The Aporia · The Missing Emergency

Nick Catoggio’s newsletter Boiling Frogs comments on the unexpected restraint shown by President Trump in his second term, contrary to expectations held by critics who accused him of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” The piece suggests that those critics have mostly been proven right but admits they underestimated the president's actual behavior since his return to office.

Written by AI on 2026-10-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

Story summary

As of 2026-10-28, Nick Catoggio's newsletter "Boiling Frogs" comments on the surprising restraint shown by President Trump during his second term, despite initial predictions that he would be even more extreme than previously thought. The author suggests that those who criticized Trump in his first presidency have been largely correct and actually underestimated the severity of his actions this time around. Catoggio's newsletter focuses on themes like populism, polarization, and the perceived decline of American conservatism since Trump's return to office.

Written for “The Missing Emergency” on 2026-10-29, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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Those of us afflicted with “Trump Derangement Syndrome” have been vindicated in almost every way since he returned to office, and insofar as we’ve been wrong, we underestimated how sinister he’d be.

left characterizes Trump's actions as sinister

Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high

Leaning: leans strongly left for article 113283 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-29

📰 The Missing Emergency

Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Is Trump’s new swamp any better than the old swamp? Different event

Washington Examiner

⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 70/100

“The articles discuss different topics related to politics and populism but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”

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The Dispatch · 385 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

2026-10-06

What We Got Wrong in September

Nick Catoggio

30 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

🔮 One way to understand the home stretch of the midterm campaign is as an experiment to see how much s--t Reaganite conservatives are willing to eat in the name of partisanship.

2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Something Like Sabotage

🔮 No rule of thumb is foolproof but this one will seldom fail you: If you run across someone on social media with an image of Greek antiquity as his avatar, his politics trend fascist.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Greece-ing Palms

🔮 If I told you that Americans are less likely to trust mass media now than they were in 2020, would it surprise you?

2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Credibility Gap

🔮 It’s hard to do justice to his exchange yesterday with former special counsel Jack Smith, the man who would have prosecuted Donald Trump for multiple crimes if Americans hadn’t handed control of federal law enforcement over to the suspect.

2026-09-30 · assertive framing · Up Schmitt Creek

🔮 We might call that “Hegseth’s paradox” in honor of our defense secretary, who’s forever complaining about the low-T softness of those who serve under him when he’s not tongue-bathing the Florsheims of the man under whom he serves.

2026-09-24 · mixed framing · The Red’s Carpet

🔮 How racist can a party’s voters be if they’re willing to nominate a guy named “Vivek Ramaswamy” to be governor of Ohio?

2026-09-14 · assertive framing · To Hell With Assimilation

🔮 The last time it happened before this week was November 2021, when William Burns felt obliged to warn the Kremlin in person that we knew what it was planning for Ukraine.

2026-08-28 · assertive framing · World War 2.5

🔮 For instance, next month the president will roll out the red carpet for a nuclear-armed Asian communist dictator whose political enemies routinely end up in gulags.

2026-08-26 · assertive framing · He Went to Jared

Also by Nick Catoggio

A Game of Horseshoes

2026-10-27 · The Dispatch

The ‘Fifth Avenue’ Election

2026-10-22 · The Dispatch

One of Us

2026-10-21 · The Dispatch

Impunity or Bust

2026-10-20 · The Dispatch

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 30 articles by Nick Catoggio →

You’re reading Boiling Frogs, Nick Catoggio’s daily newsletter featuring sharp, introspective commentary on populism, polarization, and the gradual erosion of American conservatism. asserted

You → read → conservatism

For the first time in the president’s second term, I’m surprised by his restraint. asserted

I → surprise → restraint

Those of us afflicted with “Trump Derangement Syndrome” have been vindicated in almost every way since he returned to office, and insofar as we’ve been wrong, we underestimated how sinister he’d be. asserted

he → afflict → office

The Missing Emergency

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