This Trump Thing Has Failed, Utterly. Pro-Democracy Forces Must Fight Now For An Urgent, Dramatic Course Correction

I am co-hosting an event in DC on 3/24 for Anderson Clayton and North Carolina Democrats. Tickets start at $100. Join us - going to be a lot of fun!

Greetings all. I don’t always watch the Academy Awards, but last night I did and I am better for it. It was a great show. All kinds of people, from all over the world, won Oscars last night. Creative, innovative, risk takers were honored. Giants who had passed were given beautiful send offs. It was a night of the best of America - strong, confident, open, free, diverse, entrepreneurial, full of artistry and joy. And I loved being in that America last night, even for a few hours. It felt like home.

Here was my favorite moment. An incredible performance of “I Lied To You” from Sinners. I’ve watched it at least ten times now……..

That was last night. This morning we wake to this other America, Trump’s America, and what has now become an ongoing, global humiliation of our once great country. We cannot, and should not, sugar coat the gravity of what Trump has done. He’s thrown the entire world into chaos. Energy, food, and price shocks are coming for literally every person in the world. This morning governments from all over the world are telling him to f*ck off, leaving America alone, weakened, humiliated.

Watch this video. Stuff like this is all over the global Internet. Sound on:

Trump is getting his ass kicked so badly in global social media that he is now bitterly complaining about it, lashing out, pathetically, threatening everyone:

I stand by my post last week - Trump is a titanic, vainglorious fuck up. His moment for declaring victory and ending the war has passed. Escalation will be an even bigger catastrophe. He has no good options left, but the best option for him, for the country, for the world, is to somehow get him to end the war as soon as possible.

We are learning why no American President ever attempted to attack Iran before - for whatever gains we might achieve on the battlefield, the costs of the war - to America and the world would not be worth it. With Claude’s help here is a fresh and very conservative estimate of the direct costs of the war - $6 to $10 trillion, or between 5% and 9% of global GDP. It is already rivaling the cost of the entire global financial crisis in 2008-2009.

Remember these energy, food, and commodity shocks are not just about money - they mean slower growth, rising unemployment, bankrupt companies, social strife, literally everywhere in the world. As farmers all around the world, including in the US, are struggling to get access to affordable fertilizer manufactured in the Middle East, Trump may have also triggered a global food crisis that may already be impossible to reverse.

This new threat comes a year after Trump and Musk vaporized USAID, weakening the already fragile social safety net in the poorest countries of the world. Estimates are that Trump’s elimination of USAID will lead to at least 14 million deaths by 2030, and (yes Trump is a mass murderer):

“They risk abruptly halting - and even reversing - two decades of progress in health among vulnerable populations. For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict.”

And this all comes on top of Trump illegally placing unilateral across the board tariffs on every country in the world, putting additional strain on global supply chains, small businesses and farmers throughout the world. Here is Republican Senator Chuck Grassley this weekend:

Trump’s tariffs and mass deportations have already pushed American farmers into crisis. Now we have exploding fertilizer costs, reduced availability, and skyrocketing diesel prices, the fuel that powers the farm economy in America.

The protests from redder parts of America about the costs of this war are about to get very, very loud.

Meanwhile, here in the US we’ve had two terror attacks in the past few days that could be attributed to the fallout from the war. And DHS remains shut down, unable to protect us, for Trump and Miller want to maintain their ability to act lawlessly and terrorize communities across the US. Trump went to war with a major global sponsor of terrorism without having our guard up here in America. His lack of concern for the security and well being of the American people remains unacceptable and shocking……

The bottom line here is that it has become clear that Trump is a failed President. Nothing he has done has been good for America. He is leaving us less prosperous, less safe, and less free. He has enriched himself while putting the entire world - and all of us - in danger. Pro-democracy forces in the US must grow bolder now, as the crisis in front of us is grave and serious. We must fight to end the war, to block this ridiculous “make it harder for everyone to vote” bill in Congress this week, but we must be more strategically ambitious now, and make it clear to the American people that we are urgently fighting for a much larger course correction/better path. Something along the lines of our emerging agenda:

• Work To End This New Gulf War, And Trump’s Global Imperial Ambitions

• Make Clear We Support Ukraine and Europe, Not Russia

• Roll Back The New, Illegal Tariffs

• Rescind The Trump Tax Cuts, Claw Back The Extra ICE Funding

• Make The US A Clean Energy Superpower, Fight For True Energy Independence, And Lower Energy Prices For The American People

• Keep Fighting To Rein In ICE, End Mass Deportation

Yes we have a lot of work to do everyone. So……

Yes, It’s Time To Get To Work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exciting update for those in the DC area. Next Tuesday I am co-hosting an event for Anderson Clayton and the North Carolina Democratic Party in DC, in the neighborhood near the National Cathedral. It runs from 6 to 8pm, and tickets start at $100. Learn more here and come hang out with me and Anderson next Tuesday!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $324,800 raised, $400,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10) and learn more about the eight candidates we just added to our campaign here.

We will be meeting the rest of our newly expanded slate of intrepid House candidates in the coming weeks. It’s a great crew! This fundraising total includes funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we’re doing later this month.

James Talarico For Texas - $31,300 raised, $100,000 March 31st goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Watch my recent interview with Rep. Talarico

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $48,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More. | Watch my new interview with Mary Peltola

Winning Ohio - $77,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue!

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $87,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $141,900 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $415,400 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, and catch interviews with 5 intrepid state party chairs leading us into battle this year.

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Sign Up For No Kings on March 28th

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; sign up for a No Kings event and watch my new interview with Indivisible’s Ezra Levin, a driving force behind No Kings.

Here’s our working Hopium Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work To End This New Gulf War, And Trump’s Global Imperial Ambitions

• Make Clear We Support Ukraine and Europe, Not Russia

• Roll Back The New, Illegal Tariffs

• Rescind The Trump Tax Cuts, Claw Back The Extra ICE Funding

• Make The US A Clean Energy Superpower, Fight For True Energy Independence, And Lower Energy Prices For The American People

• Keep Fighting To Rein In ICE, End Mass Deportation

This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home, and on blocking the “SAVE Act.”

Keep working hard all. We are entering a dangerous place, and we need to be very, very loud now - Simon