America on January 20, 2025

On January 20, 2025 (Trump's inauguration), gasoline was $3.10 per gallon.[i] Inflation was 3.0 percent.[ii] The unemployment rate was 4.0 percent.[iii] The border was closed. There were no street protests. America was not at war, and relationships with allies were strong.

If Trump, had done absolutely nothing, he might have been remembered as a good president. Instead, he started trade wars with allies (now former allies), terrorized communites, withheld federal dollars from states and organizations he doesn’t like, sued anyone who has crossed or disagreed with him, tried to imprison political foes, placed his name on lots of organizations, and enriched himself and his family.

Then he surprised and disappointed his most loyal followers. He, along with Israel, attacked Iran on February 28, 2026. As a candidate, Trump had campaigned so forcefully and successfully against forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that many considered not starting foreign wars to be the prime directive of the America First doctrine. He has repeatedly refused to help Ukraine and even blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion.

This decision, along with incoherence, profane tantrums, and forgetfulness (stating his father was born in Germany when he was born in Brooklyn) has led many to conclude that he is suffering from mental decline. Trump was the oldest president to be inaugurated in American history. He was 78 years and seven months on January 20, 2025, five months older than Joe Biden was in January 2021. [iv] 

[i]  “Petroleum & Other Liquids,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed April 29, 2026, https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=emm_epmr_pte_nus_dpg&f=w.

[ii]       “12-month percentage change, Consumer Price Index, selected categories,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed April 29, 2026, https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm.

[iii]      “United States Unemployment Rate,” Trading Economics, accessed April 29, 2026, https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate.

[iv]      Peter Baker, “Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate,” New York Times, April 13, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/us/politics/trump-mental-fitness-25th-amendment.html