“Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”
asserted
I → know → it
His inherent distrust of others, belief that every contest is a zero-sum game, inherited wealth, detachment from reality and abiding self-regard all play into this.
asserted
contest → inherit → this
He also harbours a long-standing fascination with swift, bold and unilateral solutions to complex challenges — whether that involves prosecuting a perilous war in Iran, launching inflationary trade battles or jumping headlong into this week’s bruising midterm election.
asserted
that → harbour → election
Trump’s preference for piloting solo also encourages him to double down when he fails, with little regard for consequences.
asserted
he → pilot → consequences
The shellacking the president and Republicans endured in the midterms — with Democrats handily winning control of both chambers of Congress — formally ushers Trump into the lame-duck chapter of his second White House tour.
asserted
Democrats → endure → tour
That might recommend compromise and collaboration, in the interest of responding to an epic electoral implosion by considering and meeting voters’ needs.
uncertain
That → recommend → needs
Trump certainly gestured in that direction once the magnitude of his defeat became apparent.
asserted
magnitude → gesture → defeat
“I think I can work with everything,” he told Fox News in the wee hours when asked if he planned to cooperate with Democrats.
asserted
he → think → Democrats
He generously congratulated his opponents and didn’t question the bona fides of their victory.
asserted
He → congratulate → victory
He could have left it at that, but, of course, he didn’t.
uncertain
he → leave → course
“They’re in control, but they’re really not in control,” he allowed, reminding the Fox crew and its audience that he still has the power to veto Democratic legislation he doesn’t like.
asserted
he → ’re → legislation
That sounds much more like the Trump who rarely concedes or collaborates; the same Trump who defiantly ploughed through careers as a real estate developer, casino operator, serial bankruptcy artist and reality TV curiosity before becoming president.
asserted
who → sound → developer
A Trump cornered in his previous incarnations was usually a Trump who lashed out, and it’s likely that’s the president the world will live with for the next two years.
asserted
world → corner → years
It would be a welcome surprise if a more evolved Trump emerged on the other side of his electoral defeat, but his history and histrionics teach otherwise.
asserted
history → emerge → defeat
He once dismissed the idea of seeing a therapist when I inquired as we drove to his New Jersey golf course on a weekend morning two decades ago.
asserted
we → dismiss → morning
“I have found I am not a disbeliever in it,” he told me.
asserted
he → find → me
“But I look at reports that psychiatrists have by far the highest rate of suicide than anybody — that means they’re pretty f--ked up, and I don’t have the time for it.”
asserted
I → look → it
When I asked him during the same drive about public figures he admired, he cited Orson Welles, the legendary film director.
asserted
he → ask → Welles
“He was like this great genius that after 26, never ever did it.
asserted
that → do → it
He became totally impossible.
asserted
He → become → ?
He thought everybody was a moron, everybody was this, everybody was that; if he had a budget, he’d exceed it by 20 times and destroy everything.
asserted
he → think → everything
He became impossible.
asserted
He → become → ?
I loved that.
asserted
I → love → that
This passes for self-awareness from a man who also thinks he’s surrounded by morons and doesn’t blink at being impossible or a human wrecking ball — especially when he inhabits an empowering venue like the White House.
asserted
he → pass → House
James Talarico, the Democrat who just secured a lopsided Senate victory in Texas, told his supporters he looked forward to instilling bipartisan civility and a “politics of love” in his work.
asserted
he → secure → work
Kumbaya, alas, isn’t Trump’s go-to melody.
asserted
Kumbaya → go → ?
So what should the US and its observers around the globe expect from Trump between now and 2028?
The president has grown accustomed to an acquiescent Congress, courtesy of Republicans who ceded their institutional powers and prerogatives because of shared ambitions, realpolitik and raw fear.
asserted
who → expect → ambitions
Trump went on to tax, spend, manage and mismanage the federal government, send armed and masked immigration agents onto US streets, fire off tariff salvos, run roughshod over the law and go to war in the Middle East as he saw fit.
asserted
he → go → East
He dismissed the social, geopolitical and economic malaise that sprang from this as little more than hoaxes.
asserted
that → dismiss → hoaxes
Congressional Democrats certainly will be more assertive than their Republican counterparts in monitoring the executive branch, and Trump’s tolerance of that independence may be, at best, short-lived.
uncertain
tolerance → monitor → independence
He will certainly exercise his veto powers.
asserted
He → exercise → powers
Democrats will try to leverage legislative majorities to override his vetoes — or settle for scoring political points.
asserted
Democrats → try → points
Gridlock may prevail.
uncertain
Gridlock → prevail → ?
Democratic investigations, including exploring the contours of White House corruption and the conduct of the Iran war, are being teed up.
asserted
investigations → include → war
If the Democrats can force a winding down of the war and an end to Trump’s tariff follies, they could snare relatively quick economic and geopolitical victories.
uncertain
they → force → victories
But again, Trump will come out fighting against probes he will inevitably, relentlessly brand as witch hunts and policy reversals he will personalise and won’t stomach.
asserted
he → come → hunts
Presidents of both parties, especially second-term ones, have historically tended to venture overseas when they’ve found themselves stymied domestically.
asserted
themselves → tend → parties
The Constitution and an uncertain world offer latitude and freedom from congressional control many presidents have prized.
asserted
presidents → offer → control
Trump’s peregrinations, fundamentally bellicose and strategically haywire, have already mired him in Iran and found him essentially abandoning Ukraine in its war with Russia.
asserted
him → mire → Russia
He’s engaged in meandering but muted fisticuffs with China.
asserted
He → engage → China
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
