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you → send → this
As usual, today we run the rule over the president’s week with two political strategists.
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we → run → strategists
Plus, who did the chief executive of Anthropic label as “Benedict Arnolds?”
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executive → label → Arnolds
As so often, you can rely on President Donald Trump to say the quiet part aloud.
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you → rely → part
“We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd,” he posted on Truth Social on Thursday.
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he → attack → Thursday
The president’s approval rating has sunk from about 48% to somewhere around 35% (depending on which polls you read) today since he launched the war with Iran.
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he → sink → Iran
It is no wonder that he wants the war to sink into a low-level confrontation and blockade so that Americans can forget all about it.
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Americans → want → it
That reckons without the Iranians, unfortunately.
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That → reckon → Iranians
Oil prices surged on Thursday, and stock markets fell after at least eight tankers were attacked as they transited the Strait of Hormuz.
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they → surge → Hormuz
At the same time, escalating exchanges between Houthis and Saudi Arabia have only added to the difficulties of exporting energy from the region.
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exchanges → escalate → region
It is almost as if Iran is deliberately increasing pressure on Trump during the final month of midterm campaigning.
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Iran → increase → campaigning
For his part, the president had another busy week hopping around red states.
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president → have → states
He used the occasion to sign an executive order designed to reduce the price of diesel fuel, but the headlines were all about what he said on Iran.
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he → use → Iran
“They can take out a city.
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They → take → city
Let them take out Los Angeles.
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them → let → Angeles
Let them take out San Diego,” he said, apparently in an effort to justify the war, but drew sharp pushback from Gov. Gavin Newsom and California local mayors.
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he → let → Newsom
On Tuesday, it was Sparrows Point, Maryland, near Baltimore, to publicize a $3.7 billion Anduril Industries investment to build nuclear-submarine components at a shipyard on the site of the shuttered Bethlehem Steel mill.
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it → publicize → mill
The next day, he flew to San Antonio to try to shore up Republican candidates in Texas.
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he → fly → Texas
Such is the panic in Republican circles that they are worried about Gov. Greg Abbott‘s (R-TX) reelection chances, let alone Ken Paxton‘s Senate race.
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they → worry → chances
The president stayed at the White House on Thursday for a splashy “Golden Age of American Innovation Summit.”
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president → stay → Summit
He awarded National Medals of Science to Tesla founder Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, and Advanced Micro Devices chief executive Lisa Su.
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He → award → Musk
“We live in an age of American wonders and technological marvels, and with the help of the brilliant men and women here today, we will always be on top,” Trump said.
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Trump → live → top
Some commentators said the event sat awkwardly alongside the administration’s cuts to federal research funding and the fact that most of the honorees are major Trump or GOP donors.
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most → say → honorees
Trump heads to Syracuse, New York, later on Friday, for a campaign rally.
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Trump → head → rally
On Saturday, the destination is Clarksville, Tennessee, followed by Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for the Georgia-Alabama football game.
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destination → follow → game
So what do our two strategists make of it all?
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strategists → make → it
John Zogby: F
“Frantic” and “panic” are words to associate with Trump this week.
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Frantic → associate → Trump
He’s reading the polls (both public and private) and sensing that the GOP is on the ropes this fall.
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GOP → read → ropes
His approval rating remains at or near its lowest level, and it is underwater in 47 of 50 states.
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it → remain → states
He is traveling from red state to red state to shore up his base, but in normal times that would be seen as non-productive.
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that → travel → times
These are not normal times, and he is meeting boos and jeers from previous Trump voters at every stop.
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he → meet → stop
The president is attempting to plug some leaks among his supporters while more and more candidates are running away from him, including in Texas and Florida.
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candidates → attempt → Texas
But this year, we are experiencing a politics of disappointment.
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we → experience → disappointment
The history of desperate presidents bouncing from state to state is fraught with risk.
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history → bounce → risk
Reports that he was drunk and combative with crowds led to a massive Republican wave and veto-proof Congress — and impeachment.
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he → lead → wave
Woodrow Wilson, against the advice of pretty much everyone, took to the whistle-stop approach to campaign for his League of Nations.
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Wilson → take → Nations
He lost it and suffered a stroke, which debilitated him physically and shut him off from the public in the last months of his incumbency.
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which → lose → incumbency
He faced a fractured Democratic Party with a candidate from the left (former VP Henry Wallace) and the right (segregationist Strom Thurmond).
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He → face → left
Still unknown to many Americans, he got to show off a midwestern everyman authenticity that was missing from his effete GOP opponent, Thomas Dewey.
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that → get → opponent
He is talking about how life in the U.S. is better, how Iran is on the ropes, prices are coming down, and Americans need to sacrifice a little longer for things to get better.
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things → talk → ropes
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
