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TRUMP IS ABOUT TO FIND OUT WHAT EVERY BULLY IN HISTORY HAS FOUND OUT
 
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Michael Tomasky
January 20, 2026
The New Republic
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_ Last year, Trump had a lot of people scared. But there are
good—and encouraging—reasons to think that this year will be
different. _

, Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images

 

In 2025, Donald Trump scared people. And institutions. Go back in your
mind to the way he came out of the gate, gunning the accelerator on
every front. Pardoning
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the insurrectionists. Dismantling
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executive branch. Firing inspectors general and heads and members of
independent commissions
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Arresting
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people for writing op-eds. Threatening
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universities and law firms. Shipping people off
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to El Salvador.

That was Round One in the Trump boxing match against reality, and for
a time, Trump was winning. The shock felt from his attacks on
political opponents and institutions left them flat-footed. Some
prominent law firms caved
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to Trump’s threats and agreed to do pro bono work for his pet
causes. Universities cut deals
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to stay out of his gunsights. Media companies capitulated
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Amazon decided to make a movie
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debuts at the end of the month at—you guessed it—the
“Trump-Kennedy Center”). Trump’s power reached from the normal
political realm down into the culture itself. A number of firms and
universities and others fought him, but the general cultural vibe was
very much in the direction of trying to stay in line—the better to
avoid the tyrant’s attention—or actively trying to win it with
embarrassing acts of sycophancy.

Now we’re at the start of Round Two of the boxing match, and I smell
something changing. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor
Jacob Frey have been impressively uncompromising—and uncompromised,
which is more important—in their public statements since ICE hit
town and executed a blameless U.S. citizen. Trump and the cowardly Pam
Bondi (does she understand how the history books will treat her?)
launched investigations into the two men. Walz and Frey responded by
saying, in essence, _Bring it on._ Said
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Walz: “Two days ago, it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week, it was Jerome
Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and
threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.
The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good
is the federal agent who shot her.” (Hey, good idea, governor: How
about the state of Minnesota or the city of Minneapolis arrest
Jonathan Ross?)

Over the weekend, three high-ranking American Catholic cardinals
denounced Trump
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(not by name) and his imperial bullying in what was, for cardinals, a
strongly worded statement. “Our country’s moral role in
confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and
human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under
examination,” they wrote
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That followed statements by Pope Leo criticizing Trump
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for his treatment of immigrants.

Last Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced
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made a deal with China that would dramatically drop tariffs on Chinese
electric vehicles and allow nearly 50,000 of them to be sold in
Canada. This is a move to keep a close eye on.

Ever watched a video about a Chinese E.V.? I have. These vehicles are
good. Maybe not _just_ good. They _look amazing_
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comparatively. That’s why Joe Biden imposed a 100 percent tariff on
them in 2024—to keep the competition safely on the other side of the
planet. Then–Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed
Biden’s lead and imposed the same level of tariff. Both were
protecting their car industries, and this is one form of protectionism
that I’d imagine most Americans support: No one wants to see Detroit
die.

But Carney, with elbows clearly up
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has different ideas. _OK, Trump, make all the fifty-first state jokes
you want. You think I’ll just let this happen? Well, try this on for
size: I’m going to bring Chinese E.V.s onto North American soil._

Detroit must be in a dead panic over this. And Trump is learning that
little Canada with its mere 40 million people actually has some
leverage over the mighty United States that the bully didn’t think
it had.

And if Canada has leverage, what about the EU? The EU is the world’s
third-biggest economy, after the United States and China. Does Trump
really think he can impose tariffs on the EU over this Greenland
madness and the EU won’t retaliate? Trump is set to speak in Davos
on Wednesday. EU leaders are scheduled to meet in Brussels on
Thursday. They’re not going to take whatever idiocy he launches
lying down.

So, all over the place, and in a range of realms, people have started
to confront the bully. There remains, however, one group of people, or
two closely related groups, that have yet to join the club: corporate
America and Wall Street—the biggest cowards in the country.

Why haven’t they? We know why. They’re mostly Republican, and they
voted for Trump. They want their tax cuts. They’re terrified of
crossing him. They know they helped elect a president bent on
weaponizing the civil service to seek revenge on his enemies—and
that he’ll order the Justice Department’s antitrust division or
the Securities and Exchange Commission or others to go after them in a
heartbeat the moment they end up on Trump’s blacklist.

But this too may be starting to change. Detroit, as noted, has to be
worried that Trump is setting off a chain of events that may put them
out of business. European countries are beefing up their defense
spending, which should get a gravy train rolling for American defense
giants—but the EU already started freezing out
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U.S. contractors last fall, and if Trump tries to seize Greenland,
U.S. contractors will lose billions in opportunities. And even some
Wall Street figures have been critical
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of Trump recently over the scandalous investigation of Fed Chair Jay
Powell and Trump’s proposed credit card interest rate cap.

I’m not expecting much out of these people. They don’t care about
anything, really, except their bottom line. But the king’s madness
is starting to affect that. If Trump drives this country into a
position where most of the world—save Russia, Hungary, Chile, El
Salvador, and a handful of other right-wing dys-fantasy lands—wants
to do business with China and the EU, corporate America and Wall
Street will miraculously find their backbones. And once that happens,
Trump won’t have many friends left.

Trump’s shock troops still scare some people on the streets of our
country, and tragically so. Over the weekend, I saw a heartbreaking
sign
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posted on the door of a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis: “WE ARE
OPEN,” the sign said. “Please wait for us to unlock the door.
Thank you for understanding.” It’s reasonable that those poor
people should be scared. What a ghastly sight to see in the United
States of America.

But those of us not facing that kind of direct threat? For that
cohort, 2026 will not be a repeat of 2025. And the bully will learn
what bullies throughout history have learned. Eventually, people
decide they have had enough. And “eventually” is coming.
===
Michael Tomasky is the editor of _The New Republic_ and the author of
five books, including his latest and critically acclaimed _The Middle
Out: The Rise of Progressive Economics and a Return to Shared
Prosperity_
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With extensive experience as an editor, columnist, progressive
commentator, and special correspondent for renowned publications such
as _The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times_, the Daily
Beast, and many others, Tomasky has been a trusted voice in political
journalism for more than three decades.

* Trump the Bully; Minneapolis; Catholic Bishops; Canada;
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