Unhinged Leader, Exposed Nation

And we are all stuck living in the trail of his destruction

This is what our unhinged leader had to say at the United Nations today:

“They said global warming will kill the world, but then it started getting cooler. So now they just call it climate change, because that way they can’t miss.”

That is what Donald Trump told the world today. On the floor of the United Nations. In front of more than 150 world leaders. In front of nations already drowning, burning, starving because of the climate crisis.

It wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t even a mistake. It was the script. Mock the science. Pretend the facts don’t exist. Reduce one of the most urgent crises of our time to a playground taunt.

Fifteen minutes was all he was supposed to speak. He dragged it on for nearly an hour. And what came out wasn’t vision, or diplomacy, or even coherence. It was the only thing he knows how to do, brag, belittle, demand applause.

He mocked science. He claimed he ended wars that never existed. He trashed renewable energy. He attacked immigration. He even went after the UN itself, the very institution hosting him.

I’ve watched presidents speak from that podium my entire life. Obama used it to weave coalitions. Reagan to project strength. Even Bush understood the weight of that moment. Trump turned it into a circus. And every leader sitting in that room saw what we saw: America adrift. Exposed to the elements because he not only does not understand how science works, he does not care that lives depend on it.

When nations begged for cooperation on climate, he mocked them. When science warned us of floods and fires, he laughed. When the world looked for leadership, he gave them soundbites and self-praise.

And that is the tragedy. Because it’s not just his ignorance that exposes us. It’s his pride in it. His belief that sneering at the truth makes him stronger, when in fact it makes us all weaker and vulnerable.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he also wrote this on Truth Social:

“After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive. They are threatening to shut down the Government of the United States unless they can have over $1 Trillion Dollars in new spending to continue free healthcare for Illegal Aliens (A monumental cost!), force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors, have dead people on the Medicaid roles, allow Illegal Alien Criminals to steal Billions of Dollars in American Taxpayer Benefits, try to force our Country to again open our Borders to Criminals and to the World, allow men to play in women’s sports, and essentially create Transgender operations for everybody. These Radical Left Views and Policies is what allowed me to win the Presidential Election, including all seven Swing States, and the Popular Vote, IN A HISTORIC LANDSLIDE. There are consequences to losing Elections but, based on their letter to me, the Democrats haven’t figured that out yet. They are trying to eliminate the popular $50 Billion Dollar Rural and Vulnerable Hospital Fund, which was passed with only Republican Votes, and proudly signed into Law by ME. The Democrats in Congress seem to have totally lost their way. They obviously have no idea what it means to put America First or to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! All Congressional Democrats want to do is enact Radical Left Policies that nobody voted for — High Taxes, Open Borders, No Consequences for Violent Criminals, Men in Women’s Sports, Taxpayer funded “TRANSGENDER” surgery, and much more. Few people voted for what they represent, which would lead to the destruction of America. Instead, people voted for COMMON SENSE, and that’s what the Republicans and your President, “DONALD J. TRUMP,” stand for. I look forward to meeting with them if they get serious about the future of our Nation. We must keep the Government open, and legislate like true Patriots rather than hold American Citizens hostage, knowing that they want our now thriving Country closed. I’ll be happy to meet with them if they agree to the Principles in this Letter. They must do their job! Otherwise, it will just be another long and brutal slog through their radicalized quicksand. To the Leaders of the Democrat Party, the ball is in your court. I look forward to meeting with you when you become realistic about the things that our Country stands for. DO THE RIGHT THING!

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”

Tell me that sounds like a president. It doesn’t. It sounds like a man cornered, spewing every grievance his advisers could feed him. A ransom note in all caps, dressed up as leadership.

And here’s the pattern. Every time the walls close in, he unravels. When the polls dip. When the scandals mount. When the shutdown looms. He floods the air with chaos, waves flags for the cult, and lets them grab whatever line they need to keep their anger alive.

What makes it worse is that this tantrum was his excuse for canceling a meeting that actually mattered. Democrats had asked for talks to prevent a government shutdown, negotiations that would decide whether Social Security checks go out on time, whether military families get paid, whether federal workers can keep the lights on. Congressional leaders were ready to meet, Republicans and Democrats in the same room, to hammer out a deal. That’s the work of governing. That’s what the country needed. Instead, Trump walked away and left us with a rant on Truth Social.

Most of us see incoherence. Trump’s MAGA followers see the signal. Stay angry. Stay loyal. Stay blind.

And while he rants, other leaders are learning how to play him. Emmanuel Macron dangled the Nobel Peace Prize like a cookie, telling Trump the only way to win it was to end the conflict in Gaza. That wasn’t diplomacy. That was bait. Toddler parenting tactics disguised as negotiation. You want dessert? Eat your vegetables.

Most children eventually figure it out. Trump never has. He is so blinded by the hunger for trophies that he doesn’t even notice when he’s being played. And the rest of the world knows it. That is what makes him dangerous.

