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Until recently, President Trump always found a way to fail forward, through a combination of spin, threats, payoffs and bluster.

OK, that’s the simplistic interpretation. The fine print tells a less-glamorous story: a man born on third base who spent decades insisting he’d hit a triple.

Still, it’s hard to argue with success. When Trump entered politics, he redefined the rules of the game. Rivals who tried to outflank him on policy detail, ideological consistency and institutional norms found themselves either vanquished or assimilated by the Borg.

By my lights, only once during Trump’s admittedly chaotic first term did he run into something that his playbook couldn’t at least mitigate or parry: the COVID-19 pandemic. For the final year of his presidency, reality refused to negotiate, and political gravity reasserted itself. It turns out, viruses aren’t susceptible to the Art of The Deal.

But then, miraculously, Trump wriggled through legal jeopardy, bulldozed his way past more conventional Republicans and Democrats, and re-emerged victorious in 2024.

If anything, that comeback reinforced the idea that Trump could survive anything by virtue of his playbook.

By the start of his second term, he’d made impressive headway in co-opting not only individuals but also major institutions within big tech, the media and academia.

Even in foreign affairs, Trump’s sense that any problem could be solved via force, intimidation or money was confirmed when he captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and installed Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as a sort of puppet leader. Everyone has a price, right?

Unfortunately for Trump, no. Not everyone does.

Lately, the president has encountered a different kind of resistance — adversaries motivated by something bigger and more transcendent than money, power or the avoidance of pain.

In dealing with Iran, for instance, Trump has confronted people operating under a wholly different set of incentives. It’s a regime guided by a mix of ideology, radical religious doctrine and long-term strategic interests that don’t always align with short-term material gain.

(Now perhaps, having punished Trump enough already, Iran will finally come to the negotiating table. But even if that happens, it will have occurred after exacting a steep price — so steep, in fact, that it may already be too late for Trump to plausibly claim a win.)

It turns out, you can’t easily intimidate or pay off a true believer who isn’t afraid to die and believes they have God on their side.

A similar (though obviously not morally equivalent) dynamic is now also on display in the form of Trump’s skirmish with Pope Leo XIV, a man who commands moral authority. He opposes the war in Iran (“Blessed are the peacemakers”) and has demonstrated a stubborn refusal to back down to Trump’s attempts at bullying.

“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Leo said during a tour of Africa. It’s a remark that the American pope seemed to implicitly be aiming at the American president.

Here’s what Trump doesn’t understand: There are still pockets of the world where concepts like faith and national identity outweigh tangible incentives. Where sacrifice and suffering are an accepted part of the plan.

When facing these sorts of foes, Trump’s usual operating system starts to look less like a cheat code and more like a category error.

But he can’t see this because Trump is always prone to a sort of cynical projection — of assuming everyone views the world in the same base, carnal, corrupt way he sees it.

Whether it was his incredulity that Denmark wouldn’t sell Greenland, rhetoric that seemed to discount the motivations of those who serve and sacrifice in the military, or his affinity for nakedly transactional gulf states, the pattern is familiar: a tendency to view decisions through a cost-benefit lens that not everyone shares.

To be fair, that lens has often served him well. In arenas where power, money and leverage dominate, Trump’s approach is eerily effective.

But after years of taming secular, “rational” opponents, he is fighting a two-front war against people who see their struggles as moral and spiritual.

They aren’t stronger in a conventional sense. But they are, in a very real sense, less susceptible to Trump’s methods.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Donald Trump finds himself facing adversaries who aren’t just immune to his usual Trumpian playbook but are playing a different game altogether.

Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”

BBC star Dilly Carter has been part of Sort Your Life Out since it began back in 2021.

There’s good news for fans of BBC’s Sort Your Life Out as organising expert Dilly Carter has shared an exciting career update.

Sort Your Life Out Unpacked is a podcast based on the show and launches Tuesday, April 7. It will see Dilly speak to a celebrity guest as they bring along three mystery objects from their home.

