By Ben Meiselas
The Trump shutdown is here. Donald Trump is behaving like a demented schoolyard bully while Americans suffer. At a time when families are staring down missed paychecks, shuttered services, and skyrocketing health care costs, Trump is posting juvenile photos of himself pointing his finger at Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. That’s his idea of leadership. Not solving problems. Not ending the crisis he created. Just making weird faces for the cameras and bragging about his Trump 2028 hat, as if “dictator for life” is a punchline instead of a terrifying glimpse into his real intentions. It’s very weird behavior.
I’ve spoken to Governor Gavin Newsom, who confirmed that when he previously spoke with Trump, Trump could barely focus on anything and instead balled about his “Trump 2028” hat as well. It’s both bizarre and dangerous. The world is watching a man in decline, obsessed with personal power and vanity, while the American economy is buckling under the weight of his government shutdown.
And let’s be clear about the damage. The new ADP payroll report shows the U.S. lost 32,000 private sector jobs in September. Economists had expected gains of 51,000. On top of that, August was revised downward from modest growth to a net loss of 3,000 jobs. Small and medium-sized businesses are taking the biggest hits. You don’t need a chart to understand what this means. You’re living it. The job market is freezing up like we only see in major recessions. Real people, real families, real communities are being crushed.
So what do Trump and his MAGA cheerleaders do in response? They giggle about Trump’s hat. They defend his AI deepfakes mocking Democrats with racist tropes. They appear on Fox News and call it “humor.” Mike Johnson, the so-called Speaker of the House, went on ABC and defended Trump’s behavior as if this were just late-night comedy. JD Vance sat on Fox and acted like the most pressing issue in America was whether Schumer and Jeffries looked uncomfortable when Trump played dictator cosplay.
This is grotesque. This is not how adults behave, much less so-called leaders of the free world. Imagine if during the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy had released a parody video mocking Khrushchev’s mustache. That’s the level of absurdity we are dealing with here.
While Trump makes sombrero deepfakes of Hakeem Jeffries, millions of Americans are about to lose their health care coverage. While he whines about 2028, your premiums are set to double or triple. While he brags about Qatar gifting him a 747 jet, he’s signing unprecedented NATO-like security guarantees for Qatar, a foreign dictatorship his family just happens to be building a $5 billion golf resort with. Trump never did that for Ukraine. He never did that for NATO allies. But for Qatar? Just hand him a plane, and you’re in.
It is corruption at its most naked. America for sale to the highest bidder, as long as you kiss Trump’s ring.
Meanwhile, Mike Johnson let the mask slip when he said the quiet part out loud: this shutdown is an “opportunity” to slash government jobs and gut programs people rely on. That’s what this is all about. Not some principled fight over spending. Not protecting you. It’s about Trump seizing “the keys to the kingdom” to enact what he could never get through Congress. Permanent cuts. Permanent damage. And everyday Americans are the collateral damage.
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to lie about the Democrats’ demand. Democrats want Republicans to agree to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits that are set to expire. Those tax credits do not, and cannot, go to “illegals” as Republicans keep saying. Republicans are once again shouting the word “illegals” to scare their voters into allowing them to take away their own healthcare.
But let’s take a step back for a second and try to understand the MAGA position. These so-called “Christian” Republicans argue that an undocumented worker who falls off a roof should bleed out in the street rather than be treated in a hospital. That is their actual policy position. They call themselves pro-life while cheerleading death for human beings who don’t fit their definition of “deserving.” It is cruelty for cruelty’s sake.
So when you see Trump pointing his finger in those creepy photos, understand what he’s really pointing at: you. Your paycheck. Your health care. Your democracy. He wants you scared. He wants you distracted. He wants you beaten down enough that his deranged circus looks normal.
Don’t let it.
Every poll shows the American people blame Trump and Republicans for this shutdown—and they should. Because this is Trump’s shutdown. This is his chaos. His corruption. His cruelty.
We need to fight back with the same energy that got us here today. Trump wanted to silence dissent in his first 100 days and failed. His approval is tanking. His lies are collapsing under their own weight. And that’s all the more reason why we must stay engaged, stay vigilant, and stay united.
The MAGA movement thrives on apathy. It thrives when people give up and say “that’s just how politics works.” But that’s not how America works. We don’t hand the country over to a wannabe dictator with a novelty hat.
So Trump: take your 2028 hat and shove it. America isn’t yours to sell. We are not your playground. And we are damn sure not your dictatorship.
We—the people—still hold the power. And together, we’re going to use it.
Watch my latest report on the shutdown above, and consider joining now as a member of the Meidas+ Substack if you haven’t yet.
