Trump Is Getting Serious

The U.S. real estate magnate Donald Trump has sworn his allegiance to the Republicans. He doesn’t want to run against them as an independent in case he loses the primary. His presidential candidacy is no longer a joke.

Trump is and remains the gaudiest attraction in the U.S. presidential election campaign, something that became evident again this Tuesday when the loud-mouthed real estate magnate summoned a press conference at — where else? — his Trump Tower. Rather, he summoned an audience.

In the skyscraper’s tacky gold atrium on Fifth Avenue, a podium was planted on the marble floor:. It read: “TRUMP: Make America Great Again!” The four rows of chairs for the media weren’t enough. Dozens and dozens of reporters scrambled about, while gaping tourists pushed through the commotion and took selfies. Others hung over the balustrade of the mezzanine.

The official reason for the event? Trump, who since his entry into the race has led in every poll, however questionable, against the other Republicans, has finally signed a pledge of allegiance to the party after much coquetry, thereby giving his word of honor that should he lose the primary, he won’t stand as an independent candidate — which would surely cost the conservatives the White House.

Republican chief Reince Priebus, who is worried by Trump’s excessively nationalist-racist-xenophobic-colored candidacy, traveled from Washington to the billionaire’s private office on the 26th floor for a tete-a-tete prior to the conference. Afterward, Priebus quickly disappeared out a side entrance. He can’t be seen as favoring any Republican over the others.

Wrongly Derided Candidacy

The vow of allegiance is, however, more than a mere formality. It is, like everything in this wrongly derided candidacy, a clever strategic step by Trump that boosts him from outsider to insider. Without the link to the party’s machinery, he wouldn’t even get on the ticket in some U.S. states.

In other words, Trump is getting really serious — and should therefore be taken seriously.

The moment was staged with accordingly massive narcissistic hype. Behind the podium, the organizers equipped a group of claqueurs* with signs that read, “The silent majority stands with Trump,” an allusion to Trump’s statement that America is being terrorized by minorities. Not a single black face was to be seen in the crowds. The only African-Americans were a few reporters — and a liveried Trump-manservant with white gloves who scampered about.

“I have signed the pledge,” crowed Trump as he took the microphone. His orangutan-colored hair sparkled, his pores were clogged with makeup. There was a moment of perplexed silence until a Trump aide yelled “Yeah!” and the rejoicing broke out.

Trump held up a certificate, and the word “Pledge” was written in big letters, really, underneath his signature along with that of Priebus in thick felt-tipped pen. Trump has committed himself to the party and “the conservative principles for which it stands,” added the thrice-married former bankruptee. From 2001 to 2009, he was still a Democrat.

Such contradictions are not important for reporters. They all wrestle to be recognized by Trump and their own cameras as the ones asking the question. Their hands shoot up, their voices shriek across the atrium. Maybe someone will manage to provoke Trump to such an extent that he has them thrown out of the room, as recently happened to the prominent Latin American anchorman Jorge Ramos who went on to become world famous.

It didn’t get that far. Trump behaved himself, praised the coiffed TV figures, even extended a greeting to “Rosanna and Gray: Good people.”** Instead, he used the reporters and their inconsequential questions as prompts for endless self-praise — and his tirades against China, Mexico, Japan, all “losers.” And nevertheless, he says, “I love [Latinos]. I employ thousands and thousands of Hispanics.”] They love me too!” he adds.**

Jibes Against Bush and Clinton

Trump warms up. In one single sentence, he mentions his wall on the Mexico border (“with a big, fat door,” Obamacare, Hillary Clinton (“worst secretary of state in history”), the military (“shabby”),** the Iran nuclear deal (“disastrous”) and football player Tom Brady (“a friend of mine”), who is currently embroiled in a scandal.

He particularly badgered his party rival Jeb Bush, who is married to a Latina and likes to speak Spanish to seal the indispensable Latino vote: “We are a nation that speaks English,” he said to heavy applause. Oh, poor Bush, he was supposed to win, and he’s losing. “It’s sad”, mocked Trump. “Very low-energy.”

He apparently—perhaps jokingly?—takes the presidential ambitions of rapper Kanye West more seriously. “He loves Trump,” Trump bellowed. “In a few years maybe I’ll have to run against him.”

At the end, he gets a small, sheepish man from the cheering crowds and introduces him: It’s Zulkifli Hasan, the speaker of the Lower House of Indonesia. “He’s here to see me,” boasts Trump and turns to the somewhat perturbed politician, “Do they like me in Indonesia?”

*Editor’s note: A claque is an organized body of professional applauders in French theaters. Members of a claque are called claqueurs.

**Editor’s note: The quote, although accurately translated, could not be independently verified.