At the end of each episode, BBC fans will discover if the person wants to keep, donate or recycle their item in true Sort Your Life Out Style.

With promises of tears, laughs and surprises along the way, Dilly teased what people can expect to see and hear in a behind-the-scenes preview.

On Sort Your Life Out’s official Instagram, the BBC star can be seen posing in a studio as she says: “Finally, I can reveal what I’ve been up to!

“I am going to be the host of a brand new podcast called Sort Your Life Out Unpacked. Look at my beautiful set.

Showing a tour of the studio, it had a miniature Sort Your Life Out house, which is often seen in the warehouse of the regular show, alongside a photo of the other team members, including Stacey Solomon, Robert Bent and Iwan Carrington.

Explaining a bit more about the concept of the podcast, she told people that when the celebrity brings in the items, she’ll have no idea what they are beforehand.

Dilly added: “This is going to be the celebrity podcast that teaches you all about celebrities’ homes. It’s the one you don’t want to miss.”

They captioned the post: “We can’t wait for you to listen to the brand new Sort Your Life Out Unpacked podcast with our very own Dilly Carter! Coming tomorrow on @bbciPlayer and tune in on @BBCSounds #SYLO #Podcast #SortYourLifeOut #DillyCarter.”

It wasn’t long before people commented on the clip, with many sharing their excitement at the announcement.

One person said, “Congratulations, lovely lady. Exciting, can’t wait!” Someone else wrote: “OMG I NEEDED THIS!!!!!!!!!!! Dilly, I will be listening to it on repeat.”

Sharing the news on the BBC social media account last week, another person commented: “We can’t wait to listen!” As someone else shared: “So proud of you xx”

A synopsis for the new podcast series reads: “Amongst funny anecdotes and personal revelations, we learn how to organise and sort our own lives out.

“Celebrity guests include Elizabeth Day, Lorraine Kelly, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Kerry Katona, Eddie Kadi, Dr Alex George, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sort Your Life Out’s own Stacey Solomon and many more.”

Sort Your Life Out Unpacked launches on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer on April 7.

After 50 years of being practically synonymous with New York City, “Saturday Night Live” has opened the door to London with “Saturday Night Live UK,” following in the steps of “Law & Order UK” and possibly nothing else. Of all the cities in the world that might conceivably replicate the spirit of the NBC original, the British capital, with its urban dynamism, media concentration and 20,000 comedians, feels like the obvious, and perhaps only, choice. (“Saturday Night Live Italia” might prove me wrong, if that day ever comes.) And, of course, we’ve been in a reciprocal comedy arrangement with Britain — or at least we have been nicking their ideas for shows — for years.

The show premiered in the U.K. this past Saturday on Sky One and NOW, and began streaming stateside Sunday on Peacock, with our own Tina Fey as the first guest host. (“It’s an absolute honor and kind of historic,” she said to studio audience. “Guys, I am the youngest person to ever host ‘SNL UK!’”)

As a “Saturday Night Live” star, writer and head writer; and the co-creator of “30 Rock” — her show about a sketch show set in the very same building as “SNL” — they couldn’t have appointed a better ambassador. Lorne Michaels doubtless has her on speed dial.

Here’s the short review: In the course of a single episode, “SNL UK” managed to feel very much like its parent show — which is to say, some of it worked well and some of it worked less well, but very little of it didn’t work at all. There were sketches that ran too long, or ended weakly, but were generally redeemed by a young(ish), confident 11-member cast that made the most of them. Some will already be recognizable to British viewers. Many have had notable, or anyway noticed, careers in stand-up; in the sort of stand-up that amounts to theater; in straight theater (including Shakespeare, naturally) and/or in television and film. Fey promised to “stay out of their way as much as possible,” but she came to play, and appeared in most every sketch.

