What does Rod Dreher blame for the failures of Trump's second administration?

Rod Dreher blames Trump's habit of deciding on gut instinct instead of expert advice, and of promoting people for personal loyalty rather than competence. He dates the decline to April 2, 2025, the Liberation Day tariff announcement, which he says was not thought out. He adds that Trump signed executive orders without turning them into legislation, and he calls the Iran war the symbol of every disaster of Trumpism.

• Dreher says Trump lacks a theory or practice of governance, so the administration lurched from one crisis to the next.
• Dreher notes Republicans held both houses of Congress and the White House yet left good executive orders unlegislated.

▸In their words

“I think that the wheels began to fall off of the Trump train on April 2, 2025.” Rod Dreher · at 17:02 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Today, Explained (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

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