Editorial | Trump II: Are we having fun yet?

Not to minimize the consequences of electing Donald Trump to a second term, or the ardor of the No Kings marchers Saturday, but the opposition needs a 2026 election slogan.

How about: Are we having fun yet?

Consider how things stand as April Fools' Day approaches. Under Trump II, we have:

• War.

• Tariffs.

• Airports with long lines of passengers trying to get security clearance.

• The shocking and immoral treatment of immigrants.

• Hostility toward childhood vaccines.

• Cuts in health care for the poor.

• Corruption run rampant.

• Moves to dismantle environmental protections.

• Falsehoods daily coming out of the White House.

• An assault on elections.

• Gas prices soaring.

We're sure we've left off many other egregious examples of the havoc and ruin perpetrated by this presidency.

But, from this list we'll just take on a couple that have not received as much coverage as, say, the war on Iran and the specter of ICE agents terrorizing people. Gas prices and elections.

You might wonder why, if Middle East oil mainly goes to Asian countries, why gas is skyrocketing in this country? Although the U.S. produces plenty of oil, gas prices rise because oil is traded on a global market, meaning prices are set by international demand and geopolitical events (the Iran war) rather than domestic supply alone.

Older residents may remember the gasoline shortages of the 1970s. In the 1973-74 oil embargo, Arab countries cut oil production and exports to the U.S. and other nations supporting Israel. Then, in 1979, the Iranian revolution quickly cut off oil production, and the U.S. again faced a gasoline shortage.

A lack of supply, rising prices and rules and regulations were adopted concerning who could buy how much gas and when they could, sent many Americans into panic buying - much like the COVID shortages of 2020 with toilet paper, hand sanitizer and masks.

Will we again see long lines at gas stations, or motorists filling jerry cans with precious fuel to take with them? Rationing? In 1974, California went to the even-odd system of buying gas, where cars with license plates ending in even numbers could fill up on specified days and vehicles with odd numbers on other days.

Experts warn gas prices could get far worse if the war continues. By the way, gasoline in the mid-1970s was less than a dollar a gallon. According to Gas Buddy, the average price Monday in California was $5.82 a gallon, up 8 cents from a week ago and $1.10 from a year ago.

This latest assault on people's pocketbooks doesn't bode well for Republicans as the midterm elections loom.

Congress is considering the Save America Act, a Republican-backed bill mandating that every voter provide in-person proof of citizenship and an appropriate photo identification to access the ballot box. Though the House passed the measure on a narrow party-line vote in February, it now sits with the Senate.

Supporters call it a means to prevent noncitizen voting, which is already extremely rare. But Trump has said voting is a privilege, not a right, and that passing the bill will "guarantee the midterms" for Republicans.

It doesn't stop there. During oral arguments last week, a majority of Supreme Court justices seemed ready to strike down state laws that allow late-arriving, mail-in ballots to be counted. If that happens, voters will have to mail their ballots days earlier or deliver them in person to ensure their arrival by Election Day.

That would have a huge impact in California, where all 23 million registered voters may vote by mail. California, 13 other states and the District of Columbia accept ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive by a later deadline. California's grace period lasts seven days.

To Trump and Republican supporters, mail voting is a bogeyman that threatens democracy. "Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating," Trump said last week, continuing his false claim the 2020 election was stolen from him and mail ballots were a prime culprit. Never mind that Trump voted early by mail in a Florida special election this month.

If the Supreme Court strikes down grace periods or the SAVE Act becomes law, elections won't be improved. Both, or either, will only sow confusion and risk disenfranchising voters.

Then again, that may be what the MAGA Trump bloc is after in a year when Republicans easily could lose control of Congress.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 5:13 PM.