His statements are completely consistent with his approach to both his business and entertainment careers, which was to connect with people’s guts at the expense of their reason. In his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, Trump explained his modus operandi: “The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.”
There has been a tremendous amount of discussion about the “anger”and “frustration”of Trump’s supporters. But it’s not just anger. Tapping all of the passions, including avarice and lust, is the unifying theme of his career. And therein lies the problem.
.. One reason the framers designed the Electoral College, in fact, was so that the electors could put a stop to a candidate who rose to power by playing to the people’s prejudices at the expense of deliberation and education.
.. But consider an alternative hypothesis: Trump himself isn’t a creature of the passions; he’s instead strategically employing them as a means to his own ends.
Testy News Conference Exchange Puts Donald Trump’s Quirks on Display
It was Donald J. Trump at his neediest, pleading with the television anchor in front of him to acknowledge a poll that, he said, showed that Hispanics really do love him. “You saw that, right?” he asked. “Did you see it? Wait. Did you see it?”
.. But when a reporter from MSNBC, Kasie Hunt, spoke up for Mr. Ramos, asking Mr. Trump if he would let him return to the room, the candidate began to re-evaluate his heavy-handed approach. Mr. Ramos was allowed back in.
“Go ahead, Jorge,” he said, belying his earlier claim of not knowing Mr. Ramos.
This time, when Mr. Ramos questioned him, Mr. Trump showed new and sudden patience. His sarcasm eventually receded, his voice fell an octave, and a smile came over his face.
Donald Trump leaves indelible mark on Republicans
Alas, the cognoscenti are kidding themselves. US politics will not pick up where it left off. Even if Mr Trump becomes the first recorded human to be lifted skywards in rapture – the “end of days” scenario to which some of his fans subscribe – he will leave a visible mark on the Republican party.
.. The latest poll shows that only 8 per cent of Republican graduates support Mr Trump against 32 per cent of those without a degree. These are the angry swaths of America that feel left behind, belittled and insulted. They want to take their country back but cannot put their finger on what exactly they mean. For them it is evening in America. Nobody argues their case.
Then along comes Mr Trump. Foreigners may be tempted to see him as uniquely American. But he has his equivalents everywhere. Think of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy or even the UK’s Nigel Farage.
Bonfire of the Assets, With Trump Lighting Matches
The Wall Street Journal reported on July 30 that the “state-owned China Securities Finance Corporation has been spending up to 180 billion yuan a day ($29 billion) to try to stabilize stocks.” Since the Shanghai exchange has fallen sharply since then, the amount of money China burned trying to prop up already unrealistic valuations must be staggering.
.. As The Times reported on Aug. 6, “Following an order by President Vladimir V. Putin, officials threw huge piles of pork, tomatoes, peaches and cheese into landfills and garbage incinerators. The frenzy, remarkable even by the standards of Russia’s recent politicization of food supplies, was gleefully reported by Russian state television.” This is in a country where food prices have soared because of the collapse of the ruble.
.. Every era spews up a Joe McCarthy type who tries to thrive by dividing and frightening us, and today his name is Donald Trump.