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Opinion - Have we reached the end of the Trump era?
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President Trump is famous for bouncing back. But maybe not this time. I must ask: Have we reached the end of the Trump era? Will the dog days of August 2026 go into the history books as the beginning of the end of Trump's grip on the Republican Party? Here is your replay of Trump's troubling lowlights for the Republican GOP primaries. In Minnesota last week, My Pillow salesman Mike Lindell had Trump's endorsement yet lost the Republican primary race for governor. Years spent promoting Trump's false claims about the 2020 election proved worthless to Lindell. Even Lindell's proclaimed power to pick up the phone and get Trump on the line did not help. In central Michigan, it was the same story with Amir Hassan, Trump's preferred candidate, who was defeated in his congressional primary. In Tennessee earlier this month, Trump-endorsed incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles (R) lost his primary by 7 points. Trump had appeared in a town hall, via livestream days before the election to personally support Ogles. In Iowa, Trump endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) for governor, praising him as "MAGA All the Way!" Feenstra lost his primary race for governor in June. The evidence piles up that Trump's dominance over Republican politics is coming to an end. In Georgia last month, Trump's candidate in the Republican gubernatorial primary also lost. And in South Carolina's gubernatorial primary Trump's endorsed candidate lost as well. In Washington, Trump's magical hold on the party is also wearing thin. It is evident in his inability, despite pressure on the Republican Senate majority, to get Republican support to pass a bill based on his false claims of widespread, nationwide voter fraud. Even conservative media is backing away from Trump. He is increasingly defined by images prompting stories about whether he wears a wig. His Oval Office press conferences often reveal him to be a president visibly struggling to stay awake and then weaving in and out of coherent answers. Had Joe Biden delivered similar performances, Republicans would almost certainly have demanded impeachment or invocation of the 25th Amendment. And there is no avoiding reports of him allowing his staff and the press to be used as decoys while he hid in a catering truck to avoid flying on Air Force One during a possible terrorist threat. Again, this image of a president on the run only reinforced perceptions of weakness. That's also the case with his inability to find an off-ramp for an unpopular war in Iran. The conflict is now approaching six months with no clear achievable objective while it drives up gas prices. Polls confirm Trump's decline. The Economist's poll tracker put his net approval rating at minus-25 points. RealClearPolitics' average of polls shows that 59 percent of voters now disapprove of Trump's performance as president. In Fox polls, Trump is in negative territory on the economy, the war in Iran, and even on immigration, the issue he rode to great success in the 2024 election. Now, 57 percent of voters disapprove of his handling of that issue. CNN polls show Trump losing traction with his base. Among white voters with no college degrees, he has fallen from 61 percent approval in February of last year to a current level of 46 percent. Fox polling has 42 percent of voters calling for revolutionary or dramatic change. Hart Research polls show voters want change, especially change that has the economy rewarding everyone, not just those already at the top. Lack of turnout from the Trump base is one reason the Kalshi prediction market, as of Thursday, Aug. 13, gives Democrats an 85 percent chance of winning the House, compared with just a 14 percent chance that Republicans retain control. Imagine the diminished political reality he faces with a Democratic majority in one or both chambers of Congress. Every headline will be about subpoenas and investigations into Trump's sudden rise in personal wealth during his second term as well as efforts to reverse policies if not impeach him. So-called "never-Trump" Republicans notice the shifting political winds. Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, now speaks about getting Trump below the "Bush line" β the low point of George W. Bush's approval ratings when he left office in 2009. Her brash point is to ensure that Trumpism, like Bush-era Republicanism after Iraq, is remembered as such a failed political project that future Republican leaders avoid any temptation to resurrect it. There are striking echoes between the midterms of 2026 and 2006. Both Republican presidents faced an unpopular and costly war in the Middle East, first in Iraq and now in Iran. Both had to answer for the specter of a broad financial crisis. And there is the common theme of a steady firehose of corruption stories surrounding the governing party. Jack Abramoff and Mark Foley, meet Meredith O'Rourke and Max Miller. The old aphorism is proven right again: History doesn't repeat itself exactly, but it often rhymes. So, is the Trump era finally coming to an end? Is it over? Juan Williams is senior political analyst for Fox News Channel and a prize-winning civil rights historian. He is the author of the new book "New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America's Second Civil Rights Movement." Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Β For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.Β