How Trump survives: Battling the media, former allies and assassination attempts

has been written off a thousand times and always managed to bounce back.

He hung on when he first got in the race and was mocked as a sideshow. When the “Access Hollywood” tape came out. When his supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

He outlasted two impeachments and four criminal cases. He won reelection when that seemed like a long shot. Hes the Harry Houdini of Washington. 

And on Saturday night, he survived his . At a dinner that was expected to feature the president mocking the media, his calm response to being targeted by a heavily armed shooter generated enormous sympathy for him. Its a dangerous job, he said.

In fact, he “fought like hell” to continue with the , but the Secret Service – one of whose members was shot but saved by a protective vest – insisted on clearing the room. 

At the same time, Trump has such mounting political problems that its hard to avoid the conclusion hes in a free fall. 

The president is bogged down in an the latest talks. Rising gas prices are inflicting pain at home. He may be losing the redistricting wars. Some of his most prominent supporters in the conservative media have turned on him with a vengeance, even apologizing for having supported him.

Thats not all. The Democrats are virtually certain to win the House. They are talking about impeaching Trump the day theyre sworn in. Sure, hed be acquitted in the , but his last two years would be a blizzard of investigations and payback.

Whats more, the president cant run again. Hell still have the power of incumbency, but the House can block most of what he wants to do (and this is beyond the media fantasy that the opposition party could take the Senate as well).

In the ever-present , Trump has dropped as low as 33% approval in an AP survey, his worst numbers ever.

More eye-popping is a new survey with a large sample, from Strength in Numbers/Verasight, which says 21% of support impeachment, with 72% opposed. Among independents, 50% back impeaching the president.   

And a found more respondents trusting the Democrats over the Republicans on the economy, by four points, for the first time in 15 years.

This comes against the backdrop of Trump having fired three women in his Cabinet, creating a sense of disorder, and his wife giving a televised speech to deny any involvement with .

But lets have a reality check.

Trumps have taken their toll, with many dismissing the coverage as fueled by personal hostility. And Democrats, with few exceptions, arent helping themselves by appearing to root for the Iranian terrorists when our service members are at risk.

By November, the Iran war could be a distant memory. The economy might enjoy an uptick. Even now, with the ceasefire collapsing over the blockade, the stock market has hit record highs.

Trump will use his media mastery to dominate the news agenda. He already takes calls from reporters at all hours. 

The Democrats, meanwhile, are leaderless. Even if Hakeem Jeffries is speaker, the president will make far more news. That wont change until the 2028 primaries, when a front-runner or two emerges.

Trump can make news with , such as moving marijuana to a lower classification and boosting research into psychedelic drugs.

The betrayal being voiced by his onetime allies on the right, who embraced his pledge of no new foreign wars, may be less important for those not immersed in the online world. But it is a bellwether for the splintering of the MAGA coalition.

Now some of its leading members are calling him erratic and reckless.

No one is loving this more than the Democrats and the Never Trumpers, who say wait, youre just noticing this now? Weve been telling you this for years.

“Trump looks desperate to run for the hills,” says Maureen Dowd. “He constantly says he has defeated the mullahs and obliterated their military power, and yet Iran refuses to be subdued.”