President Donald Trump's popularity and power are crumbling, and "the worst may be yet to come" as he grows more dangerous, according to an Alternet report on a new column for The i Paper, the British daily, that warns "a desperate man is a dangerous man."

Writing on Monday, columnist Ian Birrell urged readers to brace for Trump's "dismal reign" in the White House to get even worse, arguing that toxic approval ratings are loosening his grip on power and pushing him to scramble for increasingly extreme ways to save face.

"Prepare for fresh depravities as this arrogant, corrupt and stunningly inept character delves deeper into the darkness engulfing his country – cheered on by his dwindling army of fans and his team of sordid sycophants as he shreds decency, democracy and his nation's dignity," Birrell wrote.

He argued that a thread connects the "grotesque decision to livestream a federal execution by army firing squad" — which he said places the United States "on a par with hideous regimes in Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea" — with Trump's "latest pandering to Vladimir Putin, freeing up the diesel that helps fund Russia's war machine and then launching disgusting attack on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky."

"Of course, they demean the US and undermine democracy a bit further. But the backdrop is the Republicans' struggle to cling on to power in Washington. So hey, why would Trump be bothered if he plays into the hands of an Islamist death cult or if hundreds more Ukrainians die in their fight for freedom if he can boost his poll ratings a little?" he wrote.

Birrell noted that predictions about how badly Republicans might be wiped out in the coming midterm elections could prove overstated. The midterm contests, scheduled for November 2026, will put every seat in the House of Representatives and roughly one-third of the Senate on the ballot, with the results set to determine control of Congress. Still, based on his own reporting across the United States, he found the sense that voters are beyond upset with their government to be palpable, "due to disenchantment, not simply shifting demographics."

He described talking at the Texas state fair, the day after the execution livestream was announced, to a Black former Marine and one-time Trump voter who bemoaned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attacks on diversity for driving out good military officers, while the man's middle-aged partner voiced dismay at seeing their nation shed friends around the world.

"Trump has visited this state four times in six weeks," Birrell noted. "The Democrats remain marginally ahead in polls, however – with one top activist in a supposed Republican stronghold telling me she saw it as 'a badge of honor' that they panicked their President into campaigning on her patch."

He concluded: "Perhaps most frightening is fear that the barbaric livestreaming of an execution and trading in bloodstained Russian diesel are portents for the next two years, as an ageing, wounded sociopath in the White House grows even more desperate as his ego is punctured, his enemies circle and his power drains."