The Curious Mr. Trump

The United States presidential campaign is moving forward along with the candidacy of Trump, who previously was not taken seriously as a factor that would dramatically affect the electoral process, but is now beginning to be attentively considered.

Donald Trump has had great skill in channeling discontent against the “establishment” and political parties. He brusquely expresses what apparently is on the minds of many people. He lashes out against immigration, warns against Muslims, and censures what some perceive as a decline in the power and prestige of the United States, similar to what occurred during Jimmy Carter’s era. Trump’s campaign slogan is: “Let’s make America great again.”

He utters insults that do not affect his popularity, but which would be unforgiveable if expressed by other candidates. When he criticizes something, he does so by throwing darts. Take, for example, his remarks that “Cruz is not eligible for the presidency,” or that “Hillary talks a lot about women but her ‘adviser’ is Bill, one of the great woman abusers of all time, and she enables him.”*

He is a narcissist and a buffoon, but he is very effective and has the advantage of financing his own campaign; he does not compromise with anyone as is usually the case in American politics.

It is very doubtful that he has a chance to be the next president, but it is possible that he will be the Republican nominee. Since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Democrats have not won election to three consecutive administrations. Moreover, the re-election of Roosevelt occurred before the Constitution was amended to limit presidents to one re-election, or two terms.

Many are not content with President Obama despite the fact that he introduced important social changes, like the health care law known as “Obamacare,” which Trump and the Republicans have challenged.

Furthermore, the same Republican “establishment” is attacking Trump in order to find an “acceptable” candidate like Marco Rubio. If Trump does not win in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina, he could make a theatrical exit from his candidacy. In any case, he has nothing to lose and has gained a lot by expressing the discontent of many, the discontent which Sanders is using in much the same way but in his own fashion on the Democratic side.

The people want change. There is an interesting psychological reality: It doesn’t matter which party they belong to whether or not they detest Trump. When it comes to any relevant matter, from beauty contests to the nuclear agreement with Iran, the primary question that the average American is asking, “And what does Trump say about this?”

It is a form of “national entertainment.” A figure who is equally discussed and who has many followers on the right, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin recently endorsed Trump, while her son, an Iraq veteran, was arrested for threatening his wife in their house with an assault gun.

In the British Parliament there was a debate about allowing Trump to visit the U.K., an event reminiscent of the time of Henry VIII. It would not be strange that as a consequence of the renewal of “nationalism” promoted by the candidate, some Americans recall the confrontation between England and the United States in the 19th century over geopolitical control of the Caribbean and the opening of the inter-oceanic canal. This was a dispute that ended in favor of the United States with the signing of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901. This was a treaty that opened the door for President Theodore Roosevelt, someone whose attitudes were similar to Trump’s. Roosevelt was to say later, “I took Panama.”

Nevertheless, after his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt volunteered to command the American forces that intervened in Europe in World War I, although his successor was to plead against such intervention. Later, he undertook an excursion to Brazil amid mosquitoes and snakes, where he discovered a tributary to the Tocantins ending in the Amazon that was called “the River of Doubt.” Trump does not appear to be someone of Theodore Roosevelt’s caliber.

To his xenophobic and Ku Klux Klan-like commentary about Mexicans that caused worldwide indignation and that was criticized by our former Miss Universe, Paulina Vega, Trump added his “Solomonic solution” for the fool who made the mistake in Las Vegas: a crown for the elected, and another for Ariadna Gutiérrez.

* Editor’s note: The quote about Ted Cruz, while accurately translated, could not be precisely verified. The quote about Hillary Clinton, also accurately translated, could not be exactly verified but is substantiated by similar remarks here.