“Donald Trump is running the biggest grift in American history. The unprecedented scale of the president’s corruption was exposed by the recent release of his financial disclosure report, which revealed that he made $2.2 billion since he returned to the White House. His various crypto schemes, thousands of stock trades, and financial entanglements with foreign governments such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia are practically the definition of conflict of interest. Trump made $635 million by issuing a meme coin, $TRUMP, while nearly 1 million investors in the coin collectively lost $3.8 billion. Trump’s thousands of stock trades often occur just before or after he makes market-moving decisions. . . Republicans are almost all silent as Trump and his family shamelessly exploit the presidency.” Editorial, The Free Press, July, 2026
Observing the deepening, outrageous actions and transparent and massive Trumpfascist corruption; following the repeated reports of Trump’s seriously declining health; seeing the latest polls just coming out showing Trump only having the support of 1/3 of the US American people; and remembering that on August 9, 1974, 52 years ago, Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency, it feels like it is increasingly possible that, one way or the other, Trump will be gone from the Presidency many months before his four year term is up.
As a former National Co-coordinator of the National Campaign to Impeach Nixon, the shortest and most successful organization I’ve ever been a part of, literally in existence for nine months before Nixon was gone, I’d say August 9, 1974 is an anniversary to be remembered by all of us who believe in democracy and justice. It is a way to remind the US American people that as bad as things can look, things do change. We are a long way from the early days in January and February of 2025 when we were filled with dread about what was in store for our country, our peoples, and the world.
Nixon was at one time much more popular than Trump has ever been. When he was re-elected in 1972 he had a 23% margin of victory in the popular vote and won every state except Massachusetts and DC. In 2024 Trump didn’t make 50% of the popular vote, was only 1 1/2% percent ahead of Kamala Harris, and carried many less states than Nixon did.
Other than his term running out and him needing to leave in January, 2029 (ugh), if not voluntarily but because of massive political pressure and many millions in the streets, how could Trump no longer be President? He could die or be seriously incapacitated health wise and no longer be able to do Presidential duties. He could decide to resign, maybe in the spring of 2027 after Democratic control of both the House and Senate, or even just the House, makes it clear that it will be much more difficult for him to do what he wants to do. He could be removed by a majority vote of his Cabinet (25th Amendment) as they confront and act on the drag that he is on parts of their agenda and Republican electoral prospects in the future. Or perhaps something else might happen.
These are not idle wishes. They are possible because of Trumpfascist incompetence and corruption, massive voter dissatisfaction, and the growing political strength of the progressive movement, one which is working with a broader cross-section of people who hate Trump but who don’t identify as “progressive.”
Of course, the absolute last thing those of us who want Trump gone should do is slacken up on electoral work for November 3 and our street activism and grassroots organizing on all the many issues. Indeed, it is critical that as many Democrats and pro-working-class Independents as possible win their races so that votes in the House and Senate are forward-looking and positive [note: there are at least two viable US Senate Independent candidacies in Montana and Nebraska and a number of Independents running for House seats]. The higher the percentage of such folks in office the stronger our pro-democracy and justice movement will be.
Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com
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