A partial government shutdown, top advisers quitting in dismay over Syria, stock markets tanking and a Russia investigation that is snaring his associates.
The past fortnight has been particularly tumultuous for Donald Trump and his presidency.
Looking increasingly isolated, the commander in chief cancelled a family holiday in Florida to spend Christmas in the White House from where he has been tweeting furiously.
The president has posted more than 20 messages on the social media network since Sunday, trying to defend his sudden decision to withdraw all US troops from Syria against the advice of his military, after unilaterally declaring Islamic State had been defeated in the country.
He has also been pushing his border wall with Mexico after a row with Democrats over funding for the flagship project triggered the closure of a quarter of the government from one minute past midnight on Saturday.
Trump is showing no sign of backing down in a move that could leave some 400,000 federal employees working without pay into the New Year.
Nearly another 400,000 have been forced to take unpaid leave until the dispute is resolved.
Jitters over the government shutdown helped to push stocks on Wall Street down over the past week, with the Dow suffering its biggest drop since 2008, during the financial crisis.
Political standoffs are only set to worsen next year when Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in January, after winning more seats in the mid-term election last month.
It means Trump will find it even harder to push through his agenda.
One lever of power Trump is still able to wield without the checks and balances of Congress is the military.
When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldnt, I thought I should. Interesting relationship-but I also gave all of the resources that he never really had. Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2018
This was seen in Trump's sudden decision in the past week to pull all 2,200 US troops out of Syria – catching his own administration as well as allies by surprise.
The move is widely thought to have been made following a telephone conversation with President Erdogan of Turkey who has been angered at the sight of US troops operating alongside Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
Turkey regards Kurdish militias as enemy forces.
Observers think a deal was struck between Trump and the Turkish strongman that involved the US military exiting Syria, leaving the Kurds exposed to an anticipated military offensive by Turkey, wary about growing Kurdish influence in the region.
The problem is that Kurdish fighters dominate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which pushed IS back from territory held in northern Syria with support from US special forces.
Former defence secretary James Mattis wanted the US military to remain on the ground.
Leaving early would be seen as a betrayal, could trigger the resurgence of IS and would make it harder for the US military to work with local partners in the future.
It also means the Kurds are left with little choice than to strike some kind of deal with the Iran and Russia-backed Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad – opponents of the United States and the West – to avoid annihilation by Turkey.
Trump's move was so unpopular that it prompted Mattis, the most respected defence and security official in the administration, to quit with a devastating resignation letter.
For all of the sympathizers out there of Brett McGurk remember, he was the Obama appointee who was responsible for loading up airplanes with 1.8 Billion Dollars in CASH & sending it to Iran as part of the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal (now terminated) approved by Little Bob Corker.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018
The insubordination was too much for the president, who tweeted on Sunday that Mattis's deputy, Patrick Shanahan, would take on the top role in an acting capacity from the beginning of January.
This means Mattis is leaving two months early as he had said he would stay on until the end of February so a full-time replacement could be found.
Also out of the door in dismay over the Syria decision is Brett McGurk, the man in charge of co-ordinating international efforts in the fight against IS.
He was due to leave anyway in February but decided to accelerate his departure in protest at Trump's decision.
The president claimed on Twitter that he "did not know" McGurk – a strange thing to say given McGurk's official title had been special presidential envoy for the global coalition against Islamic State.
Also waiting for Trump in 2019 will be the conclusion of an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, including possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
Trump denies any collusion.
The past two weeks has seen his former, long-serving lawyer Michel Cohen sentenced to three years in jail in part because of lying to Congress over a project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
He also pleaded guilty to breaking election campaign finance laws by paying hush money to two women who claimed to have had sex with Trump.
This case has the potential to expose the president to legal jeopardy because of Cohen's claim that he was acting at the direction on Trump.
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Also caught up in the Russia probe is Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI over contacts with Russia's then ambassador to Washington.
Sentencing for Flynn has been postponed until next year as he continues to assist Robert Mueller, the man in charge of the Russia inquiry.
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