What explains Trump

Iran war will end when Trump chooses. Question is when? Some say he’ll stop when petrol gets too pricey in US, others say when US casualties rise. All are counting on US midterms in Nov. They reckon Trump can’t alienate voters and risk a Democrat takeover of Congress. Perhaps, they haven’t listened to him carefully. Yes, Trump wants to win midterms, but not because he loves Republicans. His reason, as he’s said, is simply: “If we don’t win the midterms…they will find a reason to impeach me. I’ll get impeached.”

Everything Trump does is about himself. He promised never to drag US into another war, and bring petrol prices below $2 a gallon. On Friday, petrol averaged $3.3, but Trump isn’t bothered. “I don’t have any concern about it…if they rise, they rise.” Trump doesn’t care because, in the words of a famous psychiatrist, he is a solipsist. Unlike narcissists, who are self-obsessed but crave others’ approval, solipsists are the centre of their own universe. Without an external frame of reference, everything Trump does feels right to him. Insulting Zelenskyy and Ramaphosa, and his own Fed chief, planning a Greenland grab, slamming massive tariffs on every country, abducting the president of Venezuela, or killing the Ayatollah before declaring war.

Trump tests the limits of his powers daily, and is delighted. He warns Brazil to go easy on Bolsonaro, or pay 50% tariff. He threatens Argentinians to back Milei, or forget US assistance. Now he’s told Iran he must be “involved in the appointment” of its new leader. Has any other prez done this before? Trump also knows the president’s party almost never wins midterms – only 2 out of 20 times since WW2. That’s why he’s declared he’ll accept the result only if it’s “honest”, like he did in 2020. Meanwhile, he goes on Potusing like there’s no third term. There isn’t.

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