By Ben Meiselas
Donald Trump is having one of the worst mornings of his political life. After Democrats swept every major race across the country on Tuesday, Trump woke up to the reality that the American people are rejecting him, his movement, and his chaos—no matter how much he tries to spin it.
As I reported this morning, Trump spent his post-election hours posting fabricated “victory certificates” from the Treasury Department bearing his own face, patting himself on the back for winning the election…in 2024. Then, on the taxpayer dime, he jetted off to Florida, likely bound for Mar-a-Lago or Doral, the luxury properties he continues to monetize while Americans face a government shutdown triggered by him and his MAGA allies.
At the White House earlier in the day, Trump delivered a speech to Republican senators that can only be described as a debacle. “I don’t think it was good for Republicans,” he admitted. “It was very Democratic areas [unintelligble].” Trump clearly was facing the reality of what we all witnessed: voters turned out in droves to reject him. But, as always, he quickly shifted blame, this time to GOP lawmakers, insisting the losses were due to “your shutdown.”
This is the same shutdown, mind you, that has left countless public servants without pay and put our air traffic system under strain, all while Trump’s administration attempts to gut healthcare for 20 million Americans and cut food assistance for 42 million families. Yet he’s decided to throw extravagant Gatsby-themed parties at his private Mar-a-Lago club, complete with half-naked women in martini glasses.
Trump’s remarks only grew more bizarre from there. At one point, he compared Democrats to “Japanese kamikaze pilots” and recounted a story about meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, wistfully telling senators, “I want my cabinet to behave like this,” referring to Xi’s aides who stood “at attention” in fear of their authoritarian boss. He even claimed that Americans must show ID to buy groceries and gasoline, proving once again how detached from ordinary life he’s become.
The tirade descended further into authoritarian fantasy when Trump demanded Republicans “terminate the filibuster,” bragged about firing U.S. attorneys because Democrats approved of them, and warned his audience that Democrats “want to make D.C. and Puerto Rico states.” The horror, in his view, is that millions of Americans might actually get representation in Congress.
Things apparently were even more heated during a private breakfast meeting between Trump and Republican lawmakers. Trump reportedly lashed out at them and again warned that the shutdown was proving fatal for the Republican Party, and got into a heated spat with his lapdog Senator Lindsey Graham over the filibuster.
This is the man the MAGA movement still bows to, despite the fact that he is reviled by the American people. A man who openly dreams of absolute obedience from his cabinet and vengeance against public servants.
But even as Trump spirals, the institutions he’s tried to break are beginning to push back. In Virginia, Magistrate Judge Fitzpatrick ordered Trump’s prosecutors to turn over all grand jury materials in the politically motivated James Comey case, sharply criticizing them for “indicting first and investigating later.” It’s a stunning rebuke of the corruption Trump has injected into the Justice Department.
And right now at the Supreme Court, in a pivotal case that could further erode Trump’s entire presidency, even the conservative justices don’t seem to be buying the regime’s arguments for his tariffs.
Tuesday’s results were an electoral victory for Democrats, but even more, they were a reaffirmation of democracy itself. From young voters turning out in record numbers to the passage of Prop 50 in California, to Democrats breaking the Republican supermajority in deep-red Mississippi—a feat nobody thought possible—Americans made clear they’ve had enough of Trumpism’s cruelty and incompetence.
Trump can fly off to Florida, hold another party, and surround himself with sycophants, but he can’t escape the truth: the tide is turning. The blue wave he mocked has become a blue tsunami, powered by people who still believe in decency, democracy, and the rule of law. And no amount of denial, or Gatsby-themed escapism, will change that.
The momentum is on the side of democracy. But let’s be clear: this momentum only continues if we keep our feet on the gas. So let’s continue to build. Let’s continue to fight. Let’s ensure our messages are spread far and wide. Subscribe to and share this Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber if you can. Listen to and share the MeidasTouch Podcast on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify—and leave a 5-star review. If they think we’re slowing down anytime soon, they don’t know who they’re dealing with.
