The October 18, 2025 “No Kings 2.0” protests are over. Will they change Donald Trump or his increasingly authoritarian policies? We’ll see. But one thing is already clear: A miracle happened on October 18. Notwithstanding the participation of more than seven million Americans, many of them angry and frustrated, there was no violence. Nobody threw rocks at police, burned cars, or worse, as far as I can tell. 

That’s amazing. Mahatma Gandhi would have been pleased, especially had he watched the AI-generated video that the President of the United States posted featuring himself flying a military aircraft at a No Kings protest and dumping excrement on the protestors. Disgusting and inappropriate? Yes.

 I also must acknowledge that dozens of governors and hundreds of thousands of police and other law enforcement personnel also deserve praise. They, too, were peaceful. 

Notwithstanding a long day, signs, and some expletive-laden chanting police may have been offended by, no protester was shot with a rubber bullet, slammed to the ground, tear-gassed, or arrested. 

Law enforcement showed professionalism and respect for the First Amendment. (Not too long ago, such respect for the Freedom of Speech was assumed, which makes October 18 all the more remarkable.)

I was not among the seven million protestors due to out-of-state travel. But when I saw the videos of the protests, I was proud to be an American. I experienced hope, hope that somehow, against all expectations, the protestors’ efforts will be rewarded by a change in President Trump’s policies, or at least a movement towards more civil political debate or, better yet, an end to the unnecessary and destructive government shutdown.

Will President Trump pause for a minute to think about what the No Kings movement is trying to tell him? That would be nice, not just for today, but for the future of democracy. 

Unfortunately, things like the aforementioned “excrement video,” which I think might be an eye-opener for some of the President’s supporters, and the dismissive rhetoric of some of his advisors, suggest that the President, for whatever reason, is not going to budge. 

What was President Trump doing during the protests? After flying to Mar-a-Lago, the President, as is his habit, took to the golf course. 

 His score has not been released, but I suspect a few of his balls found water and that the man referred to as the “Cheater-in-Chief” kicked his ball out of the rough more than once. It is hard to “be the ball” when seven million of your compatriots are calling for your resignation, impeachment, prosecution, or a combination of scenarios that would end Trumpism. 

I want Trump to be a successful president but doubt whether that is possible. The ghost of Jeffrey Epstein seems to visit Trump every night. Eventually, House Speaker Mike Johnson will have no choice but to seat Representative Elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ), and she will sign the discharge petition that could lead to the release of the Epstein files. That could be the beginning of the end of Trump’s second term.

I often wonder if Trump’s impressive schedule of diplomacy, travel, interior decorating, and architectural fantasies is just an effort to convince the American public that even if Trump engaged in inappropriate (criminal?) activities with Epstein or committed other crimes to enrich himself and his family, he deserves to remain in the White House. Trump truly believes his actions should not be questioned and he should be immune from accountability—you know, like a king.

Will his ardent supporters be able to look past what might prove to be “bombshell revelations” from the Epstein files? Time will tell. 

The No Kings protestors are patriots in the best and most authentic meaning of that word. The White House may be in chaos, but, through commitment to nonviolence and intelligence, these Americans proved what it means to be an American. God bless them all.

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J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

Judge me by what I do, not what I say. We’ve all heard that maxim, but have you used it recently in looking at President Trump’s first eight months in office? 

On October 18, there will be “No Kings” protests across the United States. A majority of Americans are concerned that Donald Trump thinks of himself as a king. Is Trump a king? 

Many of the President’s actions, and some of his words, suggest Trump thinks he is a king.  That is worrisome because historically kings enjoy, as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller recently said, “plenary power.” Cornell Law School defines plenary power as “Complete power over a particular area with no limitations.”

Evidence of President Trump exercising plenary power is everywhere these days. Here are 10 examples:

Sending military troops into states despite requests from state governors to refrain from doing so. National Guard Troops have been sent to Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and even Memphis. In Memphis, National Guard troops were posted outside a Bass Pro Shop and a state visitors center.

Imposing monetary penalties and revoking security clearances for lawyers at law firms involved in criminal litigation of Donald Trump before his re-election in 2024.

Firing members of once-independent agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Consumer Product Safety Commission, and others.

Firing Inspectors General at 17 federal departments and agencies (some say 18). Inspectors General were once independent watchdogs within agencies charged with ferreting out waste, fraud, and abuse.  (RC)

According to Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN), the Trump administration expanded its use of immigration enforcement to target foreign nationals, particularly students, researchers, and legal residents—some for being accused of engaging in, or merely being adjacent to pro-Palestinian activism, some without any explanation at all.

