President Trump has always dominated the room as well as engendering strong reactions both pro and con. When I first met him 35 years ago, he was pretty much the same guy he is today.
Back in his business days, Americans could take or leave him. His celebrity and wealth did not directly affect us. But today, Donald Trump has a great influence over all our lives. And that has led to obsession.
The president has altered American history in a dramatic way.
First, he put the brakes on Barack Obama’s “one world” vision, where the USA leads but does not dominate global events. Mr. Trump obliterated that in his first term, promoting America’s “greatness” and steamrolling those who oppose his concept.
Like the far left.
President Trump also directly attacked “equity,” the belief that economic opportunity must consider skin color and gender.
That further alienated liberal Americans and the entire Democratic Party. No common ground.
Then the crusher. Joe Biden’s four-year run damaged America in profound ways: failure to uphold immigration laws, loss of power abroad, and running up a record federal debt with little to show for it.
Biden and the hapless Kamala Harris pretty much handed Trump a second term.
The 2024 election infuriated millions of Americans, leading to an unhealthy quest to damage Donald Trump and his supporters. That political compulsion is not unique. Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy lost their lives because of a hateful obsession. President Trump came within an inch of following them.
Unlike Abe and, to a lesser extent, JFK, Donald Trump makes no attempt to ignore the criticism that is a constant in his life.
In fact, he energetically attacks it in vivid ways. Armed with a vast social media reach, the president unleashes hell on his critics, thereby elevating the rancor but also sending a stark message to his millions of supporters: I am not going to take the assaults quietly.
And that confrontational style has created a pro-Trump obsession among those Americans who revere him.
Let me ask you some questions. A few days ago, the rabidly anti-Trump New York Times ran an article saying the president’s age is catching up with him.
The piece, dominated by anonymous sources as usual, was nonsense. I know this because I frequently deal with the White House at the highest level. Mr. Trump works almost nonstop. Just like Lincoln did. His much younger staff struggles to keep up with him.
So, after The Times story appeared, the President lashed the paper and the reporters involved. Legitimate?
How about New York Attorney General Leticia James? She campaigned on bringing Trump down and then used her office to attack him and his family in court. The beefs were low level and designed to inflict as much public damage as possible.
After being reelected the second time, the President learned that Ms. James allegedly signed a phony mortgage document in order to save money. Would you go after her?
Then there’s former FBI chief James Comey, who used a bogus scenario ginned up by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign to illegally spy on the Trump organization. Evidence suggests that Comey lied to a congressional committee about aspects of the Russian Collusion case.
Would you hold Comey to account? Or let it go?
As a person who has been viciously attacked for almost 30 years, I understand the anger Donald Trump harbors. I saw the damage done to my family. And the assaults on the Trumps make my experience look like “The Sound of Music.”
Therefore, the president’s pushback does not bother me. Dishonest ideologues deserve to be confronted no matter what side they are on. Retribution is different than revenge.
My obsession is strengthening the lives of all honest Americans. I believe Donald Trump, whether you like his style or not, is trying to do that. Just his record overseas proves my point. Hostages released, wars averted, favorable trade deals to bolster the U.S. economy.
The president has three more years to establish his historical legacy. He is striving for Mount Rushmore status and that will cause the emotional obsession surrounding him to become even more intense.
The cliche is “fasten your seat belt.”
But there isn’t a seat belt in the world that can contain this man. Is there?