A man who can be manipulated this easily is a man who exposes the entire country to risk.

We’ve seen it before. Dictators flatter him and suddenly America’s alliances wobble. Kim Jong-un sent him “beautiful letters” and Trump gushed like a schoolboy with a crush. Saudi Arabia rolled out a golden reception, let him hold a glowing orb, and walked away with American weapons. Putin stroked his ego and got a president who stood on stage in Helsinki and sided with him over our own intelligence agencies. He was dazzled by military parades, shiny fighter jets, and promises of deals that never existed. All it takes is flattery, a pageant, a photo-op, and he hands them exactly what they want.

Back home, the cracks are spreading through our own systems. Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, announced it will reinstate thousands of accounts banned for spreading COVID and election lies. They framed it as protecting free expression. What it really is, is an open floodgate. A free-for-all of disinformation, pouring back in at the very moment our president is spewing his own.

And YouTube isn’t just a news site. It’s where kids go after school, where teenagers learn, where millions of people spend hours every day. It’s entertainment wrapped around influence. It’s how young minds form their understanding of the world.

And this isn’t abstract. We know what happens when the lies spread unchecked. False vaccine claims lead to lower immunization rates and outbreaks in classrooms. Election lies don’t just confuse voters, they put local officials in danger, force school board members and city clerks to resign, and drive decent people out of public service. Fake economic numbers ripple through communities, spooking investors, hollowing out retirement accounts, and convincing families they’re doomed before they even open their bills.

Disinformation doesn’t stay online. It seeps into family dinners, divides neighborhoods, erupts in PTA meetings, fills ERs with preventable illnesses. It makes people distrust teachers, doctors, scientists, even each other.

This is not just noise. It is infrastructure for chaos. And chaos is Trump’s only habitat.

But even chaos has limits. The Reuters/Ipsos poll this week has his approval down to 41 percent. Only 35 percent approve of his handling of the economy. For years people could shrug at headlines. They could tell themselves inflation was temporary, unemployment just a number. But now they’re feeling it in their lives.

Their grocery bills are higher.
Their rent checks are bigger.
Their doctor’s visit costs more.
Heating their house in winter feels impossible.

Eggs are still up nearly 30 percent in two years. That’s a parent in the aisle putting one carton back because the money won’t stretch far enough. Rents are devouring nearly half of a family’s income. That’s a mom deciding which bill won’t get paid this month. Healthcare premiums climbing again. That’s a worker wondering if they can afford to take their kid to the doctor.

And if the government shuts down, it won’t just be political theater. Nutrition assistance will freeze. Kids who count on school lunch programs will go hungry. Social Security checks will slow. Retirees waiting on that deposit to buy groceries or pay for medicine will be left scrambling. Federal workers will go without pay, families missing rent, cutting back on food, dipping into savings that are already gone. Roads won’t get fixed. FEMA’s response to disasters will be weaker. The very things people count on every day will stop.

This isn’t politics. This is life.

And here’s the contradiction that breaks my heart. The people being squeezed the hardest are often the ones cheering the loudest. The working poor turned into hype men for billionaires. Defending the very man whose policies make their lives harder.

But that is Trump’s gift to his loyal base, not policy, not vision, not leadership. Permission. Permission to hate. Permission to rage. Permission to believe that the pain in your life is someone else’s fault, and that he’s the only one who understands it.

So put it all together. The UN speech. The rant on Truth Social. Macron dangling a prize. YouTube opening the gates. The polls sliding as Americans feel the pinch. It paints one picture.

Strip it all down and you find one thing.

Trump demanding validation.

He doesn’t govern. He performs.
He doesn’t lead. He demands applause.
And when he doesn’t get it, he lashes out.

Leaving America weaker.
Angrier.
More divided.

Much like most people who are paying attention, I am exhausted. Exhausted of watching him humiliate us abroad and unravel at home. Exhausted of living in a country where cruelty is cheered and lies are rewarded. Exhausted of being told that rage is leadership and chaos is strength.

But exhaustion is the plan. They want us tired. They want us silent. They want us broken.

We cannot give them that.

Because Donald Trump is not invincible. He is not inevitable. He is not forever.

He is only as powerful as our silence.
He is only as strong as our surrender.

An unhinged leader has exposed this nation. But together, we can refuse to let him destroy it.

And that is what terrifies him most.

And this is where we turn exhaustion into resolve. Because resolve means action, and in California that means voting YES on Prop 50, the Election Rigging Response Act. Prop 50 gives us a temporary congressional map that pushes back against partisan redistricting from Texas is doing. If you’re not in California, talk to friends who are. Make a donation. Share it online. Because these fights don’t stop at state borders. What happens here ripples outward, shaping the country we all live in.

So tonight, as we look back on a day of humiliation for our country, we can still take strength in knowing this: nothing is forever. We are not too far gone to right this ship. Because as long as we believe in the promise of better days, we still have the power to make them real.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather