FLASH
Shkruar nga David Smith
Trump is like Nero playing the flute while Rome burned...
After lighting a fuse under global financial markets, Donald Trump moved to a golf course in Florida. A week later, having bowed to pressure to ease his trade tariffs, the US president continued to host the racing champions.
Trump spent his time between golf, lunches with donors, and outlandish statements like "this is a great time to get rich," even as the American economy is melting down.
It was a shocking confrontation that drew comparisons to the Emperor Nero, who played the flute while Rome burned, or to mad monarchs who lost touch with reality. It also provided a stark illustration of how Trump governs during his second, volatile and extreme presidency: erratically, with little regard for Congress, and often surrounded by courtiers who never agree with him.
" He's certainly fitting the caricature of being a mad king ," said Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist. " When you're playing golf while economic chaos is raging, at best you're completely out of touch. At worst, you're a sociopathic narcissist who doesn't care about anyone who's suffering. There's going to be a political price to pay for that eventually ," he added.
The day after “April Fools’ Day,” he declared a so-called “Liberation Day.” Against a backdrop of giant American flags in the White House Rose Garden, he announced sweeping tariffs, using a widely discredited formula to overturn decades of global trade order.
A day later, with markets suffering trillions of dollars in losses, Trump boarded Air Force One for Miami, Florida. He arrived at his Doral resort for a Saudi-funded LIV Golf event, in a golf cart driven by his son Eric Trump.
Trump woke up Friday at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat and a white polo shirt. His limousine glided down a palm-lined avenue before arriving at his golf club, where supporters cheered him on.
Trump stayed in Florida while four U.S. soldiers killed during a training exercise in Lithuania were evacuated. He chose to send Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to represent him. The president himself attended a candlelight dinner hosted by Maga Inc., a political organization allied with him, which reportedly paid $1 million.
Maggie Haberman, a Trump biographer and New York Times reporter, commented on CNN: " I think he stopped being interested in conventional optics a long time ago, and he's made it very clear throughout this presidency that he's going to do what he wants... "
On Saturday, Trump played at another golf course, in Jupiter, Florida, issuing an official announcement from the White House: " The President won his second match of the Seniors' Championship and advances to the next round to be held on Sunday ."
When Sunday came, the president played it safe, but when members of his cabinet clashed with political TV shows and offered conflicting signals, he declared he was open to negotiations.
On Tuesday, in a bow tie and tuxedo, Trump told a fundraising dinner in Washington: “I know what the hell I’m doing.” He claimed the tariffs were forcing world leaders to negotiate with him, boasting: “ I’m telling you, these countries are calling us, they’re kissing my ass. They’re dying to make a deal .”
But the next day, Trump closed his eyes. He posted on Truth Social that, while escalating tariffs on China, he would pause for 90 days on others, leaving room for negotiations. His bubble of wealth and power had been punctured. / Adapted from “Pamphlet” by “The Guardian”
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