His America First agenda is somewhat overshadowed by his war cry in Venezuela and his pro-Russia tilt in settling the Ukraine war.

His claims that the economy is strong and prices lower are challenged by sustained or rising gas prices and higher grocery bills faced by his base in fly-over country.

His hug of New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani left his strongest media defenders on Fox sputtering for a new way to spin their months of following the president’s lead and condemning the socialist.

And then there was the shock announcement Friday night that loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was leaving Congress and Washington, D.C., after being ditched by Trump for challenging him on a few issues. He was nasty to the end, responding, “I think it’s great news for the country. It’s great.” Today, he added, “Marjorie went BAD.”

Judging simply by the ideological makeup in Congress, it’s almost a certainty that one of the only and most MAGA representatives will be replaced by a RINO.

Probably a Bushie.

MAGA lost big today. https://t.co/Hsa5Xa20jU

— Rich Baris The People’s Pundit (@Peoples_Pundit) November 22, 2025

Report card grader and Democratic pollster John Zogby dished an “F,” and noted the administration’s disconnect between its cheers on prices and the reality of what people are feeling.

Conservative grader Jed Babbin offered a “C minus,” and raised questions about the Ukraine deal and the attacks on alleged drug boats in Venezuela.

Jed Babbin

Grade: C-

It wasn’t a good week for President Donald Trump and his team because he defended Tucker Carlson, sold F-35s to the Saudis, and tried to impose a new peace plan on Ukraine.

Trump’s meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was all about cooperation with the Saudis, who aren’t our allies in any but the weakest sense of the word. Selling them F-35 Lightning stealth fighters is not a totally bad idea and neither is the $1 trillion the prince promised to invest in America.

The biggest problem during the meeting was in Trump’s defense of MBS who he said was innocent of the murder of Washington Post columnist and critic Jamaal Khashoggi (who the CIA said was killed on orders from the prince). And it didn’t help that during their meet-and-greet with the media, Trump also defended Carlson’s platforming of anti-Semite Nick Fuentes. Neither is justifiable.

The new “peace plan” for Ukraine would impose land concessions on Ukraine, which helps Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pressuring a weakened President Volodymyr Zelensky — who is reeling from a new corruption scandal — doesn’t help Ukraine and can be seen as helping Putin.

Then there was the video of top Democrats telling military members to disobey illegal orders. It was way off base, but the legality of Trump’s drug boat strikes off Venezuela is not at all clear. It’s a weak point that Trump has never explained.

John Zogby

Grade: F

Most notably this week, President Donald Trump was not invited to the funeral of former Vice President Dick Cheney. 

Then there was his suggestion of sedition after six senators with military experience cut a video to tell service men and women that they do not have to obey illegal orders. Trump said that the lawmakers should be “executed.”

On Air Force One, he hushed Bloomberg’s reporter with “quiet, piggy.” And he worked overtime to undue damage caused by his tariffs policy. From a teleprompter, he emphasized (or merely learned for the first time) that the operative word these days is “affordability.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics came out with its very late September jobs report that showed 119,000 new jobs created, much more than expected. Isn’t this the same BLS that produced fake news according to Trump?

And voters do not believe that prices are going down.

I live in the upstate New York city of Utica, where one-third of the population is refugee or related, and 46 languages are spoken in the school district. In a recent visit to a hospital, I asked what country the staff came from. Two of three would not answer me. A young nurse told me, “Sir, I would rather not tell you.” The rest ignored me or changed the subject. Please re-read this one. Is this what we really want?

Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.

John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.