Trump's endgame: waiting game or accelerating collapse?
Simon Jenkins’ recent call for a patient approach to Donald Trump, suggesting a protracted wait for his political demise, has ignited a familiar debate – but the accelerating erosion of American civic structures demands a far more urgent reckoning. The premise of a benign, if lengthy, expiration date ignores the systematic dismantling of foundational legal and political safeguards undertaken by Trump and his allies.
The illusion of checks and balances
The cornerstone of American governance, the principle of checks and balances, has demonstrably failed. It's not merely that these mechanisms have been weakened; they’ve been effectively rendered obsolete through a combination of judicial appointments, executive overreach, and a dismissive disregard for established norms. To assume a simple waiting game overlooks the profound and potentially irreversible damage already inflicted. The idea that a future leader, even less personally flawed, would automatically reverse this trend is a dangerous naiveté.
Letters to The Guardian reflect this growing unease. Aidan Walker rightly points to the pre-emptive maneuvers already underway to subvert the November midterm elections, suggesting a determination to avoid any semblance of accountability. Ruth Baker’s suggestion of a comprehensive, scathing assessment of the Trump presidency—a running tally of civilian casualties, a satirical collection—is, frankly, a bracingly honest proposal, underscoring the depth of the crisis.
Diana Francis’s call for the removal of US bases from Britain, while perhaps a radical solution, speaks to a broader international anxiety about American foreign policy under Trump. The parallels drawn by Phoebe Merrick to the decline of the Roman Empire, with Nero’s destabilizing influence and the concurrent withdrawal of troops, are unsettlingly apt. History does not offer guarantees, but it does provide cautionary tales of civilizations undone by internal decay and external pressures.
The question isn’t whether we can wait Trump out, but when and how we can build a viable alternative. The echoes of Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron resonate—changing course is rarely a clean break, and unravelling decades of policy and precedent is a protracted, often frustrating process. But complacency is not an option. The world is watching, and the price of inaction may be far steeper than we currently imagine.
As Rev Canon John Longuet-Higgins noted, Trump’s Easter Day provocations—a jarring juxtaposition of religious language and threats of war—revealed a profound disconnect from genuine faith. It’s a symptom of a larger malaise: a political landscape where truth is malleable, and decency is optional. The long shadow of this era will linger long after Trump departs—a stark reminder of the fragility of democratic institutions and the imperative of constant vigilance.