Trump Stages Transparent Maneuver with National Guard in Washington
The U.S. president invents a "state of emergency" to portray himself as a strongman. In fact, he probably wants to divert attention away from the Epstein case again — and threaten the opposition.
Just when you think Donald Trump cannot surprise you anymore, he goes one step further. Now, despite verifiably falling crime statistics, he has ordered the National Guard to the U.S. Capitol, to Washington D.C. By assuming command of the local police, the president takes another step toward autocracy.
Measured against reality in Washington — and not against "alternative facts," the move is completely disproportionate and appears erratic. But that's not the case: Trump does indeed follow a logic — his own, but a logic nevertheless. And just as he demonstrated a few weeks ago in the California city of Los Angeles, he is using flimsy arguments to trigger an escalation that threatens democracy, just to clearly show who is in charge: namely himself, and only himself.
Just as the protests in Los Angeles over Trump's hard deportation policy remained — or rather would have remained — manageable for the local police at any time, Trump is now inventing a scenario for the U.S. Capitol because the situation is "out of control"; therefore, he argues it is justifiable to resort to such drastic security measures. Once again he proclaimed a "Day of Liberation." The man with a penchant for superlatives did this back in April when he announced his punitive tariff policy. It's becoming almost inflationary.
Habituation and Threat
You could or better yet must assume and fear that this maneuver is ultimately intended to get the American people accustomed to such things. After all, the midterm elections are a little more than one year away: the midterm elections for Congress, in which Trump's Republicans could suffer significant or perhaps even dramatic losses and possibly lose their majority in Congress. The scenario of deploying the National Guard in other Democrat strongholds like New York City, in order to protect federal property — but in reality to protect Trump's political interests — already looms today like an unspoken threat of escalation.
Trump's main interests during these days, weeks and months is to divert attention away from the legal dispute surrounding the publication of files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which is not only unpleasant for him, but also potentially dangerous. A longstanding and well-known political policy for Trump is "flood the zone with shit." He now appears to be acting on this plan again. Ordering the National Guard into the U.S. Capitol to distract from the Epstein case and demonstrate just what a strong man he is. A man in control at all times. But is that really the case?
Just when you think Donald Trump cannot surprise you anymore, he goes one step further. Now, despite verifiably falling crime statistics, he has ordered the National Guard to the U.S. Capitol, to Washington D.C. By assuming command of the local police, the president takes another step toward autocracy.
Measured against reality in Washington — and not against "alternative facts," the move is completely disproportionate and appears erratic. But that's not the case: Trump does indeed follow a logic — his own, but a logic nevertheless. And just as he demonstrated a few weeks ago in the California city of Los Angeles, he is using flimsy arguments to trigger an escalation that threatens democracy, just to clearly show who is in charge: namely himself, and only himself.
Just as the protests in Los Angeles over Trump's hard deportation policy remained — or rather would have remained — manageable for the local police at any time, Trump is now inventing a scenario for the U.S. Capitol because the situation is "out of control"; therefore, he argues it is justifiable to resort to such drastic security measures. Once again he proclaimed a "Day of Liberation." The man with a penchant for superlatives did this back in April when he announced his punitive tariff policy. It's becoming almost inflationary.
Habituation and Threat
You could or better yet must assume and fear that this maneuver is ultimately intended to get the American people accustomed to such things. After all, the midterm elections are a little more than one year away: the midterm elections for Congress, in which Trump's Republicans could suffer significant or perhaps even dramatic losses and possibly lose their majority in Congress. The scenario of deploying the National Guard in other Democrat strongholds like New York City, in order to protect federal property — but in reality to protect Trump's political interests — already looms today like an unspoken threat of escalation.
Trump's main interests during these days, weeks and months is to divert attention away from the legal dispute surrounding the publication of files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which is not only unpleasant for him, but also potentially dangerous. A longstanding and well-known political policy for Trump is "flood the zone with shit." He now appears to be acting on this plan again. Ordering the National Guard into the U.S. Capitol to distract from the Epstein case and demonstrate just what a strong man he is. A man in control at all times. But is that really the case?
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