The end of the Trump era is in sight.

Sure, our next presidential inauguration is still a twinkle in the nation's political eye. But it's finally possible to imagine a country whose president does not cozy up to murderous dictators, spend his energy enriching himself and his family, pick pointless fights with longtime allies or let a foreign head of state gull him into starting another unwinnable war in the Middle East.

And how President Donald Trump's star is fading. His current public approval is among the lowest ever recorded for a modern American commander in chief at this point in their term.

So yes, the end is nigh. But we also know that Trump will never go gently.

This is not conjecture. We already have proof that Trump is incapable of accepting defeat, that he is not above trying to cheat to get what he wants and that he is perfectly willing to sit back and watch a violent mob try to overturn election results he didn't like. The Washington Post reported last week that a small, nonpartisan group of current and former U.S. national security officials "motivated by a growing sense of alarm" has been quietly advising state and federal lawmakers on how to prepare for Trump administration interference with the midterm elections.

It's not just security officials. Most of the country is worried. In a new poll by the Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos, 70% of more than 2,500 respondents say that although they are confident midterm votes will be counted correctly, they don't think Trump will accept the results if Republicans lose.

Unsurprisingly, 94% of Democrats and 77% of independents don't believe Trump will accept losing. But 36% of Republicans doubt his integrity, too. Similar numbers of Americans also believe Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself. Government corruption has now outranked inflation and gas prices as a primary concern for voters.

As Elon Musk once infamously said, "Let that sink in."

Like a two-bit mobster, Trump has predicted that violence will erupt in the (likely) event that Republicans lose the House and (potentially) even the Senate in the midterms next month.

"If you want to see what is at stake in this election, just look at what's happening in France," Trump warned Monday at a campaign rally in Kansas. Trump described France, which has been embroiled in violent demonstrations and mass looting that began when high school students demanded better resources and conditions in classrooms, as "conquered, looted and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists."

(French President Emmanuel Macron said the comments were "as unacceptable as they are stupid.")

Just in case Trump's threats don't work — and they won't — he is doing what all practiced con artists do. He is cajoling. Using stunts. Holding up shiny objects.

So far, Trump has offered to pay every American adult $5,000 if Republicans keep Congress, but, of course, nothing if they lose. This, by the way, would cost taxpayers an estimated trillion-plus dollars, and would require congressional approval. No matter. "It will be called the Trump Dividend," he crowed during the GOP's bizarre midterm convention in Dallas last month.

Already, Trump has sent $90 rebate checks to some 20 million eligible seniors to offset increases in their Medicare Part B premiums. Those are one-time payments meant to hit checking accounts just before the election.

An additional million Americans across 30 states are expected to receive $500 in "Obamacare refunds" to offset increases in their premiums.

On Monday, Trump promised an $8-billion bailout to farmers who are buckling under exorbitant diesel and fertilizer costs, thanks to his misbegotten Iran war.

On Tuesday, in North Carolina, he promised to pay off all pending "legitimate" claims arising from the disaster at Camp Lejeune, where Marines, their families and civilian workers suffered terrible ailments after drinking, cooking with and bathing in water contaminated with dangerous chemicals and lead for more than three decades. But only if the GOP wins.

"If we don't win," Trump said, "there's no money."

How stupid does he think American voters are?

The sops he throws to voters — most of them theoretical, impractical, potentially illegal or miserly — reek of desperation. They are a smoke screen meant to obscure the havoc he is wreaking on middle- and low-income Americans.

About 12 million Americans have lost healthcare coverage because of the cuts in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. And, as many have pointed out, the worst of the cuts don't even kick in until after the midterms.

To help offset the bill's tax cuts for the wealthy, more than 5 million Americans have already lost or will lose their federal food assistance benefits. About 2 million are children. Across the country, food banks are overwhelmed by increasing demand, and even free school lunches are starting to disappear in some states because the funding has dried up.

Trump loves to promise money in exchange for votes, so it only makes sense that he is mum on plans to sic debt collectors on Americans with delinquent federal student loans after election day. According to the Washington Sun, the Treasury Department is already hiring private collection agencies to aggressively go after debtors. Plans call for garnishing wages — up to 15% of a borrower's disposable pay — and intercepting tax refunds.

This is a direct financial threat to millions of middle- and low-income Americans, many of whose loans would have been forgiven under a Biden-era plan that was tossed by a U.S. Supreme Court that was divided, naturally, along ideological lines.

Two-thirds, or more than 2.6 million, of these borrowers live in states won by Trump in 2024, according to Protect Borrowers, a consumer group that fights against predatory lending and unfair financial practices. States with the highest concentration of student loan defaults are blood-red Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

So much for the Republican argument that student loan forgiveness is a giveaway to the well-educated urban elites.

I'm not one for threats or bribes, but I can promise you this: If Republicans prevail in the midterms, the next two years will not be pretty.

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