The Trump Presidency Timeline

Congress is packing its bags for holiday recess and, in a bold new experiment in governing by neglect, is just going to let enhanced ACA subsidies expire. Because nothing says “Merry Christmas, middle class” like watching your health insurance premiums double or triple on January 1 so Mike Johnson can go on Fox and mumble about freedom. Millions of Americans are about to learn that the real preexisting condition is living under a party that thinks ‘market forces’ will cure cancer.

Instead of extending subsidies, House Republicans are teeing up a vote on their favorite zombie ideas: association health plans and tinkering with pharmacy benefit managers — the policy equivalent of replacing your seatbelt with thoughts and prayers. Rank-and-file members are still having “bipartisan talks,” which is DC-speak for “we’re going to do nothing and hope you forget who did this to you by November.”

Meanwhile, as these premium spikes land, Trump’s economic approval has cratered to 36%, his lowest in six years of Marist polling. The GOP’s old 16-point advantage on “who do you trust on the economy” has magically transformed into a Democratic lead, because it turns out people notice when their groceries, rent, and health care all go up while the administration’s big plan is… deregulating nuclear reactors and yelling about wokeness. In other words: the “greatest economy ever” is polling like a used timeshare scam.

But sure, keep telling voters that everything is fine and this is all Biden’s fault somehow, while you literally vote to make their health care more expensive. The leopards-ate-my-face caucus is about to find out what happens when the leopards start itemizing their medical bills.

In a shocking display of callousness, the Trump administration has ripped apart nearly 10,000 foreign aid programs—services that save lives around the globe—because, apparently, playing politics is a national priority over human decency. Secretary Rubio's hollow assurances that 'we don’t want to see anybody die' ring completely hollow as thousands are left to fend for themselves, while officials seem more obsessed with aligning aid with Trump's agenda than with basic humanitarian needs. In a classic act of bureaucratic incompetence, they even managed to cut off phone services for those working in war zones—because who needs communication when you're busy dismantling compassion? Good luck explaining this to the children who will pay the ultimate price for their 'case-by-case review'—one that clearly never happened.