With less than three weeks remaining before election day, Donald Trump is melting down. He appears to know voters will repudiate him and his party in the midterms and usher in an angry Congress likely to prioritize ending Trump’s worst abuses. But Trump has always believed that sheer will can triumph over reality and that the message means more than the truth. That is why he is campaigning so hard and, with help from friends like Elon Musk, raising record amounts of money.

Trump believes, I think, that election day will prove him the genius he thinks he is. But, at 80 years old, Trump is facing not only a Pandora’s Box of disasters he engineered, but a personal meltdown. His rallies no longer generate the excitement and motivation among his followers they once did. Instead, attendees and the rest of us are either laughing at Trump or shaking our heads in disbelief at his lies and stunts like sharing the stage with boxer Mike Tyson.

With weeks of Trump flapdoodle in mind, I focused on Trump’s meltdown in my October 14th column for Spy Community Media’s newspapers serving Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The column may be found here and below:

The Trump Meltdown and the Midterm Elections

Yes, as the President tells us, the midterm elections are about Trump. Vote as if he is on the ballot. But before you cast that vote, realize we are in the midst of a Trump meltdown. Trump is descending into a world untethered from reality, one that was unimaginable two years ago.

Just this month, the Trump regime has shocked us repeatedly.

Increasingly ridiculous “Secretary of War” Hegseth, called by some “Colonel Vodka” inside the Pentagon, announced that the execution of Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter who killed 12 soldiers in 2009, will be live-streamed. Trump, rather than firing Hegseth for the idea, said he “absolutely” agrees with it.

U.S. Ambassador to Greece, ex-girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., was caught soliciting a $100,000 payment from a major MAGA donor. The donor, Eric Deter, sought help from Trump administration officials with tax and other issues. Deter said no to Guilfoyle’s promise to help him—and went public. The incident exemplifies the depth of corruption inside the Trump administration.

Trump invited former boxer Mike Tyson, a convicted rapist previously pardoned by Trump, to join him for a ride on Air Force One to Syracuse, New York, for a campaign rally. Tyson told the crowd, “I think Trump is gonna win it.”

Trump ads, paid for with money appropriated for the Department of Homeland Security, ran to promote a positive image of Donald Trump. The blatantly political ads shocked many, including several Republican legislators. The ads included the infamous and blasphemous ad featuring the claim, “God gave us Trump.” (A federal judge has now ordered the Trump ads to be discontinued.)

Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel fuel exports despite having signed legislation to expand the economic boycott of Russia earlier this year. The money that Russia earns will help it continue the war in Ukraine. Russia is also aiding Iran in its war against the United States. Legislators from both parties were outraged by Trump’s surprise action.

After Ukrainian President Zelensky condemned Trump’s action, Trump called for his ouster, accusing Zelensky of being unwilling to end the war with Russia. Not surprisingly, Zelensky doesn’t plan to resign. Trump is also warning Ukraine to stop bombing Russian oil refineries.

Trump engaged in 517 stock trades in August, more than the entirety of Congress. Included were a $25 million investment in META and up to $5 million in unsecured SpaceX debt. Shortly after buying the SpaceX debt, NASA announced a new request for proposals for commercial participation to replace the International Space Station, a program from which SpaceX is likely to make billions.

This list could go on, and die-hard Trump supporters, a shrinking group, will say these things are irrelevant to the midterm elections. But they aren’t.

For the sake of the United States’ future, the Trump administration, the Trump family, and their associates desperately need oversight and accountability. That needed response to the circus (not a funny one, but a circus in the sense of chaos and stupidity) won’t happen unless Democrats take charge of at least the House of Representatives and, with God’s help, the Senate.

If Democrats win in November, they will need to exercise restraint. Like many of us, they are both worried about the damage Trump may still do in his remaining two years in office and angry at what he has already done. But rather than launch an orgy of impeachments, criminal referrals, and made-for-TV oversight and investigative hearings, they will need to prioritize addressing our urgent needs, including ending the war with Iran and reforming ICE to end shootings and inhumane actions. Other urgent needs include addressing inflation, ending the petty, self-destructive dispute with Canada, and starting the process of rebuilding government agencies Trump has destroyed or gutted (with the help of Elon Musk).

Over the weekend, a friend of mine joked, “Americans need to vote as if it matters.” I did not laugh. It does. More than ever.

© Copyright 2026 John Dean and Spy Community Media. All rights reserved.

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