A New York Times opinion columnist is taking President Donald Trump and his team to task for what he described as having not only “normalized bragging,” but “fetishized it.”

“It’s a naughtiness they allow themselves, a perk they accord themselves, a rite by which they identify themselves to one another as birds of a feather — peacocks, in this case,” observed Frank Bruni. “It’s a competition: My superlatives are bigger than yours.”

Declaring that “Trump and his team exuberantly violate just about every precept of character that I was ever taught, and so it goes with moderation and humility,” Bruni reported on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s recent comments.

READ MORE: Forecaster Reveals ‘Massive Shift’ in Party Americans Trust

“It has been a historic year at the Department of War,” the Secretary said.

“He added that ‘the spirit in our ranks’ was ‘unprecedented’ and that recruitment and retention were ‘at the most historic levels our country has ever seen.’ Not just historic — most historic.”

Trump “can’t find enough hours in the conventional workday to proclaim his glory adequately, so he has been known to spend the wee hours strutting on Truth Social, as he did from 9 p.m. to midnight on the first day of December, in a narcissistic meltdown of more than 150 posts.”

“Me, me, me. Best, best, best,” Bruni recorded.

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After pointing out Trump’s recent self-congratulatory “A+++++” claim on how he is handling the economy, Bruni offered some perspective.

“That’s five pluses, for those of you too nonplused to pause and count. I assume he stopped there only because he was winded. He’s not the cyclone of energy he used to be. He’s more an erratic breeze.”

“As for the economy,” the columnist continued, “all the pluses in the world may not persuade voters of their good fortune. An AP-NORC poll released on Thursday showed that just 31 percent of Americans — a new low in that survey — approve of how Trump is handling economic issues.”

Bruni concluded, “That’s an F with minus upon minus in tow.”

READ MORE: Trump Reveals White House’s ‘Primary’ Policy Goal — And It Isn’t Cutting Costs

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There has been a “massive shift” in the party Americans trust more on inflation — one of the top issues in the country.

CNN forecaster Harry Enten revealed on Monday that a strong majority of Americans now believe that when it comes to fighting inflation, the country is on the wrong track: 56%, up from 36% when President Donald Trump took office.

“Donald Trump was elected to solve the economic crisis, to solve the pricing crisis,” Enten told viewers. “But at this particular point, these numbers are going in the complete wrong direction.”

“You go back to January, these numbers were pretty split, right? 43% said wrong track, 36% said right track, right when Donald Trump came in office. But look at that. That wrong track number has skyrocketed up to 56%.”

READ MORE: Republicans Start to Speak Out Against Trump’s Rob Reiner Message

He added that the percent of Americans who believe the country is on the right track when it comes to inflation is now just 29%.

“The bottom line is this,” Enten continued. “Donald Trump is trying to spin a narrative, and the American people aren’t buying the spin that is coming out of the White House.”

Noting that Americans’ “number one” concern is inflation, by a strong margin, Enten put that number at 44% of the country.

“It’s inflation, overwhelmingly, driving this economic pessimism, and I will tell you this, until the economy, until the American people think that inflation is under control, they will continue to have pessimistic feelings about the economy, because inflation is numero uno by a wide, wide margin in driving the second economic pessimism.”

When it comes to which party Americans now trust more on fixing inflation, Lenten noted that three years ago it was the GOP by a 14 point margin.

READ MORE: Trump Reveals White House’s ‘Primary’ Policy Goal — And It Isn’t Cutting Costs

That’s now flipped.

“Now, Democrats are trusted more by four points, so it’s not just the president that the American people are turning on when it comes to inflation,” he noted. “It is, in fact, the Republican Party as well — a massive shift to the left towards the Democratic Party.”

Enten also pointed to the prediction markets, which, he said, show that 80% do not see inflation getting better soon.

“The bottom line is this,” Enten concluded, “there is no relief in sight.”

Americans ain’t buying Trump’s economic spin. The % saying we’re on the wrong economic track has skyrocketed since Jan from 43% to 56%.

This has caused a massive shift to the left on who’s trusted more on inflation: it’s now Dems +4 pts vs. GOP +14 going into the 2022 midterms. pic.twitter.com/nAnn2LCRZG

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) December 15, 2025

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Two Republican lawmakers are speaking out against President Donald Trump’s highly-criticized remarks on what is being investigated as an apparent homicide of celebrated director and activist Rob Reiner, and his wife, Michele Singer.

The president in a Monday morning Truth Social post blamed “Trump Derangement Syndrome” on the couple’s deaths.

Reiner, the president then alleged, “was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.”

READ MORE: Trump Reveals White House’s ‘Primary’ Policy Goal — And It Isn’t Cutting Costs

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) responded directly to the president’s remarks.

“Rob Reiner and his wife were tragically killed at the hands of their own son, who reportedly had drug addiction and other issues, and their remaining children are left in serious mourning and heartbreak,” Greene alleged. “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies. Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”

Police have not classified the deaths as murder.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) spoke more forcefully about the president’s remarks:

“Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”

READ MORE: Trump Is the ‘Biggest Security Threat’ Facing America: Columnist

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) responded to Congressman Massie.

“Thank you for your humanity,” Lieu wrote. “I want you to know the White House isn’t ignoring Trump’s post about Rob Reiner and Michele. The official White House rapid response account amplified Trump’s post.”

But some found Massie’s remarks insufficient.

“Massie is being delicate here,” observed Tim Carney, an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) senior fellow. “‘Innapropriate and disrespectful’ is an extreme understatement. Trump’s behavior here is deranged and shows psychopathic levels of narcissism. It’s also unsurprising given Trump’s standard behavior.”

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