Donald Trump Dreams of Taking Revenge on New York*

There is no reason to let down your guard if Bolsonaro loses; the fury of the rejected is only likely to increase.**

Hell hath no fury like a man scorned. From Donald Trump to Paulo Guedes, the fools who choose to parade their flashy mediocrity in public, bearing a grudge against the clubs who didn’t welcome them as members, may lack the vision to govern, but they are unable to tame their destructive rage.

Guedes, who is leaving a dumpster fire for his successor, is seething with resentment, as he imitates the diction of a possible minister of economics under Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, maybe because the potential minister started his career as the successful CEO of an American bank.

Donald Trump, now a resident of Florida, makes rare visits to New York, where he was born and lived until he moved to the White House in 2017. The majority of New York voters despise the former president, who is threatening to run for president again in 2024.

But the rejection which bothers them the most is something else. Just like Guedes, whose intellect, academic credentials and plans to govern were never taken seriously by economists, Trump was despised by his peers, the titans of New York’s economic elite.

Crime has begun to climb in New York since the pandemic began. But official statistics from September show that New York City still is more secure than it was in 2000, when Republicans governed the city and the state.

Unlike the last era of violent crime in New York, which was marked by bankruptcy in 1970 and followed by a crack epidemic that lasted into the 1990s, a new surge in crime is perfect ammunition for local Trumpists. They’re not the majority, but they have a major ally in the media controlled by Rupert Murdoch.

A Republican congressman who denies that Joe Biden won the election now has a chance of becoming governor of New York State. Lee Zeldin is anti-abortion, anti-environmental policies, and against judicial reform to protect minorities incarcerated in disproportionate numbers. He has run a one-note campaign: crime, crime, crime.

If elected, it is likely Zeldin will roll out the red carpet for the orange ogre. There is speculation that Zeldin will hand out pardons to Trump, who is facing civil charges by the state and criminal charges against his company by New York City.

Director and screenwriter Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton” 2007) , who grew up in New York, recently recalled the search for a location for the horror film “Devil’s Advocate” (1997). “We wanted the most gaudy and hideous apartment for a businessman,” he said, referring to New York City’s Trump Tower penthouse, covered in gold and imitation paintings from the Palace of Versailles.***

In the film, the penthouse is inhabited by a sociopath accused of killing his wife, stepson and maid. “Trump gave us the key and we didn’t need to adapt the setting,” Gilroy recalled. “He came to watch the filming the whole day, trying to get close to Charlize Theron. And every one of us on the set laughed at that crooked clown, the loser who pretended to be rich,” reacting just like those who despise him.***

Trump has inflicted a string of defeats on the Republican Party since 2018, but his henchmen have a chance to capture the majority in the House and seats in state legislatures in November. It’s no longer hyperbole to say that American and Brazilian democracies are under threat.

If Brazil awakes on Monday, Oct. 31, free of the most repulsive occupant of the Planalto, that will be no reason to let down your guard. The fury of the rejected is only likely to increase.

*Editor’s note: The original language version of this article is available with a paid subscription.

**Editor’s note: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeated incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro to become president of Brazil on Oct. 31, after this article was published.

***Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, the quoted remark could not be independently verified.