Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Welcome to Donald Trump’s Alternate Reality

There is an ongoing question in the White House that I honestly don’t know how to answer anymore: Does Donald Trump actually believe the things he says, is somebody feeding him a steady diet of nonsense, or is he simply lying?

At this point, I’m beginning to think the answer is a highly sophisticated combination of all three.

Because here we are in August 2026, and Donald Trump continues to insist that everything is going wonderfully. The economy is supposedly spectacular. His approval numbers are supposedly fantastic. The Democrats are supposedly publishing “fake polls.” And apparently Iran is simultaneously destroyed, defeated, economically devastated and militarily annihilated.

There is only one small problem with that last part.

We’re still at war with Iran.

You would think that might be a relevant detail.

Trump has repeatedly portrayed the conflict as an overwhelming American victory, while the reality is that the war has continued for months, Iran remains capable of fighting, and the administration is still imposing sanctions and trying to find a way out of the conflict. Even Reuters reports that Trump’s approval is sitting at 33%, while only 31% of Americans now support the military action against Iran. (Reuters⁠)

But apparently those are just the fake polls.

You know, the polls produced by the mysterious international conspiracy of people who apparently get together every morning and say, “How can we make Donald Trump look bad today?”

Meanwhile, the president has apparently conducted his own polling operation consisting of looking in the mirror and asking, “How am I doing?”

“Fantastic.”

“Greatest ever?”

“Absolutely.”

Problem solved.

And this is where the question becomes genuinely fascinating. Does he know he’s lying?

Because there is a difference between deliberately selling people something you know isn’t true and actually believing the sales pitch yourself.

If you’re deliberately lying, then at least there is a method to the madness. You know reality is ugly, so you repaint it. Inflation becomes “under control.” A stalled military operation becomes a “historic victory.” Falling approval becomes “fake polling.” Economic pain becomes “the greatest economy in history.”

But if you actually believe your own propaganda, that’s something considerably more disturbing.

Because eventually the person sitting at the top of the government becomes completely insulated from reality.

Everybody around him has an incentive to tell him what he wants to hear. Nobody wants to be the person who walks into the Oval Office and says, “Sir, this isn’t working.”

So instead:

“Sir, the economy is booming.”

“Sir, Iran is finished.”

“Sir, everyone loves you.”

“Sir, those polls are fake.”

“Sir, you’re doing better than every president in history.”

And Trump says, “I knew it.”

Meanwhile, Americans are looking at their grocery receipts, gas pumps, rent payments, mortgage rates and retirement accounts wondering what the hell everybody in Washington is talking about.

Consumer confidence recently fell to a seven-month low, gasoline remains above $4 a gallon, and the July job numbers showed a loss of 23,000 jobs. (AP News⁠)

But don’t worry.

Donald says we’re doing great.

And apparently that’s all the economic data we need.

This is the fundamental problem with living inside a political bubble: eventually you stop distinguishing between reality and the version of reality your supporters have constructed for you.

And Trump’s particular bubble has an interesting feature.

If Donald is doing well, America must be doing well.

If the stock market is good for wealthy investors, the economy is great.

If his businesses and cryptocurrency ventures are making money, America must be prospering.

If his family is making money, then obviously the system is working exactly as intended.

That’s the new economic theory apparently:

“I’m making money, therefore you are doing fine.”

Congratulations, America. We have solved macroeconomics.

Never mind the people who don’t own a portfolio of investments. Never mind the people paying more for housing, food, insurance and gasoline. Never mind the people who don’t happen to have a family business, cryptocurrency empire or government-connected financial network.

If the Trump family is making money, everything must be fantastic.

And if you disagree?

You’re a Democrat.

If the polls disagree?

They’re fake.

If the economy disagrees?

The numbers are fake.

If Iran disagrees?

They’re already destroyed.

If reality disagrees?

Well, apparently reality has been radicalized.

That’s the truly bizarre part of this whole spectacle. Reality doesn’t have a political party.

It doesn’t care whether you’re Republican, Democrat, MAGA, liberal, conservative or the guy who just wants to drink his coffee without hearing about Donald Trump before 9 a.m.

Reality simply exists.

Iran is either defeated or it isn’t.

The war is either over or it isn’t.

The economy is either improving for ordinary Americans or it isn’t.

People either approve of the president or they don’t.

And right now, the available evidence is not exactly screaming “greatest presidency in American history.” Trump’s approval remains at a record-low 33%, and public support for the Iran war has fallen to just 31%. (Reuters⁠)

So maybe Donald Trump is lying.

Maybe he’s being lied to.

Maybe he believes his own press releases.

Or maybe we’ve reached the point where the distinction doesn’t really matter anymore.

Because regardless of whether the man at the top of the government is deliberately deceiving the country or sincerely believing the fantasy being presented to him, the result is the same.

We end up with a president insisting everything is wonderful while the rest of us are standing outside looking at the smoke.

And apparently we’re supposed to believe that the smoke is fake, too.

Welcome to the alternate reality.

Population: apparently 47 percent of the country on a really good day.

And everybody else is just looking at the bill.