Donald Trump may know time is up for his power with a potential midterm election blowout looming, a political analyst has claimed.
Simon Rosenberg, a Democratic strategist, believes Trump understands he is close to the end of holding a majority in the Senate, and that he may be hindered heavily by the results of the November elections. Speaking to Greg Sargent of The New Republic, Rosenberg summarized Trump's State of the Union address as a chance to see the president struggling to figure out his next steps.
Rosenberg said, "I mean, strong theatrics, you know, it felt like it was a last hurrah in some ways — that he was just enjoying himself being on stage. But there was no significant course correction, no significant change in direction that’s going to alter, I think, the struggle that he has.
"It may have felt good for him, and he may have reconnected with some of the voters that he was struggling with, but I don’t think it did what he needed to do to reset what is a period of struggle with him politically."
But part of the problem for Trump, which Rosenberg believes bled into the State of the Union address, is a disbelief at how the political tide has turned against the administration.
"He is desperate to stay within this world that he’s constructed that you once called Foxlandia — this sort of imaginary world where he’s young and virile and the economy’s booming and everybody in the world loves him," Rosenberg explained. "Because he had a choice, right?
"If things are not going well, you can course correct. He could have accepted [getting] rid of the tariffs. He could have produced a healthcare bill that really actually made people’s lives better.
"The Trump team has made a decision that they’re not going to course correct, that they’re doubling down because they believe — and I think part of what’s driving this is that they believe — that they’re just going to be able to spend a lot of money and flood the zone with false stories.
"And that people are dumb and will be confused and that they’ll just overwhelm it with a billion dollars of paid advertising. And then everything’s going to be fine."