Trump took to the lectern to deliver what is now known as the American Carnage speech. He portrayed a MAGA utopia that would sweep over the land like a comfortable, warm blanket. He promised to bring back sanity to Washington, DC by throwing out the undesirables, thus draining the swamp. His vision was benevolent anger, presumably on your behalf.

As we know now, just a day before Trump returns to the presidency for one last adventure, nothing he promised materialized. He had no chance to bring those malicious promises to life. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t sink his vision. His addiction to deficit spending and tax reductions for the rich, which exploded the national debt, wasn’t the cause of his failure.

Trump failed to remake America in his first term because MAGA and the Trump conspirators were lazy, untalented, corrupt buffoons. Not a single person, Trump included, had any plan or made any effort to make good on the inauguration speech that startled and frighted the world. Incompetence ruled with a weak and pathetic fist. His cabinet and senior advisory positions were filled with sycophants and ego-trip bystanders.

The Brookings Institute tracked the turnover of Trump’s senior staff and Cabinet positions. Among his primary advisors, 92% of the positions had two or more appointees. His Cabinet had 14 resignations and replacements. Both of those figures are all-time presidential records for appointee turnover. His shortest tenured appointment famously was Anthony Scaramucci, who was communications director for only 11 days, and is now a podcaster, crypto-bro, and solidly anti-Trump.

He had no plan. He figured his experience in business was enough to make things happen. He would assert his vast energy resources of persuasion and influence. Looking back, it seems almost comical to recall. Trump failed at every task a president has. He cemented himself as the worst chief executive in US history. He was derided as a fool over and over again. Yet, we are a day away from is return.

During his first inauguration speech, Trump promised a turnaround for the ordinary citizen. The little guy wasn’t going to be stomped on in a Trump administration, no sir. He promised to get going fast:

“For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land. That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”

In reality, Trump started committing a series of un-prosecuted bribery and conspiracy crimes that had nothing to do with elevating “struggling families” or protecting the citizens of America. His hotel in Washington, DC overflowed with foreign visitors, stumbling at the chance to shower Donald with cash. His businesses thrived under the “supervision” of his idiot son, Eric Trump. After Trump ignored the Khashoggi murder, Saudi Arabia waited patiently for four years then shoveled $2B into Jared Kushner’s “investment advisory firm”.

Then came the impeachments. Trump excelled in his crimes so well as to generate two Senate trials. His first impeachment gave us the Russia, Russia, Russia! expression for his soliciting foreign interference to win the 2016 election. He was not convicted despite convincing evidence. The second impeachment, amid the backdrop of the Jan 6th attack on the Capitol, was for abuse of power, when he demanded Ukrainian President Zelensky trade kompromat on Hunter Biden in exchange for a financial aid package granted by Congress. Again, Trump was not convicted despite overwhelming evidence. His Senate trial produced the infamous “he’s learned his lesson” quote from Susan Collins (R-ME).

Trump never built his wall. Mexico never paid for a wall. He tariffed American farmers to the brink of extinction. He falsely blamed all civil disruption on BLM or Antifa. The list of injustices goes too far to be any more instructive. His lies and misstatements are legend. Trump made over 30,000 documented false statements in his first term. The Wikipedia article has 600 citations. There are thousands of YouTube videos documenting lie after lie. His character is what ethicists across the ages have warned humanity to avoid.

So, here we are again. After four years of economic prosperity, job growth, and an American renewal post-Covid-19. Trump has returned. He received less than 50% of the total vote. He has no mandate. His second presidency is shaping up to be the same as the first, except for one important change. This time he has a plan and an expert team behind the scenes.

Trump raged about ending the ‘American Carnage’ eight years ago, but now he’s poised to inflict a catastrophe on America. He will cause real destruction in the streets, on foreign soil, and damage the United States’ reputation and credibility for generations to come. We shouldn’t be deceived by the caravan of fools he has nominated for his Cabinet positions. All of them, and I really mean every person who was nominated, are conflicted, unqualified, or outright sociopaths.

How then will his second term be so destructive if he’s surrounding himself with idiots? Part of his growth as an authoritarian figure comes from learning how to game the system. We have seen this live on TV for two years throughout his various criminal trials. Delays, objections, and appeals achieved the intended effect to run out the clock, hoping for a successful reelection. SCOTUS handed him a literal Get Out Of Jail card. Trump understands now his power lies not in his Cabinet, rather his influence further down into the administrative organizational chart is where true power exists.

Project 2025, the heavily promoted, then disavowed, then re-embraced plan to destroy American government from the ground up, is assembled and waiting to be put into action. Donald Trump doesn’t care about the ideology of the fascist movement underlying the Heritage Foundation’s plan. He cares not about banning abortion or re-segregating schools or the Ten Commandment in the classroom. He only seeks fame. He wants a legacy. He wants his name in lights in perpetuity. He is an ego addict, plain and simple.

The 2024 campaign was littered with social issues from trans rights, to abortion laws. Contraception legality and gay marriage were debated, again. Fear was broadcast to every unfairly marginalized group who were then used as campaign cudgels. Immigrant rapists. Black shoplifters. Unhoused arsonists. Teen sluts. Democrats are pedophiles. Nobody can afford eggs or rent. He played the hits over and over during this campaign.

It was a winning hand. There is no denying a plurality of Americans are unabashed racists and hate mongers. They fear anyone who isn’t them. They fear the loss of what they have, even if that fear is founded in fantasy. 49% of voters agreed the fascist, racist, criminal, failed business guy is their guy. They want an American Carnage and hope Donald a can deliver this time.

Trump has learned well. He promised a cleanup last time. This time he’s promising a clean out. He’ll settle for 1M deportations instead of 20M. He’ll accept some tariffs instead of many. If he manages to slash Medicare and find Congressional support for more billionaire tax cuts, that’s great. Trump wants wins. If the people want racism and authoritarianism, then they will get it if Trump gets the wins.

He will fail to undo the American present and return to a utopian, immigrant-free American past. That is because there is no American past to return to – there never was. Past prosperity is a gaslit dream. Sure eggs were 35¢ in 1973, but gasoline was $5. Every era has its problems, whether social or economic, foreign or domestic. People only remember the good days, and they forget or repress the bad days. Trump’s task is to fool people into thinking he’s going to deliver those good days with a robust clean-out and shine of the American experience.

What will happen instead is overwhelming civil disorder. Economic calamity. Foreign conflict. Social upheaval. Religious resentment. Physical and mental insecurity. Dismissal of education, science, and logic. Graft, grift, corruption, and deceit explode into a disrupted and rapidly deteriorating social system. Positive health outcomes plummet. Relationships and families are further strained. Jobs and careers disappear. Homelessness surges. Nest-egg savings evaporate. We collectively will produce the American Carnage unwittingly.

Trump promised to end what he saw as an America that was suffering. Instead, he will transform an America that is rising into a country in crisis, worse than the lie he tried to sell in 2016. He will fail to be famous. Instead, he will cement his legacy as infamous for accelerating the American decline. I hope I am wrong.