Freezing grants to colleges and universities using spurious claims of antisemitism. The actions severely undermine the independence of American higher education.

Firing thousands of federal employees without cause or pressuring them to resign. These actions have effectively gutted many federal agencies, including FEMA, the CDC, the CFPB, and the Department of Education. Last week Trump, citing the “Democratic-caused shutdown” of the federal government, Trump fired the entire staff of the Office of Special Education Programs at the Education Department, effectively abolishing it. The office was created to ensure that students with disabilities are not discriminated against in federal education programs. Trump also fired 100 employees at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This office operates the National Suicide Prevention Hotline (988).

Rescinding grants made to address climate change. Without legislative authorization, Trump has made the Environmental Protection Agency into an office to promote the use of fossil fuels. 

Redecorating the White House to look like a royal palace with hundreds installations of gold, the erection of massive flagpoles and the construction, now underway, of an enormous ballroom more than doubling the size of the White House.

And one additional item—massive corruption by rewriting federal regulation of cryptocurrency while Trump, Trump family members, and others close to the President made large and wildly successful investments in crypto.

This list could go on to cite the indictments of Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, efforts to fire the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, apparent solicitation, and receipt of a gift of a Boeing 747 luxury jet to the Trump Presidential Library from Qatar.

President Trump is acting like a king with no respect or use for Democracy. He appears to be working to rig or set the stage to cancel the 2026 mid-term elections.

Concern over President Trump’s leadership is why more than 2,000 “No Kings” protests are planned for October 18, 2025, including in Easton and Cambridge. More information about No Kings and October 18 can be found here. 

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J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

Former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich recently expressed regret that the press is reluctant to report on Donald Trump’s mental decline. Reich is right. We are not reading enough about the President’s state of health in the mainstream media. Because so much depends on the President’s ability to fulfill his duties as President, Americans need to know that their president is healthy and fit for the job.

Much of the press, unfortunately, has become reluctant to write negative things about the President for fear of retribution or a billion-dollar lawsuit. Mainstream media’s reluctance is understandable, even though the constant stream of lawsuits and threats of abusive regulatory actions, such as revoking broadcast licenses, are themselves evidence of what many of us see as the President’s mental instability.

In recent weeks, I have raised the President’s obvious decline with friends and asked them whether they see the same things that I do. For the most part, these conversations confirm that it isn’t Trump Derangement Syndrome or just distaste for the President’s policies that have caused me to conclude that the President, and, more importantly, the United States, is in big trouble. 

To use one of the President’s favorite words, we have a lunatic running the country. I use the term “lunatic” loosely because I am not a psychiatrist. But as Bob Dylan once sang, “You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

An ill and dangerous wind is blowing across America and, because of America’s leadership role in the world, it’s blowing everywhere else as well.

Some of Trump’s antics strike me as crazy but are generally harmless. Yes, I don’t like Trump’s “improvements” to the White House, but those decorations won’t start a war or cause a recession. The only harm caused by much of the “Trump show” is embarrassment—for Trump and the United States.

Unfortunately, other initiatives that the President has launched in his second term are harmful. He has turned the Department of Justice into a personal retribution machine against those he believes have harmed him. 

Trump has also thrown the concept of government ethics into the trash. Federal policy on cryptocurrency, for example, has facilitated the Trump family making billions since he took office in January. Coincidence? Or corruption? 

And what about the President’s posts on his social media platform? Visit there and you will find a video of Trump and OMB director Russ Vought, AI generated, dressed as the grim reaper. Firing federal workers, ending foreign assistance and efforts to fight climate change, and cancelling research grants to elite universities are funny, right? No, they aren’t. I found the grim reaper video disgusting. Only mentally ill people would post such garbage on their social media pages.

I could go on and quote from President Trump’s recent speech before generals and admirals at Quantico last week, reference mental gaffes (such as claiming to end seven wars but not being able to remember the countries involved), and, of course, post videos of the President looking “not well.”

America needs to take a hard look at the man who is our president. Trump may not admit it, but he is supposed to work for the American public. There is a reason there is a group called “No Kings” and serious efforts are underway to end Republican leadership of the House of Representatives.

The government used to encourage us: “If you see something, say something.”  I see a president in serious mental decline. There, I said it. And if you take a close look at the President, what he does, says, and his physical appearance, I think you’ll agree.

The 25th Amendment was passed for a good reason.

