The Biggest Show of His Life

With his success in the U.S. presidential primary campaign, Donald Trump has become a global media phenomenon. Despite all the attention journalists and experts have showered upon him, all the explanations they have thus far given don’t tell the whole story.

His popularity with voters — and not just Republican voters — isn’t due solely to his firm position on immigration. The supposed “good looks” to which Trump frequently lays claim don’t explain it either. Trump’s main attraction lies in the fact that he offers himself up as the most viable alternative to a first woman president of the United States. In that respect, Trump and Clinton are the Siamese twins of the 2016 election: Trump’s rise to prominence and his perseverance in the opinion polls would be inexplicable without Hillary’s dominance as the Democratic candidate.

Trump’s rise thus far reflects the primitive fears, in particular, of white American males who perceive an unstoppable advancement of women. That unsettles them, it confuses them and shakes their self-image. Clinton embodies all those elements that frighten American men: She’s smart, relentless, highly knowledgeable and incredibly goal oriented. On top of all that, she’s aloof, successful and rich.

The setting is a county fair in Iowa. To project the image of being just one of the folks, Hillary and her entourage plan to mingle with the crowd, shake hands and be photographed with babies. Right at that moment in the skies above the fairgrounds, a black helicopter bearing the name “Trump” suddenly appears and circles directly above the scene below. “The Donald” observes what’s taking place below him and accomplishes the mission he has set for himself: The crowd holds its breath and watches him hovering above like a high priest. Hillary’s presence has, to coin a phrase, been trumped.

As powerful as such imagery is, Trump goes beyond that with his finely nuanced gender portrayal. He plays not just one role, but ten different personae:

1. Super-Siegfried: Trump’s blond mane of hair is notable enough in and of itself. He’s playing the role of the legendary and heroic Siegfried. But Trump takes it one step beyond the Wagnerian character. At a time when many Americans are worried about making a living, Trump repeatedly emphasizes the large number of people he employs. He thereby makes himself into a Siegfried-like super provider. He’s telling people how many of them he can take under his protective wing. That promise is especially effective among men whose classical role as breadwinner for wife and family has now come into question. That’s the first example of the appearance of Trump’s shrewd instincts. He turns out to be a surprisingly adept goal-oriented, psycho-political strategist.

2. Trump as protection against Hillary: Now Hillary is anything but Trump’s Brünnhilde. He doesn’t court her. He in fact opposes her. She is exactly what the people, especially men, want protection against. In brief, women nowadays are far too successful, too educated and far better at multitasking, an ability more and more important for personal and professional success. On top of that, women have been increasingly successful at narrowing the wage gap between the sexes. Young female professionals in the United States now attain higher academic levels than their masculine colleagues. It will not be long before they not only achieve income parity with males but surpass them in earnings.

Why does that play so prominent a role in modern day America? The answer is relatively straightforward. Despite the modernity, the mutual understanding of gender roles, especially outside the large urban areas, has become relatively archetypal. The American football player stands in his bulky armor next to the busty, thinly clad cheerleader at the edge of the playing field. But the reality is that the male is no longer the stronger one. The traditional image of the hunter-gatherer is increasingly being stood on its head. In opposition to this, Trump offers himself as the embodiment of the traditional image.

3. The dreamer: Trump’s version of the American dream may seem downright crass, but in contrast to his admirers, he succeeds in actually living out that dream in full measure — and precisely because of that insidious excessiveness, his admirers admire him all the more. They believe his charisma will somehow rub off on them.

But it’s not just Trump’s wealth-flaunting that results in admiration for him. While Arnold Schwarzenegger capitalized on his muscles and built a career on them, Trump always strove to be seen on television and in daily life accompanied by beautiful women. It’s possible that his definition of “beautiful woman” leans more toward the previously mentioned busty cheerleader, but from the voter’s point of view, that’s not a minus, it’s a plus.

4. The knight errant: Trump’s bravado — which the Republican establishment has branded “irresponsible” — is methodical. In an age where men seem to be getting more and more timid, he plays the role of the medieval knight errant. With or without a helmet, with visor up or down, he rides boldly toward his adversaries targeting them with his lance. Trump has but one goal in mind: unseating the enemy.

