In two weeks, Donald Trump faces his moment of truth; transformational midterm elections that will drastically influence the rest of his presidency, for better or for worse.

Assuming that he cannot find a way around the constitutional ban on him running for a third time in 2028, he now has a limited time left to make sure he leaves office the most consequential president ever. Again, for better, or worse.

Motivated deeply by fame, that could make for an (even more) volatile ride than we’ve seen so far as his administration enters its final stages.

Whatever happens in the House and Senate elections, he remains commander in chief of the US armed forces with the power to unleash conflict, perhaps with even less restraint than he’s shown in his intemperate and economically reckless decision to go to war against Iran.

So, if in many ways this era has resembled reality TV, the finale is yet to come, and Trump is all about attention grabbing climaxes that both rate and divert attention from his failures.

His administration’s threats to livestream an execution – plans he’s now had to walk back – to shift the focus from Iran, and his betrayal of Ukraine while doing deals with Russia is a new low.

Such barbaric politically motivated “entertainment”, usually confined to the most gruesome of autocracies,........

© The Guardian