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J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

Over the weekend, I watched the video Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s posted on social media X in which he declared that the Medals of Honor granted to members of the 7th Calvary involved in the so-called Battle of Wounded Knee will not be rescinded. Hegseth said the soldiers involved in the incident deserved them. 

The medals were awarded in 1890, shortly after the “battle” took place. At the time, the U.S. government was on a campaign of genocide against Indigenous people in the West. The “battle” took place after the U.S. chose to violate a treaty that gave Indigenous people ownership of vast territories.

Hegseth was prompted to issue his “final” decision because his predecessor, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, had declined to accept a report that recommended the medals not be rescinded.

Why was the 21st century Department of Defense looking at rescinding medals? Oliver “O.J.” Semans Sr., an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and a former U.S. Navy firefighter who witnessed the aftermath of “the Battle,” wrote President Trump in 2019 to urge him to rescind the medals. Semans wrote:

“The ‘Battle at Wounded Knee’ on December 29, 1890, was no battle. It was a massacre. … The 7th Cavalry, which was obligated by treaty to protect my ancestors, instead hunted my ancestors, surrounded them, and gunned hundreds of them down. This included terrified women and children who fled—defenseless—through the snow, forever stained by their blood.”

President Trump declined to rescind the medals. Notably, Seman’s letter followed a statement by Trump ridiculing Senator Elizabeth Warren as she announced a run for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination. Trump said Warren should have filmed her announcement to establish a presidential exploratory committee while standing in front of a backdrop of Bighorn or Wounded Knee with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, instead of making the announcement in her own kitchen.

How does Hegseth effectively condoning a massacre align with the warrior culture he lectured military Generals and Admirals about yesterday? Not very well. If the soldiers involved in the “battle” at Wounded Knee deserved medals, so too does Lt. William Calley, the perpetrator of the My  Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War.

Over the weekend, I also read about worries within the Pentagon centering on Secretary Hegseth’s behavior. He is reportedly prone to tantrums and frequently yells at subordinates. Many staff have quit their jobs. Others question Hegseth’s mental health or speculate that he may have returned to excessive drinking. (Evidence of Hegseth drinking since his confirmation has not surfaced.)

Should a “Department of War” be led by a hot-headed Secretary answerable only to a 79-year-old President who himself shows signs of mental decline and who has involved the military in actions against American citizens and others? I don’t think so.

When lecturing Generals and Admirals yesterday, Hegseth may have had the least military command experience of anyone else in the room except for President Trump (bone spurs) and the enlisted personal working to staff the gathering. He also had no relevant executive experience before his nomination to head what used to be called DoD before Trump nominated him to the post in 2021. Hegseth, as you may recall, was a Fox News weekend anchor. President Trump liked what he said on the air and no doubt thought he looked the part.

All of us should support a strong and ready military, but Hegseth’s advocacy for a “warrior culture” that would remove woman from combat, limit leadership roles for people of color (many of whom might prove to be outstanding military leaders if given the chance to lead) and taking other actions that would ban gay and trans people, as well as people who are not Christians from serving.  That is not an effective strategy to build a strong military.

I’m not holding my breath, but I want to hear Donald Trump say “You’re Fired” again. The words should be directed at Mr. Hegseth.

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J.E. Dean writes on politics, government and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

On Saturday morning, before getting out of bed, I read the news on an app called Flipboard. Like dozens of other sites, Flipboard collects “news” from various sources and publishes it in a magazine corresponding to the interests or tastes of the reader. For good or ill, I read a lot about President Trump. As a result, Flipboard serves up several articles about Trump each day. Some are positive. Others, less so.

The first article on Saturday was a picture of President Trump stuffing his mouth full of spaghetti while King Charles III was speaking. The image showed Trump oblivious to the King and the King looking down at Trump while Trump struggled with the spaghetti. 

I immediately doubted the authenticity of the photo, but others had not. The article included a series of social media posts condemning the President for his eating habits and declaring him to be an embarrassment to the United States. 

Later on Saturday, I confirmed the image was fake. Honestly, I should have known that immediately (as opposed to suspecting it). President Trump may be many things, but it is hard to imagine that he never learned to eat spaghetti.

Hopefully, the media will cover what I will call the Spaghetti Picture and report that Trump is the victim of a hoax. What I am wondering, however, is whether the President will direct Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to find the party (poor choice of words here) responsible for posting the photo and prosecute him or her.

Is ridiculing the President with a doctored photo a crime? Of course not. I remember doctored photos of President Carter being attacked by a giant rabbit while fishing. I remember multiple pictures of Richard Nixon that elongated his ski-jump shaped nose. 

