In electoral politics, it is usually the party no longer in power that promises that a victory will end the rule of an unpopular majority in Congress or a president. The usual message from a minority party in a midterm election is that it should be elected to serve as a check on the president. The message of checks and balances has inherent appeal for many voters because the system of checks and balances between the three branches of government is ingrained in America’s national DNA. In modern American electoral politics, one party’s control of the federal government is never…
Author: Frank M. Everett
If you have already asked questions how bad a president’s State of the Union address is It must be up to members of his own party to rate him relatively low, Trump’s 2026 SOTU speech provided some answers.Usually, viewers of State of the Union addresses tend to be one of two things. Viewers follow politics and also tend to be fans of the current president. Therefore, it is difficult for a president to get poor ratings in a viewer poll after the State of the Union address.PoliticusUSA offers you non-partisan analysis of current events. Support us by becoming a subscriber.After…
By design, Rachel Maddow doesn’t pay much attention to Donald Trump’s comments on her show MS NOW. Maddow doesn’t stream many, if any, Trump video clips. She doesn’t quote Trump much. One of cable news’s most-watched hosts reminds her viewers to always pay attention to the actions behind Trump’s words.When Trump gives a big speech like the State of the Union, One of the best things about Maddow hosting the MS NOW roundtable is that she often fact-checks quickly and in real time.Watch Jason’s reaction to Trump’s SOTU:After Trump’s tedious State of the Union, Maddow quickly offered corrections on some…
Donald Trump really needed to use the first State of the Union address of his second term to do a hard reset. Trump just reached his lowest approval rating, at 36%. What Trump had to say about anything else doesn’t really matter. It was the economy that caused his presidency to fail.Earlier Tuesday, Republicans were desperately hoping that Trump would get the message and talk to the American people about affordability, but because this president thinks the economic hardship of non-wealthy people is a hoax, that’s exactly what hasn’t happened.Americans needed to hear that Trump understood.PoliticusUSA is nonpartisan, straightforward analysis.…
The allegation that Donald Trump sexually abused a 13-year-old girl decades ago while he was friends with Jeffrey Epstein has been circulating on the Internet since Trump’s first presidential campaign.PoliticusUSA is 100% independent. Support us by becoming a subscriber.The allegation has been circulating for years and years, but never seems to come to fruition.Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department may have given new life to the allegation when they chose to illegally withhold FBI interviews with the accuser that were conducted in 2019 when the Epstein files were released.NPR reported:Some files have not been made public despite a…
The White House faces an uphill battle as Trump prepares to deliver the first State of the Union of his second administration. There has been a bitter struggle between Trump and the American people since the 2024 election.PoliticusUSA is not beholden to any political party, special interest, or corporation. We are 100% independent. Support our work by becoming a subscriber.The American people want Trump to focus on affordability and costs, while Donald Trump wants to discuss everything and nothing else. Trump continues to call affordability a hoax and claimed last week that he had defeated affordability.The electoral landscape, as summarized…
There are two schools of thought on whether Democrats should attend Trump’s State of the Union. On one side are Democrats who don’t want any of their members present and being what they consider props in Trump’s audience.PoliticusUSA is 100% independent. We do not answer to any political party. Support us by becoming a subscriber.The flip side of this argument is that people go to the speech to protest the president, or invite guests like Epstein survivors and people who have been harmed by ICE to raise awareness and draw attention to Trump’s policies.There is no right or wrong answer.…
Donald Trump loses all his bluster on customs tariffs. Trump can no longer intimidate foreign countries after the Supreme Court rejected his emergency reciprocal tariffs. Republicans and the White House complained that Trump “lost his influence” when the court ruled that no president could compensate and impose tariffs unilaterally. PoliticusUSA is 100% independent. Support us by becoming a subscriber. CNN’s Aaron Blake explained that Trump could collapse his entire house of tariff cards if he continues to try to use Section 122:And his stated alternative, whereby he would institute a 15% global tariff under different authority, could easily fail –…
With the exception of Bill Clinton, presidents generally do not become more popular in their second term than they were in their first. The fact that Trump is less popular in his second term is a special case because Donald Trump was also the least popular president of this century in his first. Trump is the only president in history to never exceed 50% job approval. PoliticusUSA is not beholden to any political party, billionaire, or special interest. Support us by becoming a subscriber.An unpopular president who spent his first year pursuing policies that made him even more unpopular while…
Donald Trump is always trying to play tough around the world, and it’s not working. The Iranian regime is an enemy of democracy and freedom. Iran is a bad actor that has sponsored terrorism for decades. The world would be safer if the regime were replaced by a form of government that reflects the will of the Iranian people. That said, Donald Trump’s handling of Iran so far makes Bush’s preparation for the Iraq invasion look like a master class in military strategy. PoliticusUSA news and opinions are 100% independent. Support us by becoming a subscriber.Instead of doing something as…