Sorry, Trump isn’t a lame duck (yet)
The comforting story that Trump's power is fading obscures the risks facing us
By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer

https://www.salon.com/2025/12/02/sorry-trump-isnt-a-lame-duck-yet/

These events have led many Democrats and prominent commentators to declare that one year into his second term as president, Trump is now a lame duck. “The MAGA coalition shows signs of cracking,” Heather Cox Richardson recently wrote. “Something fundamental has shifted,” the American Prospect’s Robert Kuttner argued.

They’re right. Something does increasingly appear to be off with Donald Trump. He resembles a prizefighter doubled over from a gut punch — staggering, grabbing the ropes, looking to the referee for help. But I am deeply worried that, being eager for change, we are jumping to inaccurate and shortsighted conclusions about Trump and the GOP. If such hopes do not come true — MAGA is not falling apart, and if he regains some semblance of control — we risk being left in a far worse place emotionally and politically than when we started.

Here’s the inconvenient political truth: Donald Trump is far from a lame duck, and the future of American democracy and society is far from certain.

The original definition of “lame duck” describes a weakened politician or other leader rendered increasingly irrelevant by their party and the public because they are in the final months of their time in office. In all likelihood, Trump will be president for at least three more years.