Only one out of every three Americans approves of Donald Trump's performance, according the latest AP polling — which is relatively meaningless until noting that the same poll last month had him at a 38% approval rating. If you challenged a president to purposefully drop approval by five percentage points, that'd be quite the task — but this administration seems uniquely qualified.

Of course, starting a war for reasons that pass understanding of even Trump's biggest supporters, leading to exploding gas prices and a possible ceasefire that looks like an own goal, goes a long way alone — ironic, since Trump alone started it.

Not for nothing, but when one also takes a gratuitous shot at the first American Pope, one had best figuratively hit something, not get nailed on the ricochet. That didn't work.

And so it stands, with the news even worse on handling the economy, at 30% approval, and a stunning 23% approval in tackling affordability, aka "the price of everything from soda to sofas."

And all this would be little more than satisfying schadenfreude if it didn't invite even more imperialist urges already circulating in a man drowning in a drain.

Many of us have long written that Trump survived every scandal to date — amidst a stable, if not roaring, economy. But Americans have little tolerance for economic pain. Fair or not, they will set about to find a scandal worthy of our anger, the best target always being the current president. Thus it is that Trump's scandals — pick one — mean more, much more, and both sides bear some risk arising out of a risible man.

Enter Epstein, the perfect scandal. What could be more compelling than a president obstructing the investigation into child sex trafficking, all amidst the appearance that he's doing so for a reason? Whether that reason is protecting friends, as he told the newly sane Marjorie Taylor-Greene, or protecting his only real friend — himself — is left to be determined... We hope. But it doesn't matter. If the nation needs an outlet, let it be this one.

There is also the grift, the strategy for which seems to be to overwhelm the system such that no one scandal dominates the front page or screen. Grab a 747? I guess. Apple needs tariff relief? A gold brick holder. How thoughtful, Trump's favorite color. The grift hasn't sufficiently grated the public yet, not enough.

But it's all different now. No one is happy, none more upset than the ketchup thrower himself, and that's bad because we've seen what happens when he's furious, and we still had gatekeepers at that point. We have Stephen Miller now as the gate attendant.

A president's party historically gets raked in the midterms. A president who polls in the low 30s gets fertilizer, and not the pellet kind. Trump doesn't like losing elections and has shown a willingness to toss them aside altogether. Our disapproval meets his disapproval. But he has an army.

Speaking of which, an increasingly dictatorial Trump has entertained the merits of The Insurrection Act before. But who needs an army when the economy is "okay" and one is polling in the mid-40s, full steam ahead? Not Trump. But the Act does allow the president to deploy military forces domestically to suppress rebellion in limited circumstances. Shudder the thought, but if only 30% of Americans approve of Trump, would he consider such criticism a rebellion against "real Americans"?

We can't know until we know.

What we can know is that the American people are waking up to the fact that things are slipping, and doing so under his watch. Well, good. Because it's true. And needed.

The only problem is that there must be preparedness for a man willing to grab anything to keep from falling further. Trump may be firing generals for a reason. He may be breaking the White House with long-term plans. ICE sent to polling places, voter rolls requested, perhaps the vote suspended altogether. We can't know. Until we know.

"No kings" is the single best defense outside Congressional Democrats, finding some sympathies among drowning Republicans. Sympathies for what? Meaningful scandals of the type that bring presidents down. Cults are entirely vulnerable right up until they're not.

Yes, the scandals have been there since Comey and Russia. But this isn't that, not with gas pumps pumping up the electorate, not with numbers out today.

We do know that.

Jason Miciak is a Rawstory Columnist at Large, past Associate Editor at Occupy Democrats, attorney, author, single parent girldad. He can be followed on Bluesky here, and reached at [email protected]

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