After nearly two decades with Ring of Fire, I officially stepped away from the program at the start of December — and almost immediately, speculation began to swirl. Let me set the record straight.

With Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party already weakening, many are beginning to wonder what happens to the MAGA movement once Trump is no longer in office—or no longer alive. Is MAGA a lasting political force that will simply transfer its loyalty to a new figure, or is it something far more fragile and dependent on one man? Looking at declining self-identification numbers, growing voter regret, and the absence of any clear successor, the evidence suggests MAGA may already be in serious decline.

After years of nonstop scandals, chaos, and outrage, many Americans are experiencing what’s become known as “Trump fatigue.” While the constant barrage of news can feel impossible to ignore, there are moments when the sheer volume becomes overwhelming and people simply tune out altogether. So how does someone who covers Donald Trump and right-wing politics every day avoid burning out completely? And what can regular viewers do to protect their own mental health without disconnecting entirely from reality?

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en

At the recent Turning Point conference, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson finally started to sound the alarm bells about Republicans' chances in next year's midterms. Johnson warned that Democrats could take over (which is almost guaranteed at this point), and that if they do, they'll go out and impeach Donald Trump again. He's trying to scare Republicans into submission, but doing so by arguing that the least popular president in modern history is in danger isn't exactly going to get people energized.

Kevin Hassett, the chief economic adviser to Donald Trump, panicked when questioned by CBS's Margaret Brennan about when Americans can expect to start receiving their $2,000 tariff rebate checks that Trump has repeatedly promised. Hassett tried to say that Congress has to do that because it is a budget issue, and then immediately pivoted away from the topic in order to distract the public from that rather shocking admission that proves that Trump is a total liar.

Elise Stefanik is quitting. Cynthia Lummis is retiring. Marjorie Taylor Greene and several other House members have either already announced their retirements or their resignations. The Great Republican Resignation movement has officially begun, as many analysts had predicted. But to see such high profile members like Stefanik and Greene bail out was likely not on anyone's 2025 Bingo cards.

Old man Trump tried his hand at another rally in a sleepy town last Friday, and things somehow went even worse than his previous rally in Pennsylvania the week before. Trump couldn't stay on topic for more than a few minutes, and went on so many wild tangents that no one could keep track of what he was even supposed to be talking about. At one point, he went into disturbing detail about how he "thinks" his wife cleans her underwear and organizes her underwear drawer.

Donald Trump reportedly talked with infamous Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz about the possibility of serving a third term in office, something that Dershowitz has now written a book about, laying out the legal possibilities that could make it happen. Trump is clearly not just "joking" about a third term, as Susie Wiles said in her recent Vanity Fair issue. But just because he's not joking doesn't mean we should take it seriously.

A former manager at Donald Trump's Bedminster golf resort in New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against the club for wrongful termination, but the lawsuit has a lot more information than just being fired for things that weren't her fault. The manager details harassment, misogyny, discrimination, and the most disgusting kitchen details you could imagine. She claims in the suit that even Donald Trump himself was disgusted by the state of the club, which included "maggots", "mold", and a terrible "fly infestation."

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en

With the new agreement between TikTok and the Trump administration being approved (final signing will happen in January), Donald Trump is now in charge of one of the most powerful and influential social media platforms on earth. Trump's good friend and donor Larry Ellison will be given most of the control over both the algorithm and the data of all users, giving Trump an unprecedented grip over Americans.

Lindsey Halligan, the disqualified US Attorney that Trump installed to prosecute his political enemies, is still refusing to leave her office even after the courts told her that she doesn't have a job. That has to be embarrassing for her, especially since she can't even spell the word "Virginia" correctly. It was recently brought to the attention of a delighted internet that Halligan's signature included an embarrassing misspelling that left people shocked and laughing.

Donald Trump is already planning on issuing preemptive pardons to members of his administration, according to sources inside the administration who recently spoke with reporters. This isn't shocking at all, but it does provide clear evidence that accountability is forever going to remain a stranger for the liars and cheats that Trump has packed into his cabinet (including himself.)

Donald Trump's "economic" address to the country last week was so bad that it has left Republicans scrambling to figure out how to properly do damage control. Reports say that Republicans were sickened by the event and now they fear that they have even bigger problems on their hands than before Trump went on the air. He definitely didn't do anyone any favors with that address.

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en

Republican voters in red states are in a full blown "revolt" against Donald Trump as they continue to get crushed by his policies. From the staffing and budget cuts made by DOGE to the trade war and immigration raids, red states are feeling the pain even worse than the blue states that Trump has vowed to punish. Republican voters are always the hardest hit by the politicians that they keep supporting.

Donald Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, admitted on live television that he (and other members of the administration) are only feeding Trump flattering numbers about the economy that make him feel better. In other words, they are giving him fake and incomplete data to paint a much rosier picture of the economy. This is incredibly dangerous for many reasons, the most obvious being that they can't fix problems that they are pretending don't even exist.

