Trump told the Americans that he would have gas at $2 a gallon, and now it’s $4. He promised no new wars, and then he started one. He said tariffs would bring factories back, and spending to build them has dropped 25%. This list goes on, and I have a longer partial list at the end.
But my question to you is, at what point do the Americans, or more specifically, do the Republicans, and narrowly, does MAGA, realize what Trump is doing to them?
It’s not all their fault, in part because we all want to believe our leaders. We want to believe someone who says, “Things are not going right, and I can fix it.” It’s great to trust someone like that, vote for them, and say, “Yes, get the job done.” And that’s what Trump promised: he would get the job done, but he hasn’t. It’s time to face that reality.
So at what point do the Americans say,
“It’s over, Trump, I don’t believe you anymore. I put my trust in you. I believed you. But you have not delivered. You promised me things only to get me to vote for you. It’s called lying, and now that I know it, you don’t have my trust, my belief, or my vote.”
In a democracy, a campaign promise or a declaration from those in power is a public contract. You hand someone power, and in return they do the things they said they would do. The only enforcement is the next election. There’s no court, no penalty, no refund. If voters keep returning a politician who doesn’t deliver, then promises become meaningless. That’s how a system stops working, one unpunished lie at a time.
Believing Trump the first time was not a failure; it was hope. Believing him lie after lie is the failure.
So, America, do the work yourself. Read the ten items below. Check every one against sources you trust, not mine. Then vote in November, and hold Trump and the Republicans to the contract the way you’d hold anyone else who took your money and didn’t do the job - fire them.
Release the Epstein files. He promised release while campaigning, then called the push for transparency a Democrat hoax. In July 2025, his FBI and DOJ said there would be no further disclosures. Congress eventually forced it by law, and the releases came out heavily redacted.
Eliminate the national debt. Total public debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time on August 18, 2026, months earlier than projected. The deficit for the first ten months of fiscal 2026 was $1.799 trillion, already more than all of fiscal 2025’s $1.775 trillion. Interest on the debt now costs more than national defense. (U.S. Treasury)
Gas under $2.00 a gallon. The national average was $2.81 in early January 2026. It hit $4.56 on May 21 after the Iran conflict closed the Strait of Hormuz, and sat at $4.14 on September 3, heading into the first Labor Day in history with gas above $4. (AAA, GasBuddy)
“Cut energy and electricity prices in half within 12 months.” Residential electricity is up more than 18% since he returned to office. Rates rose 7.3% between April 2025 and April 2026 alone, from 17.55 to 18.83 cents per kilowatt-hour. The 18-month version of the deadline passed in July 2026. (EIA)
Lower prices on day one. PolitiFact rates this stalled. Groceries, electricity, housing, and medical care all cost more than when he took office. (PolitiFact)
“We’re not cutting Medicaid.” He said in April 2025 he’d veto any bill that cut it. CBO estimates the law he signed cuts federal Medicaid spending by $911 billion over ten years, with 10 million people losing coverage through Medicaid or the marketplace. (CBO)
“Insurance for everybody,” lower premiums. Enhanced subsidies expired December 31, 2025, and Congress did not renew them. Base marketplace premiums rose an average of 26% in 2026. KFF projected the average subsidized enrollee’s annual payment would go from $888 to $1,904, a 114% jump. More than a million fewer people signed up for 2026 coverage. (KFF)
End the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. Delegations met in Geneva in mid-February 2026, near the war’s fourth anniversary, and reached nothing. (PolitiFact). More than a year and a half after ‘day one’ the war rages on.
No new wars. He announced combat operations against Iran on February 28, 2026. The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since. The war is nowhere near an end.
Deport “the worst of the worst.” ICE data as of April 4, 2026 shows 70.8% of people in detention had no criminal conviction. In January 2026, when detention hit a record 70,766, it was 74.2%. Of the growth in detention during fiscal 2026, 92% came from people with no criminal convictions. (TRAC, Cato Institute)
If you enjoyed this article, help support my work by becoming a paid subscriber or “Buy me a coffee.”
Get a solid understanding of Trompenaars’ cultural dimensions by purchasing the guide or subscribing to Cultural Perspective (free or paid) and receiving the guide for free.
The dude has demonstrated that he's a delusional moron and a compulsive liar since at least the 1980s. It takes a lot of stupid to be duped by that