Donald Trump has always exploited systems as means to and end. Whether by using bankruptcy to stiff workers thereby creating higher profits or by using a court settlement to avoid being officially deemed a racist. In one case Donald Trump enjoyed the privilege of generating wealth without adding to the material worth of an endeavor and in the other he got to not be racist without actually rejecting racism. It is a ubiquitous trait of America’s privileged class.
Given Donald Trump’s disposition towards actually accomplishing things versus using privilege to force a desired result, I fear that he may easily claim a 2020 victory in the same manner. If Donald Trump did a 180 on his policies suppressing the economy, quashing the Stock Market, driving America into a recession and straining tensions with our allies, America’s condition would immediately reverse thereby launching the economy into prosperous normality.
The Stock Market seems to be so strong that it rebounds every time Trump or China announce something destructive and it’s not as if each caustic blow generates a supplemental industry to compensate, rather America is simply that strong. This is the strength that Presidents commandeer to drive America upward but Trump sacrifices a large portion of it to his ego and to satisfy his base’s racial and status insecurities. This base doesn’t seem too interested in anything more than Trump remaining President and his followers seem to rationalize any of his actions into a positive. Fox News, for instance, still interprets Trump’s missteps as strategy when he’s really just reacting emotionally. They wonder what his overall plan is as if Donald Trump has ever demonstrated an ability to think big-picture or long-term.
Were Trump to resume normal relations with China, reinstate the Iranian Nuclear Deal and remarginalize North Korea, his followers wouldn’t realize he’s simply backing off his foolish agenda but more importantly, the Market would surge to where it would have been had he never crippled it with his foolish, ego-driven Presidency. It would be similar to squeezing a water hose and after the pressure builds up, releasing it and bragging that you’re providing more water than before.