Is Trump Tempting the Doom Loop?

Donald Trump
Disapproval of Trump’s handling of the economy has spiked by 9 points, from 40 percent two months ago to 49 percent today. Photo: Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Peter Hamby
March 18, 2025

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It’s easy to think of Donald Trump as all-powerful. The president faces almost no checks on his authority as his administration ignores judges, bulldozes federal agencies, tests the boundaries of executive power, and scoffs at Democrats who are too impotent to stop him. His White House is, to put it mildly, extremely cocky. Trump, at least, has the ability to balance out his arrogance with humor. But J.D. Vance, Elon Musk, Stephen Miller, and Karoline Leavitt? The arrogance would be intimidating if it weren’t so misplaced. Between the sanctimony and the scolding, the flared nostrils and the Tesla sales event at the White House… you’d think these people ruled the world.