What If Trump Is No Longer the Worst One in the Room?

It used to be easy to point at the problem. Donald Trump was the problem. Loud, unstable, corrupt, and obsessed with himself. He was a threat that was as obvious and dangerous. But now, as we settle deeper into this second Trump presidency, it’s becoming harder to ignore a darker possibility: he might not even be the most dangerous one in the room anymore.

Trumpism has mutated. It’s no longer just about Trump. This thing has taken on a life of its own. It’s strategic now. It’s systemic. It’s being guided by people who aren’t just opportunists but true believers in the complete destruction of our country. And some of them aren’t waiting for Trump to step aside; they’re building the infrastructure to outlast him. Because if Trump were to leave the office tomorrow, the man stepping into the Oval would be J.D. Vance. And next in line would be Mike Johnson.

That’s the line of succession. And it should terrify every person in this country who still believes in democracy.

J.D. Vance was best known as the author of Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about poverty in Appalachia, and later as a senator representing Ohio. He started out as a “never Trumper,” openly calling Trump dangerous and unserious. He even warned that Trump could be America’s Hitler. But once he was offered a spot on the ticket, Vance didn’t hesitate. He fell in line. Every criticism disappeared. Every contradiction was rewritten. He didn’t just accept the offer; he embraced it. He aligned himself with far-right donors like Peter Thiel and began defending policies that echo authoritarian regimes. Because for Vance, the goal was never principle, it was power. His shift wasn’t just political convenience; it was a full ideological pivot toward hard-right control. Now he stands next in line to inherit this movement.

Trump is a narcissist. He doesn’t care about people’s suffering because he’s incapable of empathy. He doesn’t study, he doesn’t plan, he doesn’t read. His evil is chaotic and driven by ego. But J.D. Vance is something else entirely. Vance is calculated. He’s cold. He’s smart. And he believes in what he’s doing. Not because he believes in the cause exactly, but because he believes in the power and positions it has given him on the world stage. Trump is indifferent to suffering. Vance seems to enjoy it. He relishes punishment. He’s the kind of man who embraces authoritarian cruelty not just as a tool, but as a virtue. And that makes him far more dangerous.

We’ve seen this kind of shift in other authoritarian governments before; it usually starts with a loud, chaotic leader who grabs power through shock and noise, but what comes next is even worse. After Mussolini came the officials who quietly turned his fascist ideas into a lasting system. Franco started with open violence, but it was the slow, organized control that kept his dictatorship in place for decades. It’s no less dangerous, it’s just more organized. Chaos grabs attention. Cold control locks it in.

Trump didn’t claw his way to the top through intelligence or planning. He got there by being a celebrity with a grievance and an army of enablers. But Vance was installed. Hand-picked. Funded by Peter Thiel. Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and early Facebook investor, is one of the central figures behind the MAGA-aligned New Right. He’s poured millions into campaigns like Vance’s, not to promote populism, but to install loyalist leaders who will dismantle the so-called “deep state” and replace it with a new executive authority. His vision isn’t democracy, it’s control.

Vance didn’t ride a wave, he was placed in the Senate by design. And that design has a name: Project 2025. A 900-page blueprint to dismantle our democracy and remake it in the image of a Christian nationalist oligarchy. Project 2025 was created by the Heritage Foundation and other far-right groups. It lays out a roadmap to fire tens of thousands of career civil servants and replace them with Trump loyalists, dismantle entire departments like Education and Energy, control the Justice Department, eliminate diversity programs, ban abortion nationwide, and consolidate power directly under the presidency. It’s not a policy platform, it’s a legal coup.

Trump once said he hadn’t read a word of it. And maybe that is still true. But Vance has. Trump can’t even follow a two-page briefing. Vance has been helping implement the plan page by page.

That’s the difference. Trump stumbles into chaos because he craves attention. Vance brings order to it, not to stop the damage, but to make it permanent. Trump breaks things because he doesn’t know better. Vance breaks them on purpose. He’s not the sideshow. He’s the system learning how to survive without the showman. And if Trump ever fades, it won’t be the end of MAGA. It will be the beginning of something far more dangerous, because the people coming after him aren’t improvising. They’re following a plan.

And while Vance waits in the wings, Trump is still at the center of the stage, spinning, deflecting, doing whatever it takes to survive another news cycle. He doesn’t have a doctrine. He has instincts. And when the pressure builds, he always reaches for the same escape hatch.

But the story can’t just be about Trump anymore. He’s the smoke, not the fire. The movement he started is growing without him, more focused, more disciplined, more dangerous. J.D. Vance is proof of that. He isn’t stepping forward to change course. He’s stepping forward to finish the job.

And standing right behind him is Mike Johnson, a religious extremist who once said democracy is a threat to Christian values. He wants to criminalize LGBTQ identity, outlaw abortion nationwide, and rewrite the Constitution through the lens of his own theology. If something happened to Vance, he’d be the President. That’s the line of succession. That’s the plan.

Trump is not the end of this movement. He was just the door. What’s coming through behind him is organized, intentional, and fully aware of what it’s doing. J.D. Vance is not Trump.

Before I close, there’s something else I need to put on your radar, and I’ll be writing more about this soon. But it’s serious, and it’s happening right now.

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing a full-scale overthrow of the Venezuelan government. Flights to Caracas have already been cancelled. Career government lawyers inside the State Department are raising red flags, warning that what’s already underway may be illegal. And yet, Trump’s allies, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, continue to push for a campaign they’ve branded “Southern Spear,” complete with strike groups, military assets, and a growing list of targets.

Let me be clear: no, the United States cannot simply “overthrow” another government. The U.S. Constitution does not grant this power to the president, and there is no legal mechanism under domestic or international law that allows the executive branch to remove a foreign regime unilaterally. The concept of “regime change” is a political phrase, not a legal authority. And history shows us the aftermath is often worse: insurgency, failed states, power vacuums. Think Iraq. Think Libya.

So why is Trump considering it? Because it’s a distraction. Because war creates chaos. Because Venezuela is politically isolated and can’t meaningfully fight back. Because this isn’t strategy, it’s spectacle. It’s because the walls are closing in on him here at home.

I’m watching this very closely, and I hope you will too. When an administration facing criminal exposure starts talking about foreign overthrows, we all need to pay attention.

But even with all the danger closing in, today reminded me that we are not powerless. Thousands filled the streets of Washington, D.C., demanding Trump’s impeachment and removal from office. This wasn’t a fringe movement; it was a disciplined, focused force of concerned citizens who came not just to protest, but to declare: we still believe in this country, and we are not letting it fall. They held signs that said “No King in America” and “Remove the Regime”. This is what resistance looks like. And we’re just getting started.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

P.S. If you’ve made it this far, chances are we see things the same way. You can help keep this work going by subscribing to my Substack; there’s a free option, or you can become a paid subscriber for just $5 a month. Paid subscriptions help me reach more people, cover more ground, and keep telling the truth about what’s happening to our country.