Thoughts From the Periphery: There’s a madman running the country

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Apr 4

Today is April 3rd, 2026, and the President of the United States has been hiding from the American people all day inside the White House, moving between the Oval Office and the Oval Office dining room. In this critically dangerous moment that calls for visible strength, clear reassurance, and the steady presence of a president who is capable of rising to the occasion, we are instead being met with silence and closed doors. All while the situation overseas has deteriorated rapidly in a matter of hours. A U.S. fighter jet has been shot down, and multiple aircraft sent into the rescue effort have also been hit. An American service member is now missing in action, with bounties reportedly placed on his head.

The F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran. Two crew members ejected and landed on Iranian soil. U.S. forces launched a rescue operation, sending in Black Hawk helicopters to retrieve them. They were able to locate and extract the pilot, but both helicopters came under small arms fire on the way out, with crew members wounded before they made it back to base. An A-10 Warthog sent in to provide air cover was also hit by Iranian fire. That pilot barely made it to Kuwait before ejecting and being rescued. His aircraft was a total loss.

The second crew member from the original F-15E is still missing. Somewhere on the ground, alone, in hostile territory, separated during ejection, armed with little more than a sidearm, trained to hide and wait, while forces close in and civilians are being told to shoot on sight.

Four American aircraft hit in a single day. Two destroyed. Multiple service members wounded. And one missing tonight. And this happened less than 48 hours after the President of the United States stood in front of the cameras and told the nation that Iran had been “completely decimated.” He said they had no anti-aircraft equipment left and that their radar was “100% annihilated.” He said we were “unstoppable as a military force.” CENTCOM’s own commander said Thursday that Iran’s air defenses had “largely been destroyed.” And then today happened. And everything they told us was proven wrong by the people who were supposed to have no ability to fight back.

As the days get darker, we have to admit a hard truth. The United States has fallen to a madman. I say that from a place of heartbreak. And I say that because I don’t know what other word describes a president who receives news that an American is missing on the ground in hostile territory, with a bounty on his head and state television telling civilians to shoot on sight, and responds by posting “KEEP THE OIL, ANYONE?” on Truth Social. That was his public response. Four words about stealing oil while an American weapons system officer was in such grave danger.

While in hiding at the White House, Donald Trump did give two brief phone interviews today. In one, with NBC News correspondent Garrett Haake, he dismissed the entire day in seven words when asked if the day’s events would affect any negotiations with Iran: “No, not at all. No, it’s war.” Which was an odd choice of words to use to describe what is happening in Iran, since he has continued insisting it is not a “war,” so he doesn’t have to get congressional approval for this “war”. When The Independent asked what he would do if the missing American is captured or harmed by Iranian forces, Trump said, “Well, I can’t comment on it because, we hope that’s not going to happen,” and ended the call shortly after. He offered no warning to Iran. No projection of strength. No plan. He just ended the call.

And then the White House called a lid on the press for the entire day, officially confirming that the president would not appear before cameras, and that he would not face the American people on the single worst day of this war. By the evening, and as the day worsened for Trump, according to ABC News, his national security team had gathered at the White House for what can only be described as an emergency meeting. Instead of gaggling with the press today, before Easter weekend, his White House was in full crisis mode because reality had finally broken through. This war is a disaster.

And we have to remember how it got to this point. The people who are normally in the room for decisions like this, whether to send Americans into combat, whether to escalate or pull back, whether the risk is worth the cost, are trained for it. They’ve spent their lives studying warfare, understanding global consequences, weighing what happens on the ground and what it means back here at home. Donald Trump has never had that level of understanding. He has never shown the ability to step back and ask the most basic question a leader should be asking in moments like this: what does this look like in the bigger picture? In his first term, he at least had people around him who could ground him in reality, people who brought him real intelligence, real consequences, real limits.

This time, he doesn’t. Now he is surrounded by enablers, people who benefit from chaos, from escalation, from the dismantling of systems that were designed to protect us. And to make it worse, he may never hear the truth again. Because the generals who would have told him, who likely were trying to, were fired yesterday. The day before the worst escalation of the war.

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out three generals in a single day. Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, a 38-year career infantry officer, West Point Class of 1988, who served in the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and commanded at every level from company to corps, was told to retire immediately. He was roughly three years into a typical four-year term. General David Hodne, who led the Transformation and Training Command (T2COM), was also removed. So was Major General William Green Jr., the Army’s Chief of Chaplains. No official explanation was given. But the word circulating among active-duty and retired military, including Army Rangers, who are expressing shock and outrage, is that General George opposed sending ground troops into Iran. Although Axios described him as leaving over “personality clashes.”

And this wasn’t an isolated move. Hegseth has now fired more than a dozen generals and admirals since taking office. The Atlantic is reporting that discussions are underway about the possible departures of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, FBI Director Kash Patel, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. And the people replacing them will be chosen by the same criterion that has governed every appointment in this administration: loyalty at any cost. Even if it involves the lives of our military members.

And while the generals who opposed a ground invasion were being fired, the evidence that a ground invasion is coming has been mounting. Beyond the buildup of troops in the region. On Polymarket, the prediction market platform, the bet for U.S. forces entering Iran by the end of April is now trading at 85%. That bet has generated more than $99.9 million in trading volume as of Thursday. And the pattern of betting on this platform has been alarming. Blockchain analysts identified six freshly created accounts that collectively made $1.2 million by correctly betting on the exact date of the February 28 strikes. Those accounts were funded within 24 hours of the attack, and bets were placed hours before the first bombs fell.

Someone with access to classified war planning appears to be using that information to place anonymous bets on the outcomes of American military operations. People are profiting from this war.

