Over the last six weeks, President Trump has been spending political capital like a drunk at a casino who insists he’s got “a system.” If history is any predictor, his second term trajectory may already be set — right off a cliff, pedal to the floor.

Too soon to say that? Consider former President Joe Biden, who, in his first weeks in office, reversed Trump’s border policies and unleashed another flood of pandemic relief cash. These moves ultimately helped create his two biggest political headaches: a migrant crisis and runaway inflation so bad that even Dollar Tree had to raise its prices.

Then Biden made it worse by shrugging the problems off. Immigration, his administration argued, was “cyclical,” and inflation was merely “transitory.” Neither explanation turned out to be accurate. His approval ratings tanked immediately upon his disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and never recovered.

Now it’s Trump’s turn to step on a rake. His approval ratings just went underwater, meaning he hit this particular milestone even faster than Biden. According to a new Ipsos poll, three in five Americans think the cost of living — you know, the issue that likely won Trump the 2024 election — is “going in the wrong direction.”

As you might recall, Trump promised to

© The Hill