The evening followed established protocol. Cold open. (Prime Minister Keir Starmer, played by George Fouracres, is afraid to tell President Trump, whom he regards as a sort of bad boyfriend, that he’ll send no more ships to the Strait of Hormuz: “I know how badly you want to start World War III, and that’s great. You absolutely do that but we can’t be part of it.”) Hammed Animashaun and Jack Shep accompanied Fouracres in the sketch and shared the glory of shouting, “Live from London, it’s ‘Saturday Night!’” They would continue to dominate the episode.

Jack Shep, George Fouracres and Hammed Animashaun in the “SNL UK” cold open, set at 10 Downing Street, in the prime minister’s office.

(NBCUniversal)

Next: Opening credits featuring the cast members out and about in the city. Monologue, with guest appearances from Nicola Coughlan, Michael Cera and Graham Norton. (The set is very much in the style of various American iterations over the years, clock included, with the band onstage.) Film bits and sketches. Musical guest. (Wet Leg, surly.) “Weekend Update.” More skits. Musical guest returns. More comedy. Whole cast onstage at the end, ready to party.

Among other things: A Shakespeare skit found the Bard (Fouracres again) returning to Stratford from London between plays, each time more affected, beginning with an earring and finishing with an electric scooter, sunglasses and a bag of ketamine. A Paddington Bear immersive experience, with an actual bear, turns bloody, recalling Dan Aykroyd’s 1978 classic Julia Child sketch. As a bra salesperson giving an ego boost to Fey‘s customer, Emma Sidi was funnier than the sketch she was in. (It did include a cameo by Regé-Jean Page, from “Bridgerton.”) In another, David Attenborough (Fouracres again, again), using “Jurassic Park” technology, hosts a “last supper” featuring great dead Britons including Winston Churchill, Isaac Newton, Agatha Christie (Fey), “Freddie Mercury, from Queen, Elizabeth the First, from being the Queen,” and Shep’s Princess Diana, pulling focus at Attenborough’s right shoulder; all they manage to discuss is how many starters to get for the table. It had the added bonus of getting the entire cast, and guest host, onstage.

The film bits were first-rate. (Not being live has its advantages.) One advertised an anti-aging cream — Undérage, with a soft “g” — “that works so well everyone will think your man is a nonce.” (That is, a pedophile.) “My skin looks so fresh,” says a happy customer, “my husband can’t go anywhere without being hunted by right-wing pedophile-catching militias.” “My husband lost his record deal and, some, but not all of his fans.” Another concerned a sort of command center where workers labored “to make the internet as bad as we can possibly get it.”

There are, to be sure, tonal differences to British and American comedy; just compare the respective versions of “The Office,” or “Ghosts,” or “Doc Martin” with its domestic remake, “Best Medicine”; the former tends to be darker, more cutting, more absurd. (A “Weekend Update” joke about the former Prince Andrew’s new home, Marsh Fair, “of course named after the nearby marsh where his body will be found.”) Despite that, and the old saw that Britain and America are two countries separated by a common language, the show translated well transatlantically. Apart from some local topical and cultural references, and an occasional unfamiliar word whose meaning was in any case obvious from context, and some swearing, most of it could have been played with few adjustments by the American cast.

“While we may not agree with everything America does,” Fouracres’ prime minister says at the end of the cold open, “we can still be civil and embrace their wonderful, unproblematic culture.” Back at you, buddy!

The season has been extended to eight episodes from the originally ordered six. (Riz Ahmed and Jamie Dornan are scheduled to host.) Why not 10?

Viewers of Stacey Solomon’s BBC show were left emotional during the latest episode of Sort Your Life Out.

Viewers were left reaching for the tissues as one mum revealed why she’d called upon Stacey Solomon and her Sort Your Life Out team on Tuesday.

The decluttering squad arrived in south London to assist single mum Almarie and her 10-year-old daughter Marie in transforming their three-bedroom semi, which had fallen into disarray.

Under Stacey’s guidance, Almarie tackled her husband Marcus’s possessions for the first time since his sudden passing three years earlier.

