2026 Predictions: Hold on to your Seats!

I have made previous year end predictions with modest success: 2023 predictions, 2024 predictions, and 2025 predictions. Some of my predictions are based on reason and some are based on hope and some tongue in cheek..

The world as we know it will change dramatically as AI advances and credible evidence of UAPs accumulates. The most profound disruptions will affect what we believe we know about science—particularly physics—and religion.

Kaitlyn Collins of CNN will try to secure the first interview with an ET.

Donald Trump will leave office by the end of 2026, ostensibly for health reasons.

A market correction of roughly 25% will occur in early 2026. A modest rebound will follow later in the year, but it will not recover the initial losses. AI will fail to deliver the financial returns many corporations expect, and large investments will produce disappointing profits.

By the end of 2026, unemployment will rise to between 5.5% and 5.8%.

Continued global distrust of the United States will push allies toward deeper economic and strategic alignment with China. Within three to five years, China—not the U.S.—will be the dominant economic, business, and political power. The U.S. will become an even greater political pariah, particularly if it engages Venezuela militarily or continues to inadequately support Ukraine. Should Ukraine be forced into a highly unfavorable settlement with Russia, it will represent a diplomatic and military defeat for the United States greater than Vietnam, with longer-lasting consequences.

Fear of major losses in the November 2026 midterms will trigger a reinvigoration of Republican members of Congress. Many current Trump administration cabinet members will be fired or pressured to resign due to scandal or incompetence. Congressional Republicans will withdraw institutional protection from failing officials.

Rising ticket prices and escalating sports-network subscription costs will provoke a fan backlash, reducing attendance and interest across major sports. Fans will increasingly feel that on-field and on-court performance does not justify the expense. ESPN, in particular, will regret its deal with WWE.

Taylor Swift will marry Travis Kelce. Tabloid reports of separation and divorce will soon follow.

Democrats will regain control of the House in November 2026, though by narrower margins than currently predicted.

Gun violence will continue unabated. Regardless of how horrific individual events become, no meaningful gun-control legislation will be enacted.

No Super Bowl celebration parade down Broad Street in Philadelphia in 2026.

Yearly Social Security increases are not keeping up with increasing rise in inflation. The senior citizen constituency will become an important political force in 2026 and 2028, one that the Republican Party can no longer be assured of their support.

Shipwrecked Ethics in Stormy Political Seas

“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
—Howard Beale (Peter Finch), Network (1976)

WTF

Pete Hegsmith, meet Heinz-Wilhelm Eck.

Oberleutnant Heinz-Wilhelm Eck was a German U-boat commander who, in 1943, ordered his crew to machine-gun the survivors of a Greek steamer they had just sunk. Tried by the British in 1945, he was convicted of war crimes and executed.

One might imagine that the Secretary of War—and the uniformed brass surrounding him—would possess at least a passing acquaintance with the Hague and Geneva Conventions and the protections afforded to shipwrecked survivors. But apparently not. Instead, we are offered the “fog of war” as a catch-all excuse for killing helpless castaways, as if confusion somehow ennobles idiocy.

In my lifetime, Presidents have made some ghastly cabinet appointments—some incompetent, some malevolent, some simply stupid. The current administration appears determined to check all three boxes with gusto.

Sleepy Joe

Not long ago, pundits and political Cassandras wrote breathless tomes about President Joe Biden’s alleged cognitive unraveling. Democrats engaged in public self-flagellation, blaming one another for not confronting his fading vigor. Republicans snickered with schoolyard delight about his age and apparent frailty.

The ink is scarcely dry on those volumes, and yet one hears comparatively little about the mental and physical disarray of Donald J. Trump.To their perverse credit, Trump and his entourage are not bothering to hide anything. The public has front-row seats to his naps during cabinet meetings, his deranged social-media dispatches, and his endless stream of misstatements delivered with the confidence of a man who has never troubled himself with facts. His sneering insult at a female reporter—calling her “piggy”—barely registered as a scandal, landing with all the outrage of a damp tissue dropped on a sidewalk.

Americans are apparently meant to sleep serenely knowing that a man of Trump’s “unmatched intellect, tireless stamina, and unimpeachable judgment” has his hand on the nuclear button. Sweet dreams.

Epstein Files

The furor over the Epstein files has quieted to a dull hum. Every day, whether through Machiavellian design or sheer gonzo incompetence, the Trump administration generates enough scandal and spectacle to bump Epstein to the back pages.

Most Americans understand perfectly well what Trump may fear in further disclosures. Yet a sizable portion of the MAGA faithful will excuse anything—anything—no matter how sordid. Trump was found liable for sexual assault and it barely dented his presidential campaign.

As for me, I have exhausted the lower bounds of my opinion of Donald Trump. There is nothing—absolutely nothing—he could do that would surprise me anymore. His behavior long ago slipped the surly bonds of shame.

My Top 10 Reads of 2025

This was a surprisingly difficult reading year for me. Not many books truly grabbed me, but the ones that did were memorable for different reasons. If I had to recommend one standout title, it would be The Doorman by Chris Pavone—a fun, tightly written page-turner that’s hard to put down. Pavone captures the cultural and political absurdities of modern America and wraps them in a fast, entertaining plot…with a dash of gratuitous violence for good measure.

I also enjoyed Walter Mosley’s novel Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right, the only other work of fiction on my list. Mosley has written a series of detective and mystery novels that I have enjoyed. In this book, he’s able to solve two mysteries simultaneously, including one of a deeply, personal matter.

Notable Nonfiction

1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in History by Andrew Ross Sorkin
A detailed, absorbing look at the lead-up to and during the Great Depression. It’s a cautionary tale for what could happen to the economy today. It’s excellent—if a bit long. If you prefer the highlights, Sorkin has several worthwhile YouTube interviews that cover the major themes of the book.

King of Kings by Scott Anderson and The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner
These are the kinds of books certain corners of the political world would prefer never be published. Both portray America’s intelligence services, diplomatic corps, and various administrations as shockingly short-sighted and often incompetent—and that’s before Pete Hegseth enters the picture.

Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus by Elaine Pagels
I had high hopes for this one. I’m always looking for a thoughtful, persuasive argument that might ease my agnostic skepticism. While Pagels is insightful as always, nothing here challenged my doubts about God, Jesus, or Christianity in any meaningful way. But it is excellent in understanding the times and culture that Christ lived and examining many of the controversial sections of his life.

Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful by David Enrich
A sobering look at how political, economic, and cultural pressures are weakening the First Amendment and undermining journalism. Enrich offers example after example of how free speech and a free press are being chipped away—and it’s hard not to feel discouraged by what now passes for “journalism.”

Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success by Russ Buttenger and Susanne Craig
If you’re not a Donald Trump fan, this book will reinforce every doubt you’ve had about his business skills, judgment, and competence. Stories about Trump’s forays into real estate, the USFL, the casino industry, and other businesses. If you are MAGA, it’s fake news.

On Her Game Caitlin Clark, and the revolution in women’s sports by Christine Brennan Caitlin Clark may have been the best female collegiate basketball player of all time. But she met a lot of resistance from other players and from management when she entered the WNBA. Brennan documents how Clark’s biggest problems were not necessarily on the basketball court but off it.

Winter Journal by Paul Auster Boy could I relate to this book! Excellent written memoir of the author, who is 64, reviewing his regrets, experiences and dreams from youth to “old age.” For those of us who are in the “winter” of our lives, this book will inspire you to be more reflective and accepting of our lives – – successes and failures, both.