The Trump Option

There will be many who will not like what I am about to say: the only sensible option to try to bring some order to the current unhinged world map is the return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2024. Those who saw in his America First policy a nationalist danger and the end of the international order coming out of World War II, will have realized that Joe Biden's alternative (America is Back) has led us to a much more insecure world (from Ukraine to Taiwan, Iran and Afghanistan), poorer (with power outages unheard of in the Western world and collapsed logistical lines of commerce) and leaderless (Biden is ignored by neither the Europeans, nor his neighbors in the southern Americas, nor the Gulf allies, let alone Putin or China).

Earlier this week, walking along the boardwalk in San Diego, a Democrat-dominated city in a Democrat-tyrannized state (California), I found one of those stores that only exist in the United States: a patriotic store. I have to admit that, once inside, and faced with the hippie appearance of the salesman, I was assailed by doubts, but with a "Do you like Trump?" he dispelled them all at once. Not only did he show me all the merchandise he stocked about Donald Trump (and even convinced me to take a cap signed by Trump himself on which the motto embroidered in the colors of the American flag says: "Trump 2024, Save America"), but he also gave me a lecture on why the former president should announce as soon as possible -and in any case before the November elections- his candidacy.

Yes, that salesman told me something that has stuck with me. "Those in the establishment still don't realize that the people, the average American, hate them; the citizens are tired of an essentially corrupt political system that has forgotten the individual and the good citizen; Trump would be an added value for the Republicans this November because, whatever is said about him, everyone knows that he is the only one who can stand up to a system that is devouring the America of always." The translation may have changed some of the words, but not the meaning.

The salesman was right: a University of Chicago survey of political attitudes released just this week showed that more than 60% of respondents were firmly convinced that they live under a corrupt and perverse system (and nearly 30% believe that at some point they will have to take up arms in defense of constitutional values). Two-thirds of Republicans are of this opinion, as are 51% of Democrats. I don't see current GOP leaders, such as Mitch MConnell, campaigning in November decrying the causes of this malaise. But I can see Trump doing so, just fine. And I am certain that, contrary to the media, all Democrats and lip service-only Republicans, the polarization and mobilization of the left against Trump has already peaked. Moreover, the mobilization of the Republican and nationalist right can only increase with him.

I don't see current GOP leaders, such as Mitch MConnell, campaigning in November decrying the causes of this malaise. But I can see Trump doing so, just fine.

Does this mean there are no other worthy candidates in the Republican ranks? Far from it. I, who travel frequently to Florida and have witnessed the evolution of its governor, would say that DeSantis is the best candidate for president... provided Trump decides not to run. Honestly, I don't see them competing in a primary where others, like Mike Pence, will stand up to their former boss to, in my humble opinion, be swept away by Hurricane Trump.

Despite his ouster from the White House in 2020, it has been proven that Trumpism is far from dead. Conservatives are very much alive in institutions as relevant as the Supreme Court, and in the street the followers of the Trump phenomenon continue waving their flags and showing themselves proud to be part of MAGA (Make America Great Again). No complexes. In a world where conservatives have given up the cultural battle and assume as inevitable the whole woke world and its implications, only Trump could continue his fight against the absurdity of these indentitarian, transgender, feminazi and dissolution of the great American nation. And with his nationalism, only he could inject some common sense into a West that has decided to commit suicide, by refusing to defend its borders, by repenting of its glorious History and by renouncing the values that have been its hallmarks for centuries.

Finally, those who believe that a DeSantis can generate less rejection among independents and moderate Democrats should remember that mobilization and violence come from the radical wing and the left. And that these anti-establishment people don't care what the conservative candidate's name is. They are not willing to accept anyone but their own leaders.

The polarization is served. The question is who mobilizes more of their own. And, for me, Trump wins hands down among Republicans.