Trump Breaks Free of ‘Russiagate’

Published in El País
(Spain) on 01 April 2019
by Francisco G. Basterra (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Hannah Bowditch. Edited by Arielle Eirienne.
The U.S. president will profit politically from the indignation arising from having been persecuted and will gain the renewed enthusiasm of his electoral base.

In politics, high expectations almost never amount to dream results. Often they boomerang for those who cultivate them and are a powerful stimulus for the victims they intend to implicate. Exonerated by the Mueller report for conspiring with Vladimir Putin to sway the presidential election in 2016, Donald Trump is reborn from the supposed ashes of his presidency with the biggest political triumph since his arrival at the White House. Like Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain,” the 45th president of the United States can close his umbrella and tap dance to the lyrics “I’m happy again” as he is portrayed on the cover of Time magazine.

After 22 months of rigorous investigation headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the epitome of an upright man and a symbol of the rule of law, more than 2,800 subpoenas, 500 warrants and a similar amount of witness testimony, the final report saves the president. This gives the chaotic president a clean bill of health, strengthens the possibility of reelection and lays to rest the Democratic hopes of a final, dishonorable judicial ending before the end of his term.

Trump tweeted 181 times that the investigation carried out by Mueller, which looked for collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice by the president (the intent of which is very difficult to prove and the existence of which Mueller did not confirm or deny), was a witch hunt. The Economist provided a curious piece of information. The investigation has lasted the same time it took for Herman Melville to write “Moby Dick.” The whale in this case also escapes the harpoon.

Last Sunday, after finishing a golf game at his private Palm Beach resort, he learned the news. Erupting with joy over his “complete and total exoneration,” he confirmed that a great weight had been lifted. A White House spokesman began the counterattack. It’s outrageous that Democrats and the press have spent two years making Trump out to be a foreign government agent; “That’s equivalent to treason,” the spokesman said.

Trump has proven to be Harry Houdini, a magician able to escape the chains that trapped him inside a chest, padlocked shut. Now he will profit from the political indignation over the persecution he has suffered. It will renew the enthusiasm of his electoral base, which is uncomfortable with the trade wars. The president is aiming for a quick and positive conclusion to the trade war with China, with talks in Beijing revolving around compulsory technology transfers. In domestic policy he is relying on knocking down the health care reform of his predecessor Barack Obama by judicial means if it is taken up by the Supreme Court, which has cemented a conservative majority. It would take some time to straighten out his run-down foreign policy.

The road to impeachment is obstructed; Democrats, abandon all hope. Trump will have to be defeated at the polls, but will the voters do this or not? The real and final report on this unusual, deceitful and uninformed president will be delivered by the public on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. But no one in the U.S., not even the president, is above the law.


El presidente estadounidense rentabilizará políticamente la indignación por la persecución sufrida y recuperará el ánimo de sus bases electorales.

En política, casi nunca las expectativas excesivas producen los resultados soñados. A menudo se convierten en un bumerán para quienes las cultivan y en un potente estímulo para la víctima que se pretendía cobrar. Exonerado por el Informe Mueller de la conspiración con Vladímir Putin para robar la elección presidencial de 2016, Donald Trump renace de las supuestas cenizas de su presidencia y obtiene su mayor triunfo político desde su llegada a la Casa Blanca. Como Gene Kelly en Cantando bajo la lluvia, el 45º presidente de EE UU, puede cerrar el paraguas y bailar claqueando el I am happy again. Así lo dibuja la portada de Time.

Después de 22 meses de una rigurosa investigación conducida por el fiscal especial Robert Mueller, epítome del hombre recto símbolo del imperio de la ley; de más de 2.800 citaciones judiciales, 500 registros y similar número de declaraciones de testigos, el informe final salva al presidente. Limpia su caótica presidencia, refuerza sus posibilidades de reelección y sepulta las esperanzas de los demócratas de acabar con Trump propinándole un final judicial ignominioso antes de que finalice su mandato.

Trump tuiteó 181 veces que la investigación de Mueller buscando la colusión con Rusia o la obstrucción a la justicia por parte del presidente, algo sobre lo que Mueller no se pronuncia y cuya intencionalidad es muy difícil de probar, era una caza de brujas. The Economist aporta un dato curioso. La investigación ha durado el mismo tiempo que necesitó Herman Melville para escribir Moby Dick. También la ballena, en este caso, se le escapó al arponero.

El domingo pasado, cuando concluida su partida de golf en su club privado de Palm Beach conoció la noticia, estalló en júbilo por su “completa exculpación” y afirmó que se había quitado un gran peso de encima. Y la portavoz de la Casa Blanca inició el contraataque. Es ultrajante que los demócratas y los periodistas se hayan pasado dos años dibujando a Trump como un agente de un poder extranjero. “Esto es equivalente a traición”.

Trump ha resultado ser el mago escapista Houdini, que lograba zafarse de las cadenas que lo atrapaban en un saco dentro de un baúl, atado con candados. Ahora rentabilizará políticamente la indignación por la persecución sufrida. Recuperará el ánimo de sus bases electorales, incómodas con sus guerras comerciales. El presidente apunta a una pronta conclusión positiva de la guerra comercial con China con cesiones de Pekín en lo referente a la transferencia obligatoria de tecnologías. En política doméstica confía en derribar por la vía judicial, si llega al Supremo donde ha cimentado una mayoría conservadora, la reforma sanitaria de su predecesor Barack Obama. Y le restaría tiempo para enderezar su atropellada política exterior.

La vía del impeachment está cegada. Abandonad demócratas toda esperanza. A Trump hay que derrotarle en las urnas; lo harán, o no, los electores. El verdadero informe final sobre este presidente insólito, mendaz y desavisado, será emitido por los ciudadanos el martes 3 de noviembre de 2020. Pero nadie en EE UU, ni siquiera el presidente, está por encima de la ley.
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