Donald Trump ends his presidential term the same way he started it: amid chaos, confusion and bewilderment.
Now, at last, at his direct instigation, a mob literally stormed the Capitol building, a symbol of American democracy, pushing for a variation of the certification that declared Joe Biden, candidate of the Democratic Party, as the next president of the United States.
The scenes that traveled the world are repulsive. In them are perceived delusional hordes, imbued with messianic spirit, willing to defy all obstacles, in order to conquer their goal: to reverse the will of the American people expressed at the polls.
The symbolic value of these images is indescribable. What they reflect is that such behavior has jeopardized the legitimacy of the United States’ own democratic system.
Being the main provocateur of these actions, Donald Trump has written the epitaph of what could be his political grave. Naturally, it could have been otherwise. Although he did not win the election contest, Trump did not look so bad. He got 74 million votes, 12 million more than in 2016, when he won the election victory over Hillary Clinton.
On the other hand, in percentage terms, the difference was 51.3 percent in favor of Biden and 46.8 percent for Trump. With figures like this, before the Capitol assault, some thought the New York tycoon could emerge as the leader of the Republican Party and perhaps even return as a presidential candidate in 2024.
Now all this is unlikely and the reason is essentially due to one fact: the personality or temperament of Donald Trump himself.
stable genius
Trump calls himself a stable genius. However, what is appreciated about him is that he is an extravagant, picturesque and narcissistic figure, with an unmistakable air of superiority. In short, a complex personality, the goal has been wealth, fame and power.
In principle, a businessman, who inherits from his father a real estate emporium dedicated to the purchase, renovation, sale and rental of apartment buildings in New York.
When in the early 1970s he placed himself at the forefront of the family business, Donald Trump redirected him to the area of hotels, casinos, golf courses and airlines. This is where, with ups and downs, he manages to create and consolidate Trump’s name as a branding or trade label.
At the same time he felt the need to make a presence through the media. For this reason, he participated in several television programs, making deliberately controversial statements and comments.
His interest was to arouse attention, to become a kind of media celebrity. She organized the Miss Universe pageant, spread the wrestling billboard, and owned a football team.
But he didn’t stay here. He appeared, as a supporting actor, in eight feature films. He created his own reality show show: The Apprentice, with a large audience among young people with business aspirations.
To date he has published 19 books. One of them, The Art of the Deal, became a true bestseller or bestseller.
Strangely enough, however, he has never written any. He always does another, a ghostwriter. The most connoted, Tony Schwartz.
To fully understand Donald Trump’s personality it is necessary to consider that the first time he married was with a Czech model, Ivanna Zelnickova.
His second marriage was to a film actress, Marla Maples; and on the third occasion, with his current wife, the former Slovak model, Melania Knauss.
As you can see, a highly selective taste.
Head to the white house
In politics, Donald Trump has never been stable. He changed affiliation with unusual frequency. In 1987 he joined the Republican Party. He later became a member of a so-called Reform Party (which has nothing to do with the Dominican).
He later joined the Democratic Party; in 2009 he became a Republican again. Two years later, in 2011, he became independent; and the following year, 2012, he rejoined the Republican Party for the third time.
On a couple of occasions he flirted with the idea of a presidential candidacy. When it was finally released, in 2015, it wasn’t taken seriously. It was believed to be a new marketing plan to promote their business.
However, with slogans such as those of First America; We do Great America; and Let’s take back our Country, was positioned in the primaries of its party until obtaining the nomination.
Several factors influenced why this was the case. First, what a sector of American society never accepted the idea that an African American, like Barack Obama, could be president of the United States.
Trump began his campaign precisely by questioning Obama’s nationality. He claimed to have been born in Kenya, where his father was from; and demanded that he present his birth certificate.
With the support of Fox News and other conservative propaganda machinery media, the message was penetrating the most racially sensitive sectors.
Trump also announced that he would face the establishment or powers established in Washington, which he considered responsible for the harmful effects of globalization, such as the closure of industries, illegal migration, unemployment, inequality, poverty. and the pessimism that had taken hold of the Americans.
With these ideas and the promise to drain the Washington swamp, Donald Trump unexpectedly defeated Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.
From the White House, with the support of far-right groups, he sought to eliminate the legacy of Barack Obama and promote, at the domestic level, a racist, divisionist and conservative policy; and outwards, internationally, one of a nationalist, populist, protectionist and isolationist nature.
His fundamental weapon of communication was Twitter. He came to have, spectacularly, 88 million followers, which allowed him to challenge such powerful media as The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN, whom he considered enemies of the town and promoters of fake news.
Despite his incendiary rhetoric and confrontational style, Trump managed to arouse great support in important segments of American society. So much so that at one point it was thought that he could even win re-election.
Its main enemy was COVID-19. Knowing its true magnitude, he did not know how to manage it. At the end of his term, the United States is the country with the highest number of infected and dead in the world.
However, despite his defeat, Trump may have continued to be an influential leader in the ranks of conservatism and a potential candidate for 2024.
Now, everything indicates that it will not be possible. His obstinacy to take his allegation of fraud to the extreme and by not accepting Joe Biden’s triumph, as it should be, make him a shadow of the past, or at best, a museum piece.