A modern strategy that Trump has always used in his business dealings lurks behind this medieval image: His principles allow for no regrets. No retreat. He is permanently on the attack, convinced that the other side will either retreat or surrender. Anyone with that much faith in himself and who is willing to take risks in daily life literally radiates self-confidence. And that self-confidence is becoming an increasingly rare commodity among Americans in a time of dwindling incomes.

He Grotesquely Flaunts His Wealth

5. The outsider: Despite his propensity toward pomposity, Trump always thinks dialectically. That increases his credibility. Here again he demonstrates how instinctively he understands Americans and their hopes and dreams. Hollywood has made many movies dealing with that subject: The legendary rise of a supposedly hopeless candidate who, against all odds, ends up in the White House. Trump co-opts this classic film cliché — the projection of one’s own inadequate hopes and dreams on a mythical being — and uses it in his own real-life “film.” In this respect, he hitches a ride on the expectations that arise in such films as Kevin Kline’s “Dave” (1993), Chris Rock’s “Head of State” (2003) and Robin Williams’ “Man of the Year” (2006). These provide the nourishment that feed and strengthen Trump’s candidacy each and every day.

6. The mirror image: Despite the implied focus on Clinton — and the Democratic Party — Trump is driving the Republican Party—the party that he wants to lead—to distraction because Trump’s life is, in many ways, a perfect metaphor for the party’s priorities over the past 10 years. While Republicans gently whispered slogans to the voters about the greatness of America, Republican realpolitik was about one thing and one thing only: Increasing the wealth of the already rich.

Trump has taken advantage of every tax break proposed by every unscrupulous lobbyist in the nation, tax breaks that were successfully passed through Congress, and then he has used them to pay less tax. Up until now, the Republican trick was to find candidates for the White House who carefully and judiciously distorted the tax code but who didn’t flaunt their wealth. Trump turned the logic of that system on its head: He has grotesquely flaunted his wealth, thereby debunking the Republican Party by exposing what it is doing.

7. The Devil: With that, however, Trump didn’t cause much permanent damage to the Republicans. So he put a diabolical icing on his anti-female cake: While he supposedly looks down on women as bimbos, he simultaneously champions their right to self-determination on the abortion issue, thereby disregarding a core tenet of Republican political doctrine.

With this position, Trump draws a bead on the question of the Republican Party’s modernity and its respect for women in the national debate.

8. Managers with the killer instinct: Whatever doubts may exist about Trump’s business acumen, he has continued to refine the mythology surrounding himself. No chess gambit is more significant than his statement concerning women as managers. His opinion is that the most effective managers are endowed with “a killer instinct.” He maintains that’s the reason he has so many women on his payroll. That harkens back to Trump the dialectician. On the one hand he pays women a compliment, while simultaneously warning men that women are dangerous to them.

9. The gambler: Nobody knows whether Trump has read Dostoevsky, but one gets the impression that he is reality’s version of Alexei Ivanovich in the novel ”The Gambler.” In both his business and personal careers, he has been written off several times. Yet he always manages to stage a comeback. In that sense, he is indestructible. Just as Dostoevsky used the fictional Ivanovich to personify the depths of the Russian soul, the same is true of Trump and today’s American national character.

10. The most prolific producer: It’s no mere chance that Donald is a construction king and casino mogul as well as the producer and star of a successful TV reality show. Seen up close, the presidential elections of 2016 are nothing more than a conglomeration of all his passions: The gimmick, the TV spectacular and his understanding of the plebeian soul of the American public. And, of course, the opportunity to place himself as the focal point of it all.

The 2016 elections are, in other words, the biggest show of Donald’s life — and in contrast to the others who are just mere politicians, he knows exactly what’s necessary to grab the voters’ attention and hold on to it, showing them one commercial spot after another, so to speak.

Seen that way, the 2016 elections are the ultimate luxury gift for Donald Trump. They offer him the possibility of achieving that which can’t be bought with money. They offer him the possibility of spending the next few months entertaining the world — and possibly even moving into the White House. If he doesn’t succeed in entertaining the American people, he’ll at least have entertained himself to the maximum.