Hollywood actors who attended Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards didn’t make their usual jokes or protests. Silicon Valley titans are bowing down to each other for contributions to his inaugural fund. In Washington, some Democratic lawmakers who boycotted the first inauguration have indicated they intend to attend this time.
There is no doubt that resistance to Donald Trump will feel weaker the second time around. The word “fascist” disappeared from political discourse almost as quickly as it appeared. The soft-spoken tone gives the impression that Trump 2.0 will be more conventional, moderate and approachable than the first version.
In fact, the opposite is true. There is a grand disconnect between this normalization and the absurd and abnormal future facing America and the world. The 78-year-old’s shabby, hour-long press conference at his Mar-a-Lago, Fla., mansion on Tuesday suggests we haven’t seen anything yet.
President Trump has made it clear that he covets Greenland and the Panama Canal and has not ruled out taking them by force. He reiterated his interest in making Canada a U.S. state and promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, murmuring, “What a beautiful name.”
President Trump rambled on about the Jan. 6 riot he incited at the U.S. Capitol, criticizing both the FBI and Hezbollah, the Islamist movement founded by Iran during the middle of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. “We need to clarify” the involvement of the police, he said. ).
This was Trump’s latest take on special counsel Jack Smith, who brought criminal charges against him. “They took this idiot out of The Hague. He’s a mean guy. He’s a mean, mean guy. His picture was perfect, ’cause if you saw a picture of him, you know that’s a bad guy. Because he wears a purple robe and executes people. He shouldn’t be allowed to execute people because he executes everyone.”
The president-elect offered opinions on dishwashers, gas heaters, washing machines, faucets and other appliances. It comes down from heaven. And they want no water to come out of the shower. It drips, drips, drips, so no matter what happens, you end up taking a shower ten times longer. ”
Some of it was dark for veteran Trump watchers who have been forced to develop gallows humor to stay sane. “It’s clear that windmills are driving the whales crazy,” he said.
But repeated threats against America’s allies mark a new and alarming departure. President Trump’s press conference coincided with a visit to the Danish territory of Greenland by a delegation of aides and advisers, including his son Donald Trump Jr.
Asked if he could guarantee the world that he would not use military or economic coercion to gain control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, Trump said: “No, I can’t guarantee either of those things.” said. But I can tell you this: we need them for our economic security. ”
An “America First” president who had vowed peace through strength suddenly sounded like his warmonger predecessors like George W. Bush. Such expansionism sounds like music to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine is based on the logic that borders are no longer fixed and territory belongs to the strongest.
Is Trump bluffing? Is this just a clever ploy to appear tough and gain an advantage in tariff negotiations? Is it all a characteristic effort to throw out shiny objects that distract from more substantive topics?
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Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich tweeted on Tuesday: But don’t let the absurdity distract you from the real goal of Trump 2.0: the continued consolidation of wealth and power into the hands of oligarchs. They want you to be so furious that you stop listening. Please don’t. “
There may also be other motives. Trump, a former reality TV star who craves attention and is obsessed with ratings, may be feeling the pressure of second album syndrome. He knows that resistance is weakening, cable news ratings are down, many people are tired of President Trump, and there is little appetite for a sequel.
A man who’s all about spectacle, he accused his predecessor of wiretapping, supported accused child molester Roy Moore, told the far-right Proud Boys to “stand back,” and called out “social media in the middle of the night.” He posted “covfefe” in the media, threw paper towels into storm-stricken crowds in Puerto Rico, suggested bleach as a cure for COVID-19, and altered weather maps. Sharpie to cover up his wrong hurricane predictions, and more?
The answer is to do something even more extreme, more provocative, and even more outrageous than the last time. Tuesday was a wake-up call for normalizationists who continue to sleepwalk toward doom.