The White House apparently thought that it would be a good idea to publish their list of "Naughty" reporters and news organizations all over social media and their own official website, but they quickly deleted the entire thing after massive public backlash. As many users on social media pointed out, this was nothing short of an authoritarian attempt to shame the media into submission, or perhaps even to put targets on their backs for MAGA fanatics to take aim at. Either way, this was an enemies list and the administration isn't trying to hide the fact that they have one ready to deploy.

Republicans are running out of ideas to get Donald Trump to wake up to the economic disaster that he has single handedly caused for hundreds of millions of Americans, and so far they've had no luck getting him to focus on real problems. To make matters worse, Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, admitted this week that the bulk of the inflation we're seeing right now is because of Donald Trump's tariffs. There is no escaping blame at this point.

The Trump administration finally got around to releasing the federal jobs data that they had been delaying for weeks on Tuesday, and there's a very obvious reason why they waited so long. The numbers are not just horrible - they are actually the worst we've seen in four years, meaning that Trump's economy in ONE YEAR is already worse than anything we saw under President Biden. Jobs numbers for previous months were also ALL revised downward, showing major job losses for three of the past six months.

Elon Musk has decided to break his promises to both stay out of politics and to start his own political party, and he is now pledging to give truckloads of money to conservative candidates in next year's midterm races. Elon clearly didn't learn his lessons from this year about how much he is universally despised, and he seems to think that enough time has passed to make everyone forget about what a wretched piece of trash he is.

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en

The Republican Party leadership has officially lost all faith in Donald Trump as we approach the midterm election year, with Trump's hand-picked RNC chair declaring recently that they are preparing for major losses in the 2026 elections. This statement shows a complete lack of faith that the President is even capable of turning things around for the country in the next year after spending an entire year breaking everything down.

Donald Trump's own fanbase was left sickened and shocked by his comments on Monday about the death of Rob Reiner and his wife. Trump claimed that Reiner was a sick individual suffering from "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and went on to repeatedly attack the actor and director. Trump's hardcore fans couldn't stand it, and they didn't hold back in calling out the man that they love for such a disgusting response.

Marjorie Taylor Greene hasn't been shy about bashing her own Party as she prepares to leave Congress for good early next month, but reports say that she's also got one more trick up her sleeve before she exits. Though Greene denies it, reports say that she is trying to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson before she leaves as one final giant middle finger to her Party. She doesn't need that many votes to do it, either.

The Trump administration is trying to play the victim in a court filing while trying to deny rights to people with hearing impairment. The administration argued in court that providing a sign language interpreter for Donald Trump's speeches and addresses is somehow a hindrance, and that it prevents him from being himself. That makes absolutely no sense and has no basis in reality, but the fact that this administration is fighting to take away such a basic necessity for people with disabilities is another new low for them.

The National Trust For Historic Preservation has filed a massive lawsuit against Donald Trump over his tacky, gilded ballroom that he's building after bulldozing the East Wing of The White House. The lawsuit argues that all construction on federal lands is supposed to be approved by Congress, which this project obviously was not. The lawsuit lists out plenty of other violations that Trump allegedly committed as he forced this project into motion, and he stands a good chance of not being able to finish it if the lawsuit is successful.

Donald Trump and his administration seem to be hellbent on making "regime change" happen in Venezuela, and that will likely mean a US invasion of the country. He claims that this is due to the drugs coming from Venezuela to the United States, but that's the most flimsy excuse possible. The real reason is much simpler, and it is the Number 1 reason that wars have started throughout human existence - Venezuela has something that Donald Trump desperately wants so that he can profit from it.

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en

The Trump administration has reportedly sent $45 billion to the Taliban in Afghanistan, after telling us for years that they were a dangerous terrorist organization that President Biden allowed to take over the country. This move even infuriated Republican lawmakers who called out the administration for this disgusting action.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had a mini meltdown during a recent appearance on CNBC while trying to convince the American public that they are overreacting to the dramatic price increases we've seen this year. Lutnick nearly yelled "nothing bad is happening!" at the audience watching back home, showing how desperate this administration is to convince us that reality is not actually reality.

Recently unemployed former Trump lawyer Alina Habba had a meltdown on Friday after another Trump appointee abruptly withdrew her name to become a US Attorney. Habba proclaimed that "this can't keep happening" and accused Democrats in the Senate of undermining the authority of the Executive Branch. But the reality is that Trump is putting up horrible people that have no business being in positions of power, and everyone in Washington is starting to realize that.

There has not been a single poll in recent months that has given Republicans a reason to celebrate or even be slightly optimistic, and the election results of this year have been even more depressing for the GOP. In spite of this, Republicans have no clear message or strategy as we head into a midterm election year, and pollsters are now warning that Republicans aren't fooling anyone by claiming that things aren't as bad as they seem (which is Trump's message to voters, too.)

