Melvin A. Goodman, a former CIA analysts and senior fellow at the Centre for International Policy, recently compared Trump’s attacks on US democracy to Hitler’s first years in power.

He also reminded us that the mainstream media continues to grapple unsuccessfully with how to describe Trump and suggests the appropriate comparison is the definition of a “Megalomaniac: Someone with an extreme obsession for power, wealth and self-importance characterised by grandiose delusions of being more significant and powerful than they are, often linked to a tenuous grip on reality”.

In Trump’s case the gap between his illusions and the reality of what Americans think of him is striking.

Unlike Trump, who wants to nobble the Fed, a CBS News Poll with You Guv found that 68% of respondents believed it would be best if the Fed made decisions independently from Trump. 74% of them also said the Trump focus on lowering prices was not enough and 76% said their income was not keeping up with inflation.

Trump’s handling of immigration was disapproved by 58%, the economy 61% and inflation 65%.

A byproduct of Trump rule is that 54% of people feel Trump has made them uneasy, 51% frustrated, 47% unsafe, 42% exhausted while 21% were satisfied.

He has also been hitting new polling lows – so low that he has been dubbed by one commentator as the incredible shrinking man.

The most recent Quinnipiac poll shows how far he has shrunk – although not in terms of obesity. 57% are opposed to ‘running’ Venezuela; 73% are opposed to sending troops there; 55% are opposed to taking over its oil sales; 86% are opposed to militarily seizing Greenland; 55% are opposed to buying it; and 70% are against military action against Iran.

58% in an AP-NORC poll found that more than half believe he “has gone too far” in using the US military to intervene in other countries and 58% opposed sending the National Guard into cities over a governors’ objections.

According to another  AP-NORC poll, 61% disapprove of his foreign policy in general.

The recent Reuters-Ipsos poll showed only 17% are in favour of Trump acquiring Greenland and only 4% are in favour of using military force to do so.

Public disapproval of Trump’ of his economic policy and on cost of living is at minus 25 points. Only three in 10 Americans rate the economy positively according to a CNN-SSRS poll while 55% think Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country.

Trump has repeatedly derided the reality of the affordability crisis as a  ‘hoax, ‘scam’ or ‘con job, and a ‘fake word’.

Meanwhile a new CNN poll found that 58% of Americans believe that Trump’s first year in office in this term has been a failure.

As for his signature tariff policy an ABS/YouGuv survey found 63% of Americans opposing the US placing new tariffs on goods from other countries with 64% saying it drove up prices in 2025 and 59% expected tariffs to increase prices in 2026.

Interestingly opinion on immigration – once a Trump positive – is currently more concerning for him with 57% saying Trump had gone too far when it comes to deporting migrants living in the country illegally. How many of them were farmers depending on immigrant workers or families relying on immigrants from everything from child care to cleaning.

The American public is not too keen on ICE either – a Quinnipiac survey found that 57% of registered voters disapproved of how ICE is enforcing immigrations laws and CNN found that ICE enforcement made American cities less safe. Trump and his staff might think mothers are terrorists and open targets for murder but the public is deeply disturbed by it.

Trump is also underwater on foreign policy. NBC News found in October that 53% said he had fallen short of their expectations on the policy and a recent CNN poll found that 57% think Trump’s foreign policy decisions have hurt America’s standing in the world. They also dislike his attacks on boats.

The MAGA mob are still agitated about Epstein with 27% of MAGA supporters and 71% of the public disapproving of Trump’s handling of the issue.

48% of respondents to a Wall Street Journal survey said Trump was “using the office for personal gain beyond what other politicians do.

They also don’t like his changes at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian where a majority think he “has gone too far”.

Americans are also deeply worried about the state of US democracy. 66% of Americans think Trump doesn’t care about people like them and 53% think he doesn’t have the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president. 65% of Americans say Trump is not someone they are proud to have as president.

The problem is, however, that little can be done about it until after the midterms.

Meanwhile Melvin A. Goodman channelled HL Menken’s saying: “As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. In some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last. And the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”