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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the skyhook. Michael Jordan had the fadeaway. Donald Trump has … “the distraction”—at least, he used to.

Throughout his political career, Trump’s signature skill has been to drive the conversation where he wanted it to go. He declares victory when things have not been won. He ducks attribution with the rhetorical tic “many people are saying,” frequently followed by things that people are decidedly not saying. He posts outrageous graphics on social media. And, of course, he renames things: Political opponents get nicknames, buildings get Trump’s name, and bodies of water get America’s name.

For the past decade of political life, moves like those have been enough to commandeer news cycles, sometimes for days or even weeks. Except, of late, it’s running out of steam.

That was demonstrated last week when Trump announced he’d rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid an ongoing trade dispute with Canada. It’s a move we’ve seen before. Immediately upon taking office in 2025, Trump decreed that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the Gulf of America. It was a quick........

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