Melania and Donald Trump leave for the Christmas holidays
Washington:
An enraged Donald Trump took a helicopter off the White House lawn for one of the last times in his presidency on Wednesday, leaving Americans in chaos as a Christmas present.
The Republican was stationed with his wife Melania on vacation at their luxurious Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Since Marine One, the first couple must have had a magnificent view on a clear, wintry day of the White House, decorated in the manner of a chocolate box with Christmas wreaths and red ribbons on each window.
But with the clock ticking for Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, there won’t be many more chances to enjoy the experience.
And Trump, consumed by election conspiracy theories, abandoned by allies and determined to take his opponents with him, is not exactly in a good mood.
Crises engulf the man supporters call “disruptor-in-chief” (“president of chaos” for their critics).
Also, most of them are of your own creation:
– Attempting to reverse the outcome of the election.
– Unexpectedly refusing to sign a huge financial aid bill for Americans fighting the consequences of the coronavirus, insisting at the last minute that it be rewritten.
– Choosing to say nothing, rather than downplaying it, about what top officials and members of Congress describe as a devastating Russian cyber attack.
– I veto just before leaving for Florida the bill that finances the US military.
– Declare war on top members of your own party who dare to admit that Biden won.
Diminished figure
Yet for all his bluster, the larger-than-life showman who for four years kept the media, his party, and the entire country in slavery now has a diminished figure.
Typically, Marine One’s exit from the South Lawn of the White House has been Trump’s favorite setting for his flamboyant press conference / performing arts routine.
Showing off, improvising, entertaining and insulting, Trump loved nothing more than “helicopter talk” with journalists jostling to listen to the world’s biggest media star against the roar of an idle military helicopter.
But since losing the Nov.3 election and embarking on a desperate mission to reverse the outcome, Trump has all but disappeared from public engagements.
His last question-and-answer session with reporters was a grumpy Thanksgiving gathering on November 26.
Marine One’s once epic exits have come down to the cursory exercise of a man taking a trip to the airport. With the Covid-19 restrictions, only about a dozen journalists can attend the sessions anyway, which means that even if Trump decides to stop and speak, the old manic energy is gone.
Wednesday it just happened.
Officially scheduled meetings inside the White House, extremely rare since the election, take place off-camera, unlike before, when Trump routinely invited reporters.
Even Tuesday night’s explosive threat to reject Covid’s aid package was made in a pre-recorded video posted on Twitter, out of sight of the White House press corps.
Unhinged from ‘reality’?
Many explanations are being given for Trump’s extraordinary post-election behavior.
Fervent supporters say Trump is simply exercising the legal right to continue his claim, however far-fetched, that “IT WAS A PROPER CHOICE !!!” as tweeted on Tuesday.
Staunch critics, who cite a Trump ally’s speech to bring in the military for a repeat election, say he is a would-be dictator.
A less dramatic insight is that Trump is just following his salesman instincts. Determined to keep his brand alive after January, Trump is cynically doing what he does best: garnering attention, outraging the establishment and delighting his passionate base.
But this week, influential Trump-supporting televangelist Pat Robertson suggested an intriguing fourth option:
That Trump inhabits “an alternate reality” in which he really believes everything he says.
“It really does,” Robertson explained Monday on the Christian Broadcasting Network.
“People say, ‘Well, he lies about this, that and the other.’ But he’s not lying, “Robertson said.
“For him, that’s the truth.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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