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A Joker, not a King. [1]
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Date: 2025-01-26
Like many, I’ve been reading extensively about Trump’s intentions. But this framing misses the point.
We need to recognize that “intentionality,” like “truth,” means something entirely different to Trump than it does to the rest of us. While he’s adept at disrupting institutions, Trump fundamentally lacks the capacity to articulate, let alone envision, what should replace them. Does anyone seriously believe he read—or understood—any of the executive orders he signed?
We no longer have an Executive Branch; we have a court. In Trump’s world, you are either a contributor or a subject. Only the contributors—those who provide money or unquestioning personal loyalty—truly matter. The rest of us hold value only to the extent that we serve his interests or those of his court.
The implications of this are stark: in the short term, policy will bear at best an incidental relationship to the nation’s actual needs. For evidence, look no further than the appointment of our new Secretary of Defense. Policy will instead be shaped by the would-be nobles within Trump’s court, vying to demonstrate loyalty and secure whatever rights, privileges, or monopolies they can extract.
Meanwhile, his base will be distracted by cheap, ritualistic denunciations of so-called “enemies of the people” (the rest of us), while the elites in his court plunder unchecked.
Our job, as I see it, is to expose this dynamic clearly and consistently—not just to independent voters, but even to those who currently support him. The message is simple: Trump will betray everyone, including his own supporters, whenever it serves the interests of his court.
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