As promised, Donald Trump has kicked off his presidency with a show of “speed and strength.” Citing what he has called a “massive” mandate, complete with a “powerful win in all seven swing states and the popular vote,” Trump has launched what his allies termed a strategy of “shock and awe,” alluding to the massive bombing campaign that made way for the US invasion of Iraq. Trump unleashed a blitz of dozens of executive orders on everything from pulling the United States out of global agreements and rescinding Biden-era directives, to laying the groundwork for a large-scale purge of the federal workforce and taking aim at conservative bugbears like birthright citizenship and wind energy.

In short, it seems like the worst fears of what a second Trump presidency would mean are coming true: of an unstoppable right-wing wrecking ball that will leave a very different country behind in the ruins of what it’s smashed. This is certainly what the president would want his demoralized opposition to believe.

But for all the big talk, both Trump’s presidency and his political project are more fragile than either side realizes.