President Reagan also was subject to the publication of photos of him with his one-time co-star, Bonzo, a chimpanzee. Those photos were real—Reagan actually starred in a film with Bonzo as his co-star.  The photo was a publicity shot. Reagan never threatened anyone who published it during his political career.

More importantly, do images of this type, especially the Spaghetti Picture, constitute “hate speech?”  There isn’t, of course, a clear legal definition of hate speech and words and images that don’t incite violence are legal. (I hope that, after reflection, Pam Bondi might even agree.) So, should the Spaghetti Picture go without punishment?

President Trump in recent weeks has exploded, repeatedly, at the media, especially comedians, who ridicule him. Colbert was fired by CBS and Kimmel joined him, before ABC relented in the face of a boycott of ABC’s parent, Disney.

The President is threatening to revoke broadcast licenses to stem negative coverage of his administration and its handiwork. Will Trump order the prosecution of the creator of the Spaghetti Picture? Will he sue whoever asked AI to create it for $15 billion?  Will he ask Pam Bondi if AI can be sued?

Let’s hope not, but Trump’s now-dismissed $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times and the chilling words of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who exploded after Jimmy Kimmel commented on the murder of Charlie Kirk suggest otherwise.  Carr called Kimmel’s remarks (intentionally not repeated here) “the sickest comments possible.”

Carr went on to say, “This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney [the owner of ABC, the network that broadcasted Jimmy Kimmel Live!]. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr’s comments were condemned by—surprise–Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who described Carr’s comments as “dangerous as hell.”

I agree with Ted Cruz. I also hope he might advise President Trump to not to overreact to the Spaghetti picture. 

I am sure President Trump is angry about the image. I do not blame him for that. But I will blame him if he does anything about it. 

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J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

There’s nothing like a horrific murder to get our attention. That murder happened last Wednesday, and because you already know about it, we don’t have to discuss it here. But what I’m watching is how the crime is impacting the rest of the news, things like Israel’s attack on Hamas in Qatar, the pending government shutdown, and even last weekend’s Emmy Awards.

I see broadcasters tiptoeing through the news, especially from reporters who might already have felt some degree of intimidation by the Trump administration or the political force that increasingly just describes itself as MAGA. President Trump, Vice President Vance, and many other Republicans have suggested that “the left” somehow set the stage for the events in Utah last week. Although the evidence to date suggests the shooter acted alone, Trump and his allies suggest the existence of opposition to MAGA “radicalized” the shooter and thus “the left” should share the blame for the most prominent political murder in recent memory.

President Trump suggested last weekend that 93-year-old George Soros should be jailed for funding Democratic and pro-democracy groups. Jailed. I politely disagree. 

Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s wife, told Fox News “evildoers” were behind her husband’s murder and that they “should all know this: If you thought my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country, and this world.” I wonder if Kirk would have approved.  It sounds like a threat, not a call for civil discourse.

A little less politely, I condemn Stephen Miller’s call for “the left” to be “dismantled,” because he says, “the left” foments violence and encourages “terrorism.”  Ironically, Miller’s words might terrify people who are even mildly left leaning because “dismantling” sounds like a call for political violence. I have never met anyone who wanted to be “dismantled.”

Since September 10, Democrats, with exceptions, have wisely been cautious in discussing last Wednesday’s shooting. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jefffries, for example, said, “I am shocked by the murder of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Political violence of any kind and against any individual is unacceptable and completely incompatible with American values. We pray for his family during this tragedy. “ 

Appropriately, no mention was made of Kirk’s sometimes racist, transphobic and homophobic rhetoric, but Jeffries should have at least mentioned political disagreements. He unintentionally contributed to what some are referring to as the canonization of Kirk.

Matthew Dowd of MSNBC got fired for saying, “Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. You can’t stop with these sorts of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.”

In firing Matthew Dowd, MSNBC called his comments “inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable.”  Did you know that Dowd worked for Republican George W. Bush? The words that got him fired don’t read as a call to violence or a suggestion that advocates of controversial political positions deserve to be shot.

In firing Dowd, MSNBC is tiptoeing around the news. I sense that while the network has repeatedly reported on “the right’s” political rhetoric and condemned it, it is increasingly intimidated from doing so. And given that President Trump has repeatedly threatened networks with revocation of broadcast licenses and personally called for the firing of journalists (and comedians), MSNBC may be wise to avoid “poking the bear.”

For the last week, I haven’t seen much about efforts of red states to redraw districting maps to eliminate Democratic seats in the House of Representatives. That story may be seen as an attack on the right from Democrats since the implication is that the Republicans seek to avoid electoral defeat in 2026 by rewriting the rules for the election. 

