Photo: Manuel Ceneta/Manuel Ceneta/AP/dpa
Photo: Manuel Ceneta/Manuel Ceneta/AP/dpa

Ideas

Trump Might Be Losing His Race Against Time

The president is gambling that he can consolidate authority before the public turns too sharply against him.

First published in The Atlantic on September 21, 2025.

by David Frum, The Atlantic
September 25, 2025 | reading time: 4 Min.

President Donald Trump is worried that Attorney General Pam Bondi is moving too slowly to prosecute his political adversaries on fake charges. Trump has good reason to be concerned. He is carrying out his project to consolidate authoritarian power against the trend of declining public support for his administration and himself. He is like a man trying to race upward on a downward-moving escalator. If he loses the race, he will be pulled ever deeper below—and the escalator keeps moving faster against him.

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