Donald Trump had a full blown freakout over his horrible poll numbers late last week, and he decided to attack the voters instead of changing how he behaves. Trump made it seem like voters are simply too stupid to understand that he's doing a fantastic job and (according to him) that they aren't actually paying the higher prices that they are paying. These attacks on the people who are sick of him are certainly NOT going to help his lagging poll numbers.

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en

Donald Trump went off the rails this week on Truth Social by suggesting that anyone reporting on his failing mental and physical health was committing treason. We have never in the history of this country seen a President attack our Freedom of Speech the way that Trump has, and his suggestion is not just a passing thought - his administration would gladly lock all of us up for daring to criticize or question their cult leader.

Donald Trump doesn't plan on taking responsibility for any of the bad things that he's done since taking office, and instead he's going to continue blaming all of his problems on President Biden. Aides have reportedly been begging him to stop doing this, but their pleas are falling on deaf ears. Trump's ego, narcissism, and possible dementia all prevent him from being able to own up to the fact that he's not good at this job, so he'll keep trying to convince a skeptic public that everything he does is somehow Biden's fault.

Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill into law this week that makes it easier for Illinois residents to sue federal agents - including ICE - if their rights have been violated. This is a groundbreaking law that will protect the citizens of Pritzker's state, while also sticking it to the Trump administration and their unlawful actions. This is what real leadership looks like, and Democrats across the country need to be taking notes on what Pritzker is doing.

Republicans in Washington are panicking as the cost of health insurance is set to rise in January, and after 15 years of promising us that they'd release their healthcare alternative to Obamacare at any given moment, they still have nothing to show for it. But this week they unveiled their "concepts of a plan", and what they're proposing to do is actually going to INCREASE the cost of healthcare for millions of people, mostly lower-income Americans.

Earlier this month, Donald Trump signed an order declaring that certain files related to the Capitol Riot were covered by executive privilege and could not be viewed by anyone outside of the administration. This information came out in a court filing this week, where DOJ lawyers told the courts that they can't release the documents that were requested by a group of police officers who are suing after being injured in the riot. Trump is hiding the truth from the public, just like he is doing with the Epstein files and Jack Smith's final report.

The Department of Homeland Security under the guidance of Donald Trump has instituted a new policy where they are charging people a $5,000 "apprehension fee" for being caught by ICE. This penalty is on top of all of the other usual fines and penalties that migrants can be hit with, except with one important difference: The new policy applies to children as young as 14-years old, too. They are charging children thousands of dollars for being rounded up by Trump's gestapo forces.

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en

According to a foreign policy and political analyst, Donald Trump appears to realize that he doesn't have much time left on earth due to his failing health, and Trump is making moves that show he knows the end is near. For example, his attempts to name buildings after himself suggests that he's now obsessing over his legacy, along with his desire to win awards (even fake ones) to showcase for years after he's gone.

As Americans are cutting back on their grocery purchases due to the skyrocketing cost of food, the First Lady of the United States is hawking luxury handbags through her social media accounts. The purses cost thousands of dollars a piece, and Melania Trump didn't think that it was in poor taste to not only try to sell them, but to do so while Americans are blaming her husband for the rising costs of everything. This is the ultimate "failure to read the room" moment.

Donald Trump has been trying to get late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air for years, and he almost succeeded a few months ago. Unfortunately for Trump, the viewers made it clear that they want Kimmel to stick around for a while, and Disney/ABC rewarded Kimmel with a contract extension this week, guaranteeing that he'll be on the air for the rest of the time that Trump is in office. That has to sting for Trump, as he sees his influence waning across the board.

The Trump administration has an evil new plan for more immigration raids ahead of the holidays - and they're using Trump's promise to migrants to trick them into getting themselves deported. The plan involves putting hordes of ICE agents at the border in order to catch people who are VOLUNTARILY leaving the country to go visit their families for the holidays. This means that anyone who takes up Trump's offer of $1,000 to "self-deport" would be swept up in these raids and lose out on the promised money.

During one of the most bizarre interviews that Donald Trump has ever given, he claimed that his fix for healthcare will "work like magic." His so-called fix is literally just doing the same thing that is being done right now, but somehow he said things are just going to magically be fixed. This is coming from the leader of the Party that has been promising a healthcare plan alternative to Obamacare for a decade and a half, and now we have to trust them to use "magic" to fix the problem?

Donald Trump is allowing (and encouraging) his administration to commit war crimes in order to (allegedly) stop the flow of drugs into the United States. He's even preparing to launch a war in Venezuela over drug dealers. But the reality is that no one is flooding the streets with more dealers than Trump is, as he has pardoned or granted clemency to over 100 people charged with drug crimes since retaking office in January. Trump talks a big game, but the reality is that no one is allowing more criminals to roam our streets than he is.

Text and and let us know your thoughts on today's stories!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all of Farron’s content: https://www.youtube.com/FarronBalanced

Follow Farron on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarronBalanced

Twitter: https://twitter.com/farronbalanced

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farronbalanced

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farronbalanced?lang=en