Contributor: Trump has a gift for identifying America's problems (and making them worse)

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14 hours ago

Every now and then, the torrent of news serves up a grim little reminder: Maybe Donald Trump wasn't entirely wrong in his cultural critiques. Not because he's a prophet — God forbid — but because America has gone so far off the rails that his perspective starts to make a certain amount of sense.
That's the mood I've been in lately.
And no, I'm not just talking about the recent spate of stories about Joe Biden's cognitive decline and what many see as a cover-up. Nor am I talking about reports that Dems are spending $20 million to try to learn how to (re)connect with alienated American men who feel ignored and see the Democratic Party as too weak. Those are just subplots.
I'm talking about how President Trump — for all his bluster, baggage and baffling syntax — continues to speak to realities that polite society has decided are too ugly to discuss. Things like uncontrolled immigration, violent crime and foreign adversaries who laugh at perceived American weakness.
Consider the following, if only as case studies on why Trump's dark little worldview continues to resonate.
Exhibit A: Mohammed Sabry Soliman, the Egyptian national accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails during an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colo., had overstayed his visa and filed for asylum. It's not a good look for our immigration policy — as though we're importing our own pogroms.
Exhibit B: In Virginia, body-cam footage shows Jamal Wali — an Afghan who was an interpreter for U.S. forces — opening fire on police during a traffic stop and shouting that he should've joined the Taliban. Which raises the uncomfortable question: How thoroughly are we vetting the people we bring into this country?
Exhibit C: Omer Shem Tov, a recently freed Israeli hostage, told CNN that his captors suddenly treated him better after Trump won the 2024 election. It wasn't because they liked Trump, but because they were scared of him. Which, oddly enough, may have been a side effect of Trump's posturing to look tough.
Individually, these stories could be dismissed as one-offs. Together, they sketch a crude, uncomfortable truth: Trump's instincts — however vulgar — often land somewhere in the vicinity of prescient.
For example, the recent wave of attacks on Jewish Americans comes as the Trump administration is citing campus antisemitism as justification for deportations and cuts to college funding.
At the same time, Trump has blocked most refugees from entering America and recently pushed to end protections for Afghan interpreters and other wartime allies.
While many of us decry the lack of compassion and inhumanity inherent in these policies, Trump's message is caveman-simple: Fear works.
Even terrorists understand it. That's the whole point of 'peace through strength.' The bad guys get it. And, increasingly, so do voters.
To the taste-making class, these concerns might not matter much. But out in the real world — you know, where people lock their doors and pay their taxes — they're not theoretical. They're Tuesday.
Now, does this mean Trump's solutions are good? Legal? Morally defensible? No. He governs like a guy with a hammer who thinks everything is a nail. But, in the eyes of many Americans, at least he's swinging the damn thing. Meanwhile, Democrats look like they're waiting for permission to open their own toolbox.
This is the terrain Trump thrives on. He projects dominance — or at least the illusion of it — while his opponents are giving HR-executive vibes.
And here's the crazy part: Underneath the layers of narcissism, the carnival barking and the conspiracy-peddling, there are hints of greatness — a blueprint for serious leadership that addresses lingering, overlooked problems.
Sadly, it's one that Trump himself will never follow.
Imagine a version of him — stripped of the spite, grift and performative rage — who actually cared about governing. He'd fix the asylum system. Fund immigration judges to do proper vetting. Appoint competent people instead of family members and sycophants to run our intel and defense departments. Stop trying to undermine the rule of law. Speak in full sentences.
He could weed out truly dangerous elements, scare the hell out of our global enemies and still earn the respect of our friends and allies.
I could go on.
But that's fantasy talk. Like trying to teach a bear ballet — you'll waste your time and probably get mauled.
Because Trump doesn't want to govern. He wants to dominate. He wants spectacle. He wants the feud. The man's not interested in building — only demolishing.
It's the difference between being a strongman, a showman and a statesman. Trump knows how to be the first two. He has no use for the latter.
And that's the tragic comedy of it all. While liberals pretend the smoke isn't there, Trump sees the fire — and instead of reaching for a hose, he grabs a gas can.
Meanwhile, voters who are exhausted, scared and angry keep thinking, 'Well, at least he noticed the fire.'
Matt K. Lewis is the author of 'Filthy Rich Politicians' and 'Too Dumb to Fail.'
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.