A thing gripped the internet in 2025: nostalgia for the supposedly golden era of 2016, coincidentally the last year before Donald Trump ever became president of the United States, either in his first or second term. “Millennial optimism” gripped TikTok, harking back to a supposedly more carefree time. But something else marked that era: leaks from Trump’s orbit about how he was screwing up his campaign for president, then his first year as president, then his first term; meanwhile the Trump era moved forward relentlessly. Now 2026 is having a 2016 moment.
As Wednesday’s deadline looms for the fragile U.S.-Israel and Iran ceasefire, Trump officials said the president is hampering efforts to make a deal through his social media posts. In the Wall Street Journal and on CNN, Trump officials are anonymously blasting the president’s conduct, making a very 2016-style argument that they can only do so much to limit the damage of a president who just won’t listen to their advice.
