Trump and his henchmen are moving quickly, aping the blitzkrieg techniques of another era and using the shock-and-awe tactics of a man who revels in demonstrating but two things – his personal power and his burning desire for revenge.
Since writing the interview and previous article, Trump has provided many more examples of his chaotic and dangerous drive toward kingship.
You might have noticed he now increasingly, uses his own name in lieu of title the United States of America, especially when discussing international policy. Where we’d normally hear a President talk about US policy when dialoguing with friends and foes we now hear him talk of “I” and “TRUMP” policy. In his mind he is the United States.
Kevin Rudd (007) publicly labeled Trump a ‘village idiot’. He failed to emphasise strongly enough that this village idiot is not one content to roam around the village smelling the flowers while trampling them underfoot. This man’s ego is so big he sees the office of the most powerful person in the world (The US Presidency) as his right by dint of the simple fact that he wants it.
His thirst for adulation is unquenchable. He can’t stand seeing anyone – past or present – stand on a dais higher than his. He seeks to humiliate an elite that has always looked down on him as a parvenu – and take revenge on all who ever stood against him. His self-appointment as the Chair of The Kennedy Centre is an infantile attempt to prove he will trump the legacy of Camelot.
He cares not about elections or the will of the people. If the people reject him (as they did in 2016) he claims the election is rigged and calls for a march to Capitol to overthrow the ‘crooked’ government.
He cares not about ordinary people anywhere.
He barely acknowledges people outside America have real lives.
Palestinians? Who cares, there’s only a couple of million of them anyway. Time they looked after themselves.
Ukrainians? Pretty much their own fault-says Trump. In Ukraine eight million left their homeland and maybe near half a million were killed because Zelenskyy (“the dictator”) couldn’t do a deal with Putin – says Trump. The people of the invaded country are to blame! A man who was elected just before the war (Zelenskyy), a man whose current approval rating is 52% – and holding (not 4% as Trump claimed) is a dictator? Trump’s current approval score in America is around 48%-and falling.
By his own logic Trump is a dictator. If he could see the hypocrisy of his stance his riposte would be ‘what has logic got to do with anything?’. He is oblivious to the fact that he often hoists himself on his own petard.
Trump claims US support for Ukraine totals $350 billion. (It’s been about half of that). Trump claims US has spent more money than Europe. (It’s the other way around). Trump claims US monies were a loan to Ukraine. (They were a gift made by Biden). Trump claims Europe made loans. (Those too were gifts). Trump gets caught up in his own lies.
The poor of Africa are irrelevant. USAID, the Musk boys say, is corrupt, of no value to anyone. PEPFAR (the world’s most successful preventative health programme) defunded by DOGE.
Pity for those who have sought refuge in the Land of the Free (just like Trump’s grandad did). No way. Cancel the siren call of The Statue of Liberty. Send them home (or anywhere) in leg irons because Trump stigmatises such people as the trash of the world. They’re criminals, rapists, insane, druggies or drug runners, child abusers, scammers, people traffickers, Chinese agents, terrorists and thieves. Trumps logic is the logic of the KKK. His transactional modus operandi that of a Mafia boss.
He craves a world where three men decide everything. Xi-Asia, Putin-Europe and Trump-North America. All other peoples and their governments are irrelevant.
All that’s bad enough.
But what Americans are starting to realise in ever greater numbers is that Trump doesn’t care much for ordinary Americans either, the people who handed him his crown.
Trump (via Musk) has already more than decimated many of the institutions that support everyday Americans in the areas of education, health, agriculture, social security and infrastructure. His tariff policy has yet to bite, as it inevitably will, and translate into higher consumer prices and rising inflation.
Americans are starting to realise Trump’s henchmen are attempting to direct, or silence, the checks and balances that protect American democracy. The watchdogs of anti-corruption, The Directors General, have already been fired. Other Trump minions have attacked the independence of the DOJ, castrated the FBI and are trying to whip other security services into (their desired) shape.
Trump isn’t about efficient or fair government.
Trump wants to clear the swamp so he can populate it with alligators of his own. He wants smaller government – and lower taxes for the already mega rich. He wants to be recognised as the Star of the super-rich, to bathe in their admiration. He wants the respect of the world’s greatest bullies, their acknowledgement that he is the greatest bully of all, el Magnifico. The Man with the most beautiful mug shot of all. The real world? This is the real world for Trump. That Americans voted for this shallow narcissist suggests he’s far from being the only village idiot in town.