It’s been a whirlwind first few months of Trump 2.0, but he and Republicans need to stay focused on the next big election: midterms 2026.
Victor Davis Hanson reviews the first months of the Trump administration—highlighting successes that critics said were impossible—and identifies three areas for caution.
👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com
00:00 Introduction and Overview of Trump's First Year
Tuesday evening Richmond’s channel 6 news viewers heard the headline; “Goochland County residents voice concerns over proposed data center and nuclear reactor development.”
While anti-data center protests are growing more common, a proposed nuclear reactor?
After looking further in, it appears that the concerns might be based on extrapolations of several things proposed in a ne “Technology Overlay District” for Goochland County’s already existing commercial development areas.
Nevertheless, we sat down with Jennie Slade from the Goochland Economic Development Authority to find out what is proposed.
President Donald Trump held a tech summit last week where a number of notable tech CEOs and gurus—who previously were vehement opponents of Trump—met at the White House. This included former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, members of Google, and more.
It’s a quid pro quo: If major tech companies stop offshoring and start investing billions of dollars in the U.S. and create jobs, then Trump will approve their investments, productions, and use of greater energy sources.
Victor Davis Hanson breaks it all down and explains how this move is similar to what former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did when World War II broke out on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
“These CEOs don't like Trump. They're opposed to him ideologically, but they have one thing in common: They're patriotic.”
“Maybe, just maybe, Trump can do for the United States in these emerging, absolutely essential fields of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, robotics, genetic engineering what FDR did in the War Production Board.”
👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com
Democrats take a hard line against police arresting criminals following the stabbing video from Charlotte.
The Supreme Court pauses a lower court ruling that had prohibited the Trump administration from conducting roving immigration arrests across Los Angeles.
House Oversight Democrats lock in on alleged Trump letters to Jeffrey Epstein.
But it’s not just congressional Democrats on offense, as his own family is blasting him as an “embarrassment.” Victor Davis Hanson breaks down the Kennedy family’s hypocrisy—especially considering their silence on Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick scandal and JFK’s infidelities—on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
“ This is the irony. What is an embarrassment to the Kennedy family was not Bobby Jr. working for Donald Trump. It really wasn't. It was Ted Kennedy in 1969: a U.S. senator driving off a bridge with Mary Jo Kopechne, allowing her to drown in the car, and then for 24 hours, trying to fabricate a narrative that was completely a lie so he could get out of responsibility. And then using the Kennedy money and leverage in Massachusetts to get off with this, with no criminal exposure at all. A woman was killed. And yet, no one—none of the Kennedys said that he was a predator or he embarrassed them.
“ You know what else is an embarrassment right now that Caroline Kennedy should be worried about? Her son, Jack Schlossberg. What has he done? He gets on social media, he made fun of Melania Trump's voice the other day and tried to wear a wig and ridicule her.”
👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com
When Pamela Garfield-Jaeger learned a therapist was offering a class characterizing supporters of President Donald Trump as members of a cult, she was compelled to learn more. Using a fake name, Garfield-Jaeger register for the online course and in August, she spent three hours “learning” how a therapists can deal with their Trump supporting clients.
The course, titled “The Impact of Donald Trump on America- A Cultic Studies Perspective,” was led by clinical trauma specialist Jamie Marich, Ph.D. Additionally, Dr. Janja Lalich, a sociologist and cult expert, participated in the instruction. The instructors painted Trump as a cult leader.
The course “instructed therapists to hate their Trump supporting patients,” Garfield-Jaeger wrote in a post on social media after attending the class.
“I was ‘taught’ that if you voted for Trump, you are a part of a ‘cult on a national scale’ that ‘presents an image of bringing the country back to a white majority and white power,’” Garfield-Jaeger added.
Also on today’s show, Garfield-Jaeger gives her insight into the deadly shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis in which the shooter was discovered to identify as transgender.
Plus, the leftist media promoted a rumor that Trump was dead after the president did not make a public appearance for several days. Where were they during President Joe Biden’s entire administration?
And we also take a little time on this week’s show to celebrate host Morgonn McMichael’s recent wedding, and the anniversary of Elise McCue being cancer free!
Notre Dame Professor Patrick Deneen’s book, “Why Liberalism Failed,” was not a project undertaken to explain the Trump phenomenon after President Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the 2016 election. Nevertheless, it quickly entered the panoply of books, with Vice President JD Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” among them, that provided insight into a new era of not only American but Western politics.
The book’s success, even featured on former President Barack Obama’s list of recommended books, catapulted Deneen to one of the most prominent academic figures in the West and his ideas to the forefront of America’s most contentious political debates.
Much has happened in the years since “Why Liberalism Failed” was published. Liberalism managed to claw back power, first through undermining Trump’s agenda at almost every turn from within, and then through the empty vessel of former President Joe Biden. Yet, Trump was able to mount a surprising return in 2024 with a new resolve to dismantle the forces of liberalism concentrated in Washington, D.C. Deneen joined “The Signal Sitdown” this week to discuss what future lies beyond liberalism.
Britain has seen an influx of illegal immigrants from the Islamic Middle East, often without proper background checks. Scandals involving Pakistani immigrants grooming young girls went largely ignored by authorities due to fears of political backlash. Ordinary citizens face harassment for expressing patriotism, even as immigrant communities display cultural or political symbols freely.
Victor Davis Hanson explains that this crisis is part of a larger European problem, and how the social, demographic, and political pressures facing Britain and Europe threaten the stability of their nations on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”
“They’ve had a series of controversies and incidents and scandals in which Pakistani illegal immigrants have been grooming young British girls in the sex trades. And this was apparently known to authorities. But they felt that it was politically correct, in the age of DEI and woke, to seriously pursue any legal ramifications, until the public was outraged.
“And this is in addition to the beginning of massive demonstrations, on the part of the British, Scottish, Irish, Welsh public, to perceived indifference from the United Kingdom Labour Party to the plight of their own citizens. In other words, they're censoring thought, dissent of British citizens, but not in the same manner they are of illegal aliens. And this translates into some very Orwellian and absurd incidents.”
👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com
