Taking Stock of the Summer of 2026.

The summer is a time for family vacations, time away from work and school, and a time to relax and recharge your batteries. That’s pretty much how I’ve approached the summer of 2026. The nation’s 250th anniversary went off without any major calamities, and most Americans are just trying to beat the heat and squeak by despite inflated prices. There are still several weeks left to summer, so there’s no need to get too serious until after Labor Day.
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Like most Americans this time of the year, I’ve reduced my intake of news programs, podcasts, newspapers and doom scrolling through my various media feeds. However, a few stories have seeped into my consciousness which have important implications for the country and shouldn’t be ignored. Below I recount just a few of them.

Iran War: The war in Iran, which Trump claimed would take only a matter of weeks, drags into its sixth month. Since its start Trump has claimed “total and complete victory” and the total defeat of Iran’s military capabilities on more than 100 occasions. Unfortunately, the Iranians haven’t gotten the message. They continue to restrict the flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, threaten other Gulf states with missiles and drones, and have stymied American negotiators at every turn.

Trump now claims to be “semi-negotiating" with the Iranians. In my reading of history, the victors usually dictate the terms of surrender, and it appears as if the Iranians have the upper hand. Now that the U.S. stockpiles of munitions and antimissile systems have been drastically depleted, the U.S. has very little leverage. Due to the lack of strategic planning in the White House, a newly emboldened Iran holds the U.S. and the world hostage. Throw into the mix the Iranian backed Houthi rebels in Yemen who are threatening Saudi Arabia and shipping lanes in the Red Sea, and you have a world that is much more unstable than at the start of the war.
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Measured in U.S. blood and treasure, not to mention the hit to the global economy, Trump’s war of choice has been a disaster. It’s no wonder that Trump is desperate to extricate himself from this self-inflicted folly.  

AG Todd Blanche: Last Monday Todd Blanche was sworn in as the U.S. attorney general (AG). Blanche is now the most powerful law enforcement official in the country overseeing the Department of Justice (DOJ). In his new role Blanche has oversight over the FBI, DEA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the office of Justice Programs, U.S. attorneys, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The AG also advises the president on appointments to positions within the federal judiciary and the DOJ.

For decades the DOJ and the attorney general have maintained an independence from the president. In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, stronger rules and norms were put into place to protect the DOJ from political influence. Before joining Trump’s administration in 2024, Blanche defended Trump as his personal attorney in several criminal cases, including two brought by the DOJ under President Joe Biden.

As the under-deputy attorney general and then as acting attorney general, Blanche demonstrated that his loyalty to Trump out weighted his pursuit of justice. He was responsible for preventing any damaging information about Trump buried in the Epstein files from ever seeing the light of day and orchestrated the transfer of Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell from a federal prison in Florida to a cushy minimum security in Texas. Blanche has overseen investigations of several of Trump’s perceived enemies, including former FBI director James Comey, New York AG Letitia James, special prosecutor Jack Smith, California Senator Adam Schiff, and many more.
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The days of an independent DOJ and an attorney general dedicated to the pursuit of impartial justice are over. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for Trump to resurrect his $1.776 billion slush fund to compensate his allies who committed crimes in his name, and how Blanche manufactures the legal pretext for Trump to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell. I am genuinely concerned that the new attorney general will serve the interests of Donald Trump and not those of the American people. 

Trump’s Red Scare Rhetoric:  Is Donald Trump the new Joseph McCarthy for the 21st century? It certainly seems that way as he tries to pin the red label of communist to every democratic candidate. According to Trump the Democratic Party is, “۰۰۰becoming a communist party. These are not Social Democrats, these are hardcore, godless Communists.”

Some progressive democrats belong to the Democratic Socialists of America, but none of them profess to being communists or believing in communism. As progressive democratic candidates have won races in New York, Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota recently, Trump has only ramped up his rhetoric. He called communism, “۰۰۰the most serious threat to our country since its existence, and potentially a greater threat than World War One, World War Two, or the September 11, 2001 attacks”. Scary stuff if it wasn’t pure nonsense. If communism is such a threat to our existence, why does he go out of his way to cozy up to communist style leaders such as Putin of Russia, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, and Xi Jinping of China?  
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If Trump knew what communism was, maybe he wouldn’t be so quick to use it as a pejorative against his opponents. Central planning and government control over institutions and the means of production are the hallmarks of communism. Since returning to office Trump has engaged in heavy handed tactics to manipulate markets, gotten educational institutions and private companies to bend to his will, and tried to federalize elections. He has turned free markets upside down with his tariff policies and by using government resources to take equity stakes in over 30 companies involved in semiconductors, critical minerals, laser technology and others. Just this week the Department of Commerce announced new investments of $870 million in return for equity stakes in seven companies involved in the manufacture of semiconductors. Who is the real communist here?