We need to hear about what’s going on. We also need to read about the President’s health, about the release of the Epstein files (remember those?), jobs statistics, inflation, and things like Andy Harris saying western Maryland doesn’t need FEMA disaster assistance because the state can pay for it with Wes Moore’s tax increase.

I condemn all political violence and would like to see the right and left (and the middle) tone down the rhetoric, but I don’t want to see the news media tiptoe around the news. We need to count on the press and our two-party political system to serve as a check and balance against the powers that are in power. 

We need to avoid tiptoeing. Abdication will not save American democracy. We need free, vigorous, and civil political debate and news reporting. Violence should have no place in our political system. Neither should intimidation. 

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J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

Breaking News! Those of us who regularly write about the Trump administration often imply that nothing can be done to stop, or even slow down, Trumpism. The unintended message in stories about Trump’s complete dominance of the Republican party is that our situation is hopeless. We are doomed to watch Trump and his party destroy democracy over the next few years. Not so fast.

A few weeks ago, a Spy reader reached out to me about an initiative that could get the wheels of America back on track. The idea is a simple one and is based on hard truths about today’s politics. The country is badly divided. For many Republican voters, little that is being said about Trump and his policies that appears to move them to abandon the MAGA dogma. Plus, in the 2026 mid-term elections, there are shockingly few seats that can be described as competitive.

The truth of the 2026 mid-terms is that a handful of House races will determine whether the country is liberated from Speaker Mike Johnson’s (Trump’s) death grip on the House of Representatives. If Democrats win in November 2026, President Trump can no longer count on Mr. Johnson to pass legislation such as the comically named Big Beautiful Bill.

More importantly, a Democrat-controlled House would mean that the Trump administration will be held accountable for its actions. Democrats will be empowered to issue subpoenas to get the information needed to determine whether the President is faithfully executing the laws of the United States. In short, there will be a new sheriff in town. Not necessarily one that will be able to stop everything destructive that the administration attempts, but one that is able to stop much of the MAGAnification of America. In short, the liberation of the federal government will have been launched. 

William Galston of the Brookings Institution wrote this last month:

“The president’s party almost always loses ground in midterm House elections, as has happened in 20 of the past 22 midterm elections stretching back to 1938, and both exceptions reflected unusual circumstances.

The president’s job approval has a strong impact on the outcome of midterm House elections.

The odds that public sentiment will shift enough to extend Republicans’ control of the House seem low, an assessment reinforced by the parties’ changing demographic bases.”

I agree. So, too, does President Trump. That explains the Congressional redistricting efforts in Texas, Missouri and other states and Trump’s calling mail-in voting “fraud.”

A group called Enough! has launched a campaign to target “swing” Congressional districts in the hopes of securing a Democratic majority. Eighteen House districts have been identified, including both Republican seats won by a narrow margin and similarly vulnerable Democratic seats. Enough! will attempt to persuade voters in those districts through targeted media campaigns that Trump’s policies, broken promises, and lies are hurting Americans.

The weapon that Enough! and other groups planning a similar strategy will use is truth. If voters are reminded—or informed- of how Trump policies are increasing prices, denying people health care, disrupting the rule of law, and otherwise jeopardizing America’s future, they will see Trump for who he is—an oligarch out for himself.

Notably, Andy “Handgun” Harris (R-MD) is not on the group’s list. I would like to see him targeted. Harris hasn’t represented the Eastern Shore for some time. As Chairman of the Freedom Caucus, he has become one of Trump’s top foot-soldiers on the Hill. 

Harris’ tenure in Congress could also end if Maryland, like Texas, California and other states revises Congressional districts before the 2026 mid-term elections.

I will be keeping an eye on Enough! and other groups that are working to end the GOP regime in the House of Representatives. 

Can these campaigns succeed? I would say yes, but even if they don’t, they will help slow down Trumpism. Republicans in swing districts will respond to pressure from constituents who are unhappy about Trump’s policies and angry that their representatives voted for the “Big Beautiful Bill.”  If one more Republican had voted no on Trump’s massive debt-increasing bill, it would have been defeated. 

The Cook Political Report analyzes House races and publishes a list of competitive races. See the list here.

If you are among the millions of Americans unhappy with Trump and MAGA, do not give up hope. We can all see what is happening. We need to do something about it. Working to ensure a positive outcome in the 2026 mid-term elections is a good place to start.

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J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack. He expects the 2026 mid-term elections to provide some relief from Trumpism.