If troops on the ground do happen, it won’t just make people rich. It has the potential to get a large number of people killed. But Trump isn’t thinking about that or truly does not understand the risk. He told the Financial Times he thought the U.S. could take Kharg Island “very easily” and that Iran has no defenses there. The intelligence says otherwise. Iran has been mining the beaches, positioning shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles on the shoreline, and moving additional troops onto the island. It sits roughly 20 miles from the Iranian mainland, within range of missiles, drones, and artillery. Retired Admiral James Stavridis, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, said he would be “very worried” about such an operation and that Iran would do “everything they can to inflict maximum casualties on U.S. forces.” And today we saw what that looks like in practice: armed civilians jumping out of a car and shooting at rescue helicopters with automatic rifles. That is not a military force. That is the general population. And it is a preview of what any American ground force would face.

Trump ran on America First. The only thing that is first right now is Trump and his enablers. The rest of us are last. The world is last. The service members risking their lives are last. The families waiting to hear if their loved one is alive are last. The children who will inherit the consequences of this madness are last.

So what do we do? We turn to Congress, because that is where every single one of these threads converges. That is where the constitutional power to stop this still lives.

The War Powers clock is ticking. The strikes began February 28. Without a formal authorization for the use of military force, the legal basis for this war has an expiration date. Congress can force that question. They can refuse to authorize continued operations. They can refuse to fund the $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal. Every dollar requires their vote. The power of the purse is the most fundamental check in the entire constitutional system, and it belongs to Congress.

And I want to say something about why the mechanisms of impeachment and the 25th Amendment exist. They were not created as theoretical exercises. They were built by people who understood that this exact scenario was possible, that a leader could rise who would not leave voluntarily, who would not feel shame, who would not resign the way Nixon did when the walls closed in on their corruption. Nixon, for all his crimes, still had enough awareness of the institution to know that staying would destroy it and that he, himself, would face a worse fate. Trump does not have that awareness, and he does not have that dignity. The mechanisms exist because the founders knew that someday a president would lack both. That day has arrived.

As I wrote last night, JD Vance has a choice in front of him. He could invoke the 25th Amendment and become president. He would go into the history books as the one to end Trump’s reign of terror. His presidency could shatter the MAGA stranglehold, because that cult-like devotion is personal to Trump. It would not transfer because Vance does not have “it”. He is described as creepy, unlikable, and a chameleon with no fixed convictions. But he would be president, and the spell would be broken. He will almost certainly never do it, because the cabinet has been purged of anyone who would support the move. But the option exists, and history will record whether he had the courage to use it.

If Vance will not act, Congress can and must. If every Republican stood together and said, “No more,” they could end this. They could vote to stop funding Trump’s madness. Or they could take it one step further, and they could impeach both Trump and Vance. They could install new leadership. They could face the world and say, “Our government was taken over by a madman. He was mentally incapacitated. We have cleared out that problem, and we are making reparations to the world.”

The only way we get out of this war without mass American casualties is if the people with the constitutional authority to act use it. And even then, I do not know if we can undo what has already been done. We have destabilized an entire region and broken faith with allies who may never trust us again. But stopping it now is still better than letting it continue, and every day Congress refuses to act, the cost in lives and in the damage to our standing in the world grows.

I know how unlikely this sounds. I know the Republican caucus, as it exists today, is not built for courage. But I also know that Congress is facing a very messy midterm election cycle. It is in their best interests to come back from vacation now and take a stand. They must act immediately. And our job, every single one of us, is to make sure they hear from us so loudly and so constantly that the political math of inaction becomes more dangerous than the political math of standing up.

Donald Trump is a once-in-a-generation madman. Every century seems to produce one of these figures who creep up and somehow convince people that they alone have the answers to all of their problems. They make promises based on simple solutions to complex problems. And then they deliver nothing, while taking everything for themselves and their enablers. That is Trump.

But every madman loses in the end because of those same lies. And a new CNN poll shows that the roughly one-quarter of Americans who view both parties negatively, the double haters, favor Democrats in the upcoming midterms by 31 points. These are not party loyalists. These are the most disillusioned voters in the country, the ones who look at the entire system and feel disgusted, and even they have made a moral judgment about what the Republican Party has become under Trump. His approval, according to the FiftyPlusOne polling average, is at 37.2%, the lowest of this term, and falling.

The ground is shifting. Not because of one poll or one bad day. But because his corruption and chaos are collapsing under their own weight. And that is why I still have hope for America. And you should, too.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

PS. You can make a significant difference right now by subscribing to my Substack. Your support helps me cover more ground and keep telling the truth about the lies and destruction unfolding in this country.

Heather Delaney Reese

I built a blog that reached millions, now I'm fighting for America's future and survival. I expose MAGA lies and the government's failures, cut through the propaganda, and say what we're all thinking.

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This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.

Picture of the Day: NASA’s image of Earth from space. No borders, flags, or wars. Just one planet, fragile and whole, reminding us what we are actually fighting for.

Sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-fighter-jet-f15e-downed-over-iran/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/us-fighter-jet-went-iran-search-rescue-mission-underway-officials-say-rcna266523

https://www.axios.com/2026/04/03/iran-us-fighter-shot-down

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/03/f-15-crash-iran-missing/

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/iran-f-15e-downed-search-rescue/

https://abcnews.com/Politics/air-defenses-trump-hegseth-touted-american-dominance-iran/story?id=131690203

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-said-iran-was-decimated-american-f-15e-fighter-jet-was-shot-rcna266611

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/live-blog/live-updates-iran-war-trump-strike-b-1-bridge-tehran-hormuz-israel-rcna266522

https://time.com/article/2026/04/02/trump-speech-white-house-iran-war-update-end/

https://www.jns.org/news/u-s-news/centcom-chief-we-are-making-undeniable-progress-in-iran

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/3/trump-says-with-more-time-us-can-take-the-oil-in-iran