​Clearly Trump is trying to change the narrative away from his disastrous war in Iran and the discontent at home. His red scare tactics may resonate with his base and older voters, but they will probably ring hollow with younger voters who grew up in the post-cold war era.  Knowledge is the best weapon against Trump’s rhetoric. Not all progressive democrats are members of the Democratic Socialists of America and socialism is not communism. To conflate the two is disingenuous. 

Trump’s Vanity Projects: According to New York Times reporting, Donald Trump spends 70% of his energy and attention on his various gilding, construction and renovation projects around the nation’s capital. With so many critical issues facing the country that is a huge amount of time wasted by Trump as he rushes to put his name on as many buildings and monuments as possible to build a legacy to himself. This is nothing more than hubris and vanity, and a disservice to the country. Trump doesn’t seem interested in ending the war, tackling inflation, or anything else that matters to the American people.
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Trump has already committed nearly $1 billion to various projects around Washington D.C. These include adding gold-colored trim and fixtures, gilded carvings, and gold statues throughout the Oval Office. He has paved over the White House Rose Garden, built and re-built a helipad on the South Lawn, and bulldozed the East Wing to build his $800 million ballroom.  Trump fast-tracked a project to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool which ended in disaster. After tens of millions of dollars and several redos, the project is weeks behind schedule, resulting in finger pointing, claims of vandalism and discredited felony charges against the supposed vandals. Trump’s planned 250-foot Triumphal Arch, with an estimated price tag of $100 million, is still in the works, as are several other projects.

It’s nice for the president to have “hobbies”, but not at taxpayer’s expense. Trump claims that all his projects will be paid for through private donations, and since he returned to office, he has raised over $800 million. But everyone knows that the quickest way to get Trump’s attention is with a big check, and some of the world’s largest companies have been generous donors. Many of these donors have been granted anonymity; and no wonder. Dozens of the corporate donors have received new or increased government contracts over the past six months, worth over $50 billion. The lack of transparency of many of these donors is troubling, as is the diversion of government funds from other programs to fund these projects. The Secret Service has already redirected over $350 million for ballroom construction, and the Interior Department has used millions of dollars in National Parks receipts for several of Trump’s projects.
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America deserves better than a president who is more focused on building monuments to himself than doing the people’s business. It should be a lesson to all of us that when you look at your image in a reflecting pool and all that you see is green pond scum, the universe is trying to tell you something! 

The Exploding National Debt: The nation’s national debt is heading towards a fiscal cliff and members of Congress and the president are silent on the issue. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the fiscal year 2026 deficit will be $2.1 trillion. This will push the national debt to over $40 trillion by the end of the summer.

The interest to service the national debt will be a staggering $1.4 trillion for this fiscal year alone. That’s higher than the defense budget and dwarfs all discretionary spending. Interest on the debt is the fastest growing portion of the federal budget and is crowding out other spending priorities, such as housing, healthcare, education, food and agriculture programs, and infrastructure.  
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The national debt impacts American families by pushing up interest rates on mortgages, car loans, college loans, and credit cards. Higher interest rates for businesses lead to higher costs for products and services, and less money available for wage growth. No one is immune from higher interest rates.

The tax cuts in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” of 2025 accrue mostly to high income earners and the wealthy.  These tax cuts were not offset by spending cuts and will add several more trillion dollars to the national debt over the next decade. The cost of the Iran War and increased demands from the Pentagon are also adding to America’s fiscal woes.

The Social Security trust fund is projected to face a funding shortfall in 2032, and the Medicare trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits as soon as 2033.  The longer Congress fails to address these funding shortfalls the more painful it will be to rectify them. These are but a few of many critical issues facing the country, but we have a president obsessed with his vanity projects and a Congress wrapped up in partisan nonsense. It’s time for them all to get to work for the American people.
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There are many things to consider when you head to the polls in November, and I haven’t even mentioned the billions that Trump has made in his various crypto schemes, or his selling early access to his market moving Truth Social posts. But I didn’t want to ruin the rest of your summer. Go out and focus on what is important to you and your family. Stay healthy and have fun. There will be plenty of time to get serious in the fall. 

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Thanks,
Armchair American