The widow shared the heartbreaking story of how he’d received a cancer diagnosis with a five-year prognosis – yet he died merely two months later, leaving his family devastated.

Almarie had kept all his belongings, and having previously fostered children, the house had accumulated numerous additional items.

For financial reasons, Almarie needed to take in a lodger but couldn’t manage it without clearing out two dozen unused chairs, 204 pairs of shoes, 55 coats, 2,765 plastic toys and considerably more, reports the Express.

Within minutes of hearing the tragic circumstances, viewers flocked to social media to confess they were in floods of tears.

Taking to X/Twitter, one viewer said: “#sortyourlifeout always emotional now,” as another echoed: “And I am gone [sobbing emoji] #sortyourlifeout.”

One more declared: “I’m late starting….. not 10 minutes in and I’m gone [crying emojis] #sortyourlifeout.”

Someone else said: “Oh, you do put us through the emotional wringer! I come to #sortyourlifeout for a cry.

“Lost her husband and Mum in 5 months, that poor woman and her daughter, just heartbreaking #SortYourLifeOut,” another viewer sympathised.

Last week, fans were reduced to tears as the BBC reality programme returned for its sixth series.

Audiences watched care worker Trish and her husband Gerry, alongside their three adult children, tackle the clutter in their family home.

Her devoted husband, who works as a technician and artist, spoke candidly about his recent dementia diagnosis and how it has affected the entire family.

He revealed: “I’ve now been living with dementia for seven years. Unfortunately, over the last year or so, things have been starting to progress. It’s not just my memory; it’s all the mobility I’ve lost, or I’m losing.”

He continued: “If anything was being done in the house or garden, it was me who would do it, the heavy lifting I’d be right in there, no problems whatsoever. Now, I’m lucky that I can lift a knife and fork; it’s been very frustrating.”

Sort Your Life Out is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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CHICAGO — This was hardly a masterpiece of Big Ten basketball, what with the barrage of bricks and busted possessions. Nor was it the sort of night to convince you of UCLA’s chances as a surefire conference contender.

But amid the mess of its 72-59 win over 14th-seeded Rutgers on Thursday night, UCLA showed the sort of mettle it may need to keep its season kicking this March.

It started with Donovan Dent, whose masterful month continued with his first career triple-double — and the first triple-double in Big Ten tournament history. The senior tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. He and Tyler Bilodeau, who added a game-high 21 points, were the rare bright spots on offense for the Bruins.

Otherwise, UCLA struggled to find any sort of rhythm. It shot just 38% from the floor, worse than it had in any win this season. And still, the Bruins were in control for most of the game after pulling away early in the second half.

None of that will fly against No. 3 seed Michigan State on Friday at 6 p.m. PDT, which beat UCLA by 23 points the last time they met.

But until Thursday it’d been quite some time since UCLA actually managed to win away from home. Not since Jan. 29 had it won outside of L.A., and only once this season had it won outside of the Pacific time zone.

For a while, it didn’t seem like UCLA intended to win Thursday, either. Even as Rutgers gave it every chance to pull away.

The Bruins did shut down Rutgers’ Tariq Francis, who was fresh off a 29-point performance in a first-round win over Minnesota. Francis didn’t score until the nine-minute mark in the second half. He finished with six points on two-of-11 shooting.

The two teams spent most of the first half trading wasted possessions and taking turns with their respective shooting slumps. Four minutes scoreless for Rutgers. Three scoreless for UCLA. Four scoreless for Rutgers. Then three scoreless for UCLA. Back and forth they went in their futility.

The Bruins had plenty of chances to build a lead early. While Rutgers struggled to find rhythm on offense, settling mostly for contested shots inside the arc, UCLA got its share of open shots all around the floor. It just wasn’t able to hit many of them. Both teams shot a meager 31% before halftime.

Those shots fell more frequently in the second half, as UCLA pushed its lead to 15. The Bruins still struggled to put the Knights away, until Dent took matters into his own hands late, pushing UCLA to victory.

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