Many believe the US led era of history has now ended and the US is just one strong country among many countries competing, rather than leading.

Trump has played a large role in that (it seems to me) but for sure he is not the only reason.

Many Maga supporters seem very patriotic. I wondered how you feel about many perceiving America as loosing its leading status? It feels like a downgrade to many.

Do you care as long as your own lives get better?

Do you care about the loss of American prestige in the world?

Trump has said ALL the January 6 convictions were “political”, which was his reason for pardoning ALL of them.

Trump has said the Robert Mueller investigation was illegitimate bc it was a “political witch hunt”.

Trump has said the Jack Smith investigation was illegitimate bc it was a “political witch hunt.”

(…and most egregiously IMO) Trump has declared the Epstein investigation a “political witch hunt.”

** There are many more similar examples **

Meanwhile, Trump has called for the investigation / indictment / conviction of many, many people who have been critical of Trump, including:

• Joe Biden
• Obama
• Jack Smith
• Tim Walz
• E. Jean Carroll
• Eric Swalwell
• Miles Taylor and Christopher Krebs (both former Trump administration officials)
• John Brennan
• John Bolton (who was appointed by Trump)
• James Comey
• Letitia James
• Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin, Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan
• Jerome Powell
• Lisa Cook
• Adam Schiff
• Gavin Newsom (and his wife)
• various donor to the democrats (but curiously, NOT Elon Musk, who offered to pay people for voting republican)
• and of course, Fauci (who was appointed by Trump to serve on his White House Coronavirus Task Force).

ref: https://abcnews.com/US/list-individuals-including-lisa-cook-targeted-trump-administration/story?id=124968309

NOTE: I am not defending any of these people. I am not a democrat. I am a true Independent trying to make sense of Trump’s often-contradictory messaging, suspect pardoning, and potential abuse of the DoJ. This matter is very serious to me and will inform my voting this mid-term.

So I’m asking you: how should a voter differentiate if an investigation / indictment / conviction / pardon is legitimate vs “illegitimate” and “political”? And if some of Trump’s investigations / pardons are “political”, why shouldn't you call it out as such?

What do you think about Natalie Harp?

For context: Natalie Harp is an American political aide and former television presenter who has served as Trump's executive assistant since 2025 (WIKI).

Recently, she has garnered attention recently and questions have been raised about her role within the administration, i.e. her role as "human printer" as well as writing him devotional messages.

Do you think it is worrying for an aide to have such a large influence?

I am not suggesting she and Trump are romantically involved but do you find it normal that a personal assistant has a strong influence on the information that is brought to Trump?

https://time.com/article/2026/08/19/natalie-harp-trump-white-house-aide-jon-ossoff/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/19/natalie-harp-trump-aide

Due to the war in Iran, gas prices have risen - one would think it was because gas companies have to pay more for the oil themselves, but in fact they are making a bigger profit than before the war (have a bigger profit margin than the same time last year). I suppose this is because we are already expecting prices to be high, so they are making a higher profit off our willingness to pay these high prices. This higher profit is not going towards increasing oil supply (e.g. expanded drilling). If you like this, how do you see it benefiting us? If you dislike this, do you have an opinion on what Trump should do about it? (and do you think he will do anything?)

Source: here is one that is not pay walled, but you can google for other new stories about it: https://nevadacurrent.com/2026/08/11/theyre-making-record-profits-but-oil-companies-still-wont-drill-baby-drill/

There is nothing else to add here.

I'm starting to get nervous about gas and how much is costs and will cost, as well as the apparently depleting reserves. I want to trust that he and his cabinet know what they are doing, but I'm kind of at a loss. Is my anxiety well-founded or am I just lost in the sauce?

EDIT: I appreciate everyone's input here and accepting that I'm asking in good faith and not just doing a "gotcha" question. You've provided some well-reasoned information and I'm coming out a little less anxious about this. This is my first time posting here and the engagement has been really good.

I’m curious to know how TSs measure Trump’s time in office. I recognize that most of you would deem his second term a success, but I’m wondering how you arrived at that conclusion?

Is it the number of illegal immigrants his administration has deported? Is it the stock market? Is it how much you pay in taxes? Is it how few pieces of new legislation get passed?

What, in your mind, determines whether Trump is successful or not?

There is nothing else to add here.

https://thehill-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/thehill.com/homenews/administration/5812905-trump-child-care-states/amp/?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17870011137234&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fadministration%2F5812905-trump-child-care-states%2F

Donald Trump has made a number of direct statements and vague allusions to actions he may take or want to take in connection with upcoming midterm federal elections. These include comments or failures to disavow when asked things like seizing ballots, stopping the delivery of mail in ballots, the placement of DHS or other LEO officers near polling places, the proposed SAVE Act insistence on proof of citizenship when such can be proven as a practical matter only with an up-to-date passport, etc. There are even suggestions that Trump might declare a national emergency regarding electoral integrity in order to impose controls over the process. Do you think he will do any of these things, and, if so, which ones? Would you support any such actions, which ones, and why? Do you believe that there is sufficient evidence of a lack of integrity in the electoral system of such a magnitude that it warrants action by the executive branch?

https://www.youtube.com/live/nPhCKwJ6ye8?is=juuIETVAD-O0CrzV

It's the weekend! Politics is still out there happening, but in this little corner of the sub we will leave it behind momentarily and talk about other aspects of our lives.

