Trump Shows His Most Intransigent Face

Displaying the provocative style that won him the election, Donald Trump didn’t miss the opportunity to win over the most right-wing sector of his party at the rally which took place in Phoenix, Arizona. On one hand, he fiercely attacked the journalists who had branded him racist for his ambiguous declarations following the disturbances in Charlottesville, while at the same time, he insinuated that he would pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has a scandalous, racist history and ended up being convicted for misconduct involving the arrest of immigrants.

But where he showed his most belligerent and intransigent face was in one of his key promises — the construction of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. As a way of applying pressure on Democratic members of Congress who are refusing to approve the budget if it includes an item for the construction of the border wall, Trump accused them of jeopardizing the security of the country. He warned that he would build it — whatever it takes — because immigration control is what the American people voted for.

To make the situation a little tenser, the United States president threatened to shut down the federal government if there is no budget, something which would involve closing many services and offices. This partially occurred during the Obama presidency, also due to a lack of agreement during budget negotiations.

It is expected that Trump will not carry out his threats, as that would, for example, put the payment of civil servants’ pensions and salaries in danger and postpone the construction of the wall, a postponement Trump decided on last April in order to reach an agreement with the Democrats. But in any case, his style of governing, situated somewhere between wild and threatening and more suited to a showman than to a statesman, is not the best to ensure the stability of the country.