It’s been over ten years since Donald Trump came down that escalator and said the thing that we’re not supposed to say – that illegal immigration is not an act of love, except in the most appalling figurative sense, that too many illegal aliens are criminals in other ways beyond just being illegal aliens, and that they should all go home – yet, apparently, the smart people have failed to pay any attention to him since. Again and again, he does things and triumphs, leaving them baffled. They really don’t understand Donald Trump, not in the least. It’s remarkable. This guy is entirely transparent. He does the same thing again and again and again. Yet, when he does the same thing again and again and again, the smart set – which includes Democrats, regime media folks (to the extent that is different), and even some alleged conservatives – is stunned, staggered, and baffled and draws all the wrong conclusions. Which is fine with me. I like it when my opponents get my side wrong.
What am I talking about in this particular case? This happens all the time, and there were a lot of cases of our betters not understanding Trump. Well, a few days ago, the President – I love hearing him called that as much as his opponents hate it – met with Zohran Mamdani, the communist mayor-elect of New York City, at the White House. The big shocker for people who aren’t paying attention and shouldn’t have been surprised was that Trump didn't act like a jerk to him. He played the gracious host. He was nice and polite, joking around, flattering, and generally not being aggressive or hostile to his guest. Well, Trump‘s critics were gravely disappointed. How could he not be aggressive and hostile to this guy?
Of course, Donald Trump is aggressive and hostile to people at appropriate times. And here, I’m talking about the seditionist Democrat vets and ridiculous CIA clerks, who try to pretend they are the equal of vets, who are encouraging dumb 23-year-old barracks lawyers to ruin their lives with a term in Leavenworth and a bad conduct discharge to provide Democrats some performance art propaganda. The smart set is mad aboutTrump‘s very hostile reaction to that seditious blue falconry. But they’re also mad that Trump was nice to Mamdani. Mean is bad, but nice is also bad. It’s really weird that they’re mad about Trump, no matter what he does or how he does it. You might conclude that this is a game Trump can’t win, except Trump isn't playing their game. He’s the undisputed champion of the world at doing what Trump does.
We know why they’re objecting to Trump. It’s because they don’t like Trump. But what’s their explanation, because they have to fake an explanation? Some of the critics actually asserted that Donald Trump is somehow sympathetic to Zohran Mamdani’s lefty politics. They actually took Trump's courtesy and flattery as manifestations of his actual beliefs rather than as part of his playing this Instagram amateur. The idea that somehow the goofy commie foreigner that the dummies in the Big Apple elected to accelerate the ruin of their city is going to convert Donald Trump to the joys of Marxism is so stupid that it pains me to even address it. But that’s what they think. They think that Donald Trump’s going to go socialist, and their evidence is that he didn’t punch Ugandan Che in the pinko’s piehole.
What the hell is wrong with these people? Do they not know anything about how Donald Trump works after all this time? Did they not internalize the things they have seen him do over the last decade? They have eyes but will not see. It’s remarkable. Is there anybody out there who actually believes that Donald Trump was doing anything but putting on a show with this guy? If they do, they’re dumb, and if they don’t, they think you’re dumb – this is the eternal question of American politics today.
So, what did Donald Trump win by not getting into a giant Scat Francisco sidewalk contest with the teen socialist heartthrob? He won by looking normal. Normal people out there don’t like politics. They don’t understand why pols have to hate each other in public. They like the idea that people on both sides of the aisle can shake hands and be friendly and polite. And Donald Trump gets it. Oh, he delivers the heat when he needs to. He knows how to own the libs. But he’s also a master of optics. He’s the king of public relations. And he has sensed that this is a moment to show unity, just like down the road, there’s going to be a moment to show Mamdani the Gucci loafer Trump‘s going to use to kick his butt.
Again, Trump is the undisputed champion of the world at this stuff, and he knew exactly what he was doing. He brought in a fresh, young, and popular Democrat ingenue, put him in a position as a supplicant – the guy looked like he was crawling to his elder for approval – and then acted measured, reasonable, and nice. Yeah, it was disappointing for a lot of the people who are disappointed in Trump, no matter what Trump does, but normal people probably took a look at this tableau and thought, “Good, it’s nice to see people talking about their differences rather than threatening to kill people.” Or, in the case of the Democrats’ perverted constituents, actually killing people.
Trump did the same thing with Putin, and it hasn’t worked yet. He did the same thing with the Little Rocket Man, and we haven’t gone to war with North Korea. He did the same thing with MBS, which made everybody mad because apparently this Third World potentate allegedly acted like a Third World potentate to some Third World jihadi supporter and we’re supposed to care so much that we toss away a major ally. Oh, by the way, here’s a hint from a guy who had to persuade people as a job – the fact that someone was a WaPo journalist does not make me more sympathetic to him. Just saying.
In any case, Trump is nice to people whom the smart set says we’re not supposed to be nice to. Keep in mind, this is the same smart set with an unbroken track record of foreign policy and other failures over the last few decades. Trump, on the other hand, is ending wars left and right, winning fights when he is drawn into them, and has just happened to create Middle East peace, which no one else was able to do. Trump is racking up triumph after triumph. Is his record perfect? No. He hasn’t solved the Ukraine War yet, though it’s kind of odd that solving the Ukraine War is America’s problem, just like every problem around the world is apparently America’s problem. In this case, he’s done an amazing job, and his critics have, well, completely screwed up everything they put their soft little paws on.
You might think people would learn from how Trump succeeds while being consistently underestimated, because it happens over and over again. They decree that he’s a fool, an amateur, and a clown, and he comes back and triumphs where they failed. Right now, we have a bunch of people doom-mongering about the economy. They’re absolutely sure Trump’s going to lose the midterms. I’m not sure he’s going to lose the midterms. He certainly could. But that’s not set in stone. This is the guy who brings in wins that we never imagined possible. He brings in wins seemingly out of the blue when we were told he’s doomed. Holy cow, he just dispatched Marjorie Taylor Greene; where did that come from? We were told that her narcissistic chimp-out was going to tear us apart. We’re not torn apart, but she’s hitting the bricks. We’re told we’re going to lose the redistricting fight. The Texas abomination just got stayed, and I wouldn’t want to be a Penceophilic femboy Fredocon Indiana state senator right now. If you are one of those geniuses who is surprised that he’s turned defeat into victory, all I can suggest is that you pay closer attention to how this guy works. You’ve had a decade to learn how this guy works. Maybe you should try paying attention to him instead of whining about him all the time.
Look, Donald Trump is a sui generis politician. There’s no one else like him, but he has patterns. He has habits. He has tactics, techniques, and procedures that he doesn’t bother to conceal. The guy’s totally transparent, yet he’s able to hide in plain sight. Why? To examine what he does is to take him seriously. To look at how he works is to concede that he’s not a fool, not a clown, not a hapless and feckless naif who somehow stumbles into victory after victory. They can’t treat him as somebody who’s an effective politician because that gives him credit and giving him credit is simply a bridge too far.
Their analysis is clouded by their hate, but that’s good. It gives him an advantage. When your opponents refuse to learn from you, you always have the element of surprise.
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