Doctor Donald and Mister Trump

Donald Trump played the unity card in front of Congress. But division is never far.

Donald Trump has a double. In his annual State of the Union speech, the 45th president of the United States played the unity card. With words that would have been embraced by his predecessor Barack Obama, “build bridges,” “heal old wounds,” “find solutions together,” he appeared before Congress in a better light and above party affiliations, where his Democratic opposition has a majority in the House of Representatives. “The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda. It is the agenda of the American people,” he said, in a vapid entreaty indicative of the kind of performance in which getting applause is more important than talking about big issues.

But smooth talk can’t hide the “real Donald Trump” for long: the @realDonaldTrump of Twitter. Admittedly, he hasn’t declared a state of emergency to obtain a budget for building “his” wall along the Mexican border, as certain people dreaded.* Admittedly, he didn’t announce the U.S. exit from NATO or from a new alliance. But he showed his true colors as he denounced “ridiculous” worries on supposed links between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia or in continuing to denounce, in the same sentence, “illegal immigration,” and “the ruthless trafficking of human beings, the drug cartels, the dealers.”

And, according to American media, before delivering his speech, he didn’t miss a chance to send vengeful tweets against leaders of the Democratic Party and to insult Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader. Because Trump has a concern of being in a free fall in the polls after the partial closure of the federal government: the shutdown, a power struggle he lost. After having turned his back on centrists and moderate Republicans, he’s now obliged to focus on the main core of his electorate. Yet, with a Democratic majority in the House, the task will not be easy. Doctor Donald might hide Mister

Editor’s Note: Since the writing of this article, Trump has declared a state of emergency.