Trump and Trumpism … What’s Next?

Everything about Donald Trump’s life story, both on a personal level specifically and a political level in general, before and after he entered the White House, seems bizarre, extraordinary, surprising and intriguing. Now, some members of Congress, such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is of Palestinian origin, are looking into taking the necessary steps to remove Trump from office based on a petition signed by 10 million citizens calling for removal. Yet Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked for restraint, saying there is no clear case against him. At the same time, the latest Gallup opinion polls confirm that 46% of Americans and 91% of Republicans are satisfied with Trump’s performance. This poll tells us that half of America is completely unhappy with his performance.

This means that Americans are almost equally divided over this man. Yet his popularity remains remarkably high in comparison to the level of uproar over the wisdom of his behavior and the form and substance of his foreign and domestic policies. The uproar has not let up from the time he began his term until this very moment.

Coincidental with the Gallup results, a poll conducted by Monmouth University in New Jersey between May 16 and May 20, 2019 shows that only 37% of American voters favor reelecting Trump to a second term, and 60% want to see someone else as president. Only 29% think that Trump is moving in the right direction, while 63% think he is headed the wrong way.

This data reveals the state of confusion and sense of irrationality among Americans as they try to judge the actions of their eccentric president. How can the Gallup poll say 46% of Americans are satisfied with Trump’s performance when at the same time, the Monmouth poll says 63% think Trump is headed down the wrong path!? No less confusing is the fact that we know from the last poll that 56% of Americans do not think the president is acting negligently, nor do they think he deserves to be dismissed or impeached. There’s no logic or meaning behind these contradictory positions, except to say that Trump has succeeded in fracturing public opinion. Perhaps it can be said that Americans were “infected” with his disease and that even a considerable number of Americans continue to support his bizarre approach.

For all that he is, Trump is still the man of the moment in his party. Republican Party stakeholders have already started preparing for Trump’s reelection campaign. In that regard, there is bad news for those who watch and wait and burn with the hope that Trump’s domestic star will fade. This is particularly felt by those in the rival Democratic Party as well as internationally in many different parts of the world, ranging from the Middle East and Far East to America’s Latin neighbors and a wide swath of the Europeans, who resent Trump’s contrary approach to unifying tendencies on the Old Continent.

Several days ago, the American magazine Business Insider reported that there are nine reasons in favor of Trump winning a second term in the November 2020 election. The most prominent reason is stability. More than 80% of Republicans support his candidacy and can raise the necessary funds to support his campaign. In contrast, the Democratic Party has not yet agreed on which candidate will be the nominee. The Mueller investigation ended with what appears to be Trump’s acquittal of any explicit collusion with the Russians during the 2016 election. The economy has improved, and the unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest point in the last 50 years. Employment has improved in rural areas. Financial leaders in the money and business markets are tending toward floating stock again.

We cannot ignore the role of two other important variables strengthening Trump’s reelection position. The first variable is related to his advantage within the wide and influential Zionist circles. Trump won this preference and advantage because he dared to go beyond most of his predecessors’ red lines by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the American embassy there and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, occupied since 1967. The second variable is the rising star of national populist movements and extreme isolationism. These orientation and domestic leanings are consistent in the United States and Europe, on the other side of the Atlantic. Given this situation, those affected by Trump’s policies would be unwise to rule out the possibility that Trump will extend his term until 2024 and then base their positions on this conviction. This is to say nothing of the possibility that “Trumpism” could survive and continue to have implications for, and aftershocks in, both local and international environments for some time even without its founder and namesake, Trump.