The end is nigh! Longtime Morning Joe regular Richard Haass has traditionally been one of the show's more measured voices. But, along with others [looking at you, Willie Geist], his tone has, in recent times, become more strident. On Thursday's show, Haass "celebrated" our country's 250th by telling people they shouldn't be hopeful—"sanguine," as he put it—about its future. Claiming that our democracy "is not in great shape," Haass warned that we might not have a democracy left to celebrate in only five or ten years. Yikes! Haass left no doubt as to the culprit, the president:  Checks and balances are not working in any way like James Madison set out in the Federalist Papers. You have the abuse of the pardon power. We've been talking about the, the corruption and the lack of accountability of people in office. We have a president going to war without the, involvement of the American people or the Congress, talking about rigged elections. You know, it's a long list.  About "the abuse of the pardon power" -- you mean, like the last guy, who swore he wouldn't pardon his son -- but did? Just days before the nation marks a milestone that should inspire pride, Morning Joe chose somber catastrophizing — with unsubtle finger-pointing at President Trump.   Yikes! At 250, @Morning_Joe’s Haass Warns: America’s Democracy May Not Survive Next 5-10 Years! pic.twitter.com/Sxjm0Ceid2 — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) July 2, 2026 On the cusp of America’s 250th, Haass — and by extension the Morning Joe panel — insist Americans should temper any celebratory spirit with anxiety over the republic’s possible near-term collapse. Question for Haass: You predict American democracy could end in as little as five years. Trump will be long gone from the White House by then. So, who amongst the leading presidential contenders do you see declaring martial law, canceling elections, and declaring herself President for Life? Here's the transcript. MS NOW Morning Joe 7/2/26 7:06 am EDT WILLIE GEIST: So Richard, we are two days away from the Fourth of July and the official 250th birthday of the United States of America, all the celebration that will come with it across the country.  I'm curious, just given your long understanding, and experience with history across several presidents, about where you feel we are right now on this 250th birthday? RICHARD HAASS: Well, look, the great news is, we made it. Democracy is tough. We're the world's oldest democracy, so that's an impressive accomplishment. I think the Founders would have been pleasantly surprised if they had been told, 250 years later we'd be celebrating. But the honest news is, our democracy is not in great shape. Coming back now, we remember the president talking about 401k's, Willie. Well, if they were a measure of American democracy, it would have suffered a significant correction over, over recent years. Checks and balances are not working in any way like James Madison set out in the Federalist Papers. You have the abuse of the pardon power. We've been talking about the, the corruption and the lack of accountability of people in office. We have a president going to war without the, involvement of the American people or the Congress, talking about rigged elections. You know, it's a long list.  So I think, and the lesson we all ought to take from this, is not to be sanguine. So yeah, we can celebrate the 250th, but it's got to be a really sober celebration.  We've got to think, what do we do to make sure we still have a democracy to celebrate, not just in another 250 years—how about in five years or, or ten years?  What do we have to do to strengthen the resilience? Cause we've learned that democracy is, is not guaranteed. That so much depends upon the character of the people in government, whether it's the president or those in Congress. And I would just say we have a, a shortage of that these days. So American democracy is vulnerable. So I actually think we need to have a serious conversation about what do we need to do to, to strengthen it.