius’ who understands every topic under the sun — including money, trade, history, international relations, travel, the military, ISIS and spycraft — better than anyone else.”

Noting that now the president, “just says ‘I don’t know’ until people stop asking,” she suggested, “The purpose of this gambit is to deflect accountability for his growing pile of failures, corruption and scandals. But the cumulative effect is to paint a picture of a man who is profoundly, almost impossibly, dim-witted.”

While admitting his latest way of deflecting questions is frustrating, she added there is a “silver lining” attached to it.

“Even Trump himself seems to be getting tired of his own tactics. He can’t manage to work up the energy for a more convincing deflection. He’s bored and tired, his polls are falling and, with three years left, his second term already feels like it’s running on fumes,” she wrote before conceding, “It’s a small thing, but one of the many green shoots suggesting that, while this is not the end of MAGA, it may very well be the end’s beginning.”

You can read more here.