Despite the progress that has indeed been made globally when it comes to producing clean energy, the use of greenhouse-gas-producing fossil fuels remains on the rise on Planet Earth, even without Donald Trump in the White House. Now, of course, he's intent in his own striking fashion and -- the second time around this is indeed an appropriate word -- tradition on bankrupting the planet itself as a livable place for the rest of us. And yes, he did indeed oversee those six bankruptcies earlier in his life, but historically they will prove to be nothing compared to the bankruptcy he's likely to oversee in the next three years and nine months before he leaves office (if he does), while saying, "You're fired!" to the American people and the world. In a country that distinctly seems to be coming apart at the seams -- if not in a literal civil war, then in some kind of civil dissolution -- think of him indeed as President Bankrupt (and that bankruptcy is going to play out on Planet Earth in a way that might once have been unimaginable).
Down, Down, Down
Not surprisingly, Donald Trump has already spent the first days of his second term in office, as Robert Reich put it recently, attempting "to intimidate lawyers, law firms, universities, the media, and every other institution of civil society." And just to add one more thing to that list, he's doing his best to devastate this planet.
The Earth is already feeling the heat. In 2024, the hottest year on record, according to the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (though these days you can say that of more or less any year, since the last 10 have been the hottest ever), there were a record 151 extreme weather events -- heatwaves, floods, and storms -- planet-wide that were worse than any previously recorded in whatever regions they hit. Take that in for a moment and then think about the fact that Donald Trump won the 2024 election by what may prove to be the most devastating 1.6% of the vote in history.
Madness, right? Imagine what those extreme weather figures might look like three years and nine months from today, after ever more record heat. And then try to imagine what books your grandchildren (or mine) might be reading in their rooms some years from now: The Road to Hell? This Damned Earth? A Stillness at [you fill in the blank, but be sure to make it loud and terrifying]?
Think of Donald Trump, then, not only as President Bankrupt, but President Decline. After all, he's the leader of the country that, only 30-odd years ago, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was considered the "lone superpower" on planet Earth and now is anything but. In that sense, Donald Trump represents something that might be considered old hat in this world of ours: the decline of empire. After all, the country that once, all too long ago, was led by a crew that liked to think of themselves as "the best and the brightest" is now led by a crew that could certainly qualify as the worst and the dumbest, and seems intent on creating an America that will prove to be a bankruptcy first class.
Not that there's anything strikingly new about that in the history of empires. What's new, of course, is that Donald Trump may, in his own fashion, be overseeing and intensifying a planetary bankruptcy as well, a kind of decline and fall that until now hasn't been part of the human experience.
Of course, it's possible that public opinion might just be starting to turn against him and the Republicans. And the civil-war-style mood might even be toning down a bit (though I wouldn't count on that). Nonetheless, it's not happening faintly soon enough to matter on a planet already heating to the boiling point.
For the foreseeable future, unfortunately, we will all be living in a burn-baby-burn world whose climate will be set by that expert in bankruptcies, Donald J. Trump.
Copyright 2025 Tom Engelhardt
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
