Hi there, everyone. It's 4 o'clock in New York.

Quote, like a man trying to race upward on a downward-moving escalator. That is how the

Atlantics David From describes Donald Trump right now, a flailing lame duck president dogged by questions

surrounding his relationship with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his administration's

handling of the Epstein case, facing falling approval ratings on practically every single issue

as the list of unfulfilled campaign promises from ending the war in Ukraine on

day one to lowering the price of, quote, the grocery gets longer and longer by the day.

Brand new polling from Ipsos and the Washington Post shows that Donald Trump is underwater

on all of the major issues. Just 34% of Americans approve of his signature economic policy of

tariffs. Just 40% of Americans approve of his overall handling of the economy. On immigration and

crime wants a strong suit for Donald Trump. Just 44% of Americans approve of the job he's doing.

And this is important because it's the context,

right, for Donald Trump's power grabs and near naked corruption. A rising resistance to Trump

and his agenda affects the calculations of anyone who faces a conflict with him and then a choice.

Do they acquiesce to an increasingly unpopular president or do they fight? As David Frum puts it, quote, autocracies are headed by one

man but require the cooperation of many others. Some collaborators may sincerely share the

autocrats' goals, but opportunists provide a crucial margin of support.

In the United States, such people now have to make a difficult calculation.

Do the present benefits of submitting to Trump's will outweigh the future hazards?

Take for example the return of Jimmy Kimmel.

He was suspended in the wake of the Trump administration's public pressure campaign

with the head of the FCC openly using mob-like language when it told parent company Disney,

...