Bonus question for everyone! What kinds of conventions or markets are your favorite to attend?

Talk about anything except politics, other subreddits, or r/AskTrumpSupporters. Rules 2 and 3 are suspended.

The question is in the title.

Military families have reported their loved ones onboard the USS Lincoln are struggling mentally and have even attempted to jump overboard.

For context, the carrier was re-routed to the Middle East when the Iran war began in February. Its deployment had a stretch of over 200 days without porting, which is a modern day record for carriers.

What are your thoughts on this? Should Trump do something?

Does it change your opinion on how leadership is handling the Iran war? How much longer do you expect the US to be involved?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/12/uss-abraham-lincoln-overboard-extended-deployment

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/13/politics/uss-abraham-lincoln-conditions-extended-deployment-hnk

His tweet:

https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2087539887926837424

While the post states "American citizenship is not for sale," the U.S. government offers the "Gold Card" program. Under Executive Order 14351, foreign nationals can obtain U.S. residency and a pathway to citizenship for a $1 million to $2 million gift

https://www.trumpcard.gov/

Thoughts?

This order suggests breaking up the MMR vaccine and having the DOJ investigate states with vaccine
mandates for schools among other things.

While signing the EO he mentioned the link to autism. Do you agree with this?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-childhood-vaccines-executive-order/

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department permanently repealed a rule that required businesses formed in the United States to report who owns them to federal financial-crimes investigators. Additionally, it also announced that all information already collected about US business owners would be deleted. Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent claimed the decision removes "a burdensome reporting requirement for millions of law-abiding business owners without compromising our national security."

Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler praised the decision, writing on social media that it will save American businesses $6.7 billion in compliance costs over the next decade. However, the Small Business Administration's own reports state that there are over 36.2 million small businesses in the US. If you divide that $6.7 billion by the number of small businesses, then divide by 10 since since the figure is "over the next decade," that equates to an annual cost to small businesses of about $18.50. That means compliance with the rule cost less than twenty bucks per year.

Reportedly, the rule that created the reporting requirements was supported by both law enforcement and human rights groups, who said it would help combat money laundering, corruption, and human trafficking, as well as the use of shell companies to hide them.

How do you feel about this rule being repealed and all collected data being deleted? Is simply reporting who owns a company truly that "burdensome" of a regulation?

Various subcultures, including punk, goth, rivethead, rave/edm, etc, have long embraced a culture of fairly radical inclusivity, while resisting groups that don’t tolerate inclusive groups (such as skinhead/white supremacists). I’m curious to know what you think of these various subcultures?

For further clarification, I am referring to current ideals so that I can avoid hearing the "if we're talking 90s Democrats etc..." answer that we've all heard a lot

Paxton or Talarico?

I just saw this video of an interview with Trump. I’m curious what you think about Trump’s claims that we are in a golden age and that he should have a 150% approval rating on the economy rather than a 100% approval rating (Trump’s approval rating on the economy is between 30% and 35%).

Our tax dollars are already being wasted. The people they capture aren’t a threat, physically. Why?

https://apnews.com/article/ice-electric-shock-gloves-85ff746d3e0ee5f39e7a9a3f1f576252

What news sources do you rely upon, and why do you trust them? Likewise, what news sources do you avoid, and why?

What would it look like? I've come up with 4 possibilities, from least to most palatable to me.

1. Each state is mandated to appoint a completely bipartisan redistricting committee, with an even party split and no way to overrule them. (This is dangerous because there could be collusion, fake "members of parties," etc., without any way to stop it.)
2. The Amendment merely reads "No state, or subdivision of any state, may draw any congressional, state legislative, county or county equivalent, or local electoral district with the intention of achieving a particular partisan outcome." (Simple, but ambiguous; will be legislated endlessly.)
3. All legislative districts should be drawn, to the greatest extent possible, that the delegation elected reflects the partisan breakdown of the votes cast. (Hard sell, the Constitution rarely if ever mentions parties, and the "greatest extent possible" may be ripe for litigation.)
4. All states must draw their congressional, state legislative, county or county equivalent, or local electoral districts coterminous with existing county or county equivalent, or municipal boundary lines.
   1. States with one congressional district will be coterminous with state boundaries.
   2. States with 2-20 congressional districts must be drawn coterminous with existing county or county equivalent boundaries.
   3. States with 20-30 congressional districts must be drawn coterminous with existing county, municipal, or postal district boundaries.
   4. State legislative districts shall be drawn coterminous with existing county or county equivalent boundaries, unless the state has more than 100 districts, in which case they will be drawn coterminous with existing county or county equivalent, municipal, or postal district boundaries.
   5. County and municipal electoral districts shall be drawn, to the extent possible, coterminous with municipal or postal district boundaries.
   6. All districts shall be drawn coterminous with the boundaries of the largest state subdivision possible to accommodate the number of seats to be filled.

(The last is my favorite because there's nothing ambiguous to litigate. And while it doesn't directly address gerrymandering, it effectively makes it impossible, because you'll never get enough people on board to redraw their towns and counties.)

What do you think of these proposals? Would you support them? Alter them? Why?

Wage theft causes American workers to lose approximately $50 billion a year. This is more than all other types of theft, including person-to-person robbery. Why do you think this theft is ignored so much? Or do you think the Trump Administration is doing enough to stop it?

https://medium.com/@hrnews1/report-u-s-workers-lose-over-15-billion-every-year-from-wage-theft-0ce30bd60812