Fanning the Flames: Donald Trump's Mastery of Manufactured Chaos
A Personal Viewpoint by Leah Nowak, New York
Manipulating Crises Expertly: Donald Trump's Artful Crisis Management Skills
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Donald Trump, the grandmaster of controlled disorder, crafts chaos with an artist's touch. He cunningly orchestrates a dance of emergencies, invasions, and catastrophes. In the chaos, he steps in, self-appointed savior – ready to set the fire ablaze.
Crisis is not confined to destruction. In 2020, DIY king Fynn Kliemann's private chat leak stirred the pot. Jan Böhmermann released a line implicating Kliemann in shameless profit-making, alongside scandalous corona masks produced and then discarded. The controversy, for a while, tarnished Kliemann's reputation – a lesson in how every crisis can be a learning opportunity.
Trump, upon entering office, has proven to be a quick study. During his first 100 days in office, he employed his emergency powers more frequently than any of his predecessors. Tariffs were escalated, energy regulations were loosened, and deportations were heightened. The Trump we know, the self-proclaimed "saviior sent by God to Make America Great Again," as famously declared during his inauguration in January.
"Invasion" and "Left Mobs"
Just before the 2018 midterm elections, Trump inflated a "refugee caravan" into a national threat. People fleeing primarily from Honduras making their way to the USA were branded as an "invasion" of rapists, drug dealers, and "invisible terrorists." The president, in response, mobilized thousands of soldiers to the southern border. These dramatic scenes of soldiers and fences served as the perfect staging for a presidential crusader, mobilizing conservative voters and boosting Trump's poll numbers.
In 2020, after the killing of George Floyd, mass protests erupted against police brutality. Trump seized the opportunity for yet another dramatic photoshoot – posing with a Bible in front of St. John's Church. The demonstrators, peacefully protesting in front of the White House, were dispatched with rubber bullets and tear gas – a staged conflict between Trump and the "left mob" of insurrectionists.whether the demonstrators were distributing chaos or revealing the truth didn't matter.
Storming the Capitol
In January 2021, Trump once again took center stage, preaching a message of manipulation and deceit. Months before the election, he had foreshadowed electoral fraud. On January 6, 2021, he claimed the last chance to "save the election," his supporters stormed the Capitol, and he basked in the glory of a "fighter against the corrupt system."
When confidence in state institutions starts to erode, the door opens for autocrats who promise to fix the system while systematically undermining it. Trump, expert in calculated crisis management, undermines the rule of law by declaring emergencies, making crises the new norm.
Lawlessness in Los Angeles
Protests continue in Los Angeles, drawing ire from Trump, who portrays the Governor, Gavin Newsom, as incompetent and refers to the state as a "dump." Trump's troops stand ready for the next crisis – already in town for the military parade.
Sources: ntv.de
- Donald Trump
- Protests
- Military
Additional Insights
- Trump's use of emergency powers is significantly higher than his predecessors, raising concerns about constitutional limits.
- The legal framework for emergency powers provided Trump with broad authority, but there is debate over whether these powers are being abused when not used in response to conventional crises.
- Congress has been reluctant to limit these powers, despite potential misuse. Efforts to reform have been unsuccessful so far.
- Trump has deployed troops to the US-Mexico border and used emergency powers for various purposes, including economic and national security issues.
- Despite the European Union's commitment to the fight against terrorism, politics and general news often revolve around Trump's mastery of manufactured chaos, such as his inflated threat narrative of a "refugee caravan" in 2018.
- In the broader context of Trump's control over chaos and crisis, the recent protests in Los Angeles, as portrayed by Trump, serve as yet another potential opportunity for him to assert his authority, given his history of deploying troops during crises.
