Donald Trump has promoted a column in the Washington Post warning of an inevitable “Trump dictatorship” if he is re-elected in 2024.
Trump, who remains about 30 to 40 points ahead of the rest of the Republican Party's primary field, “refuted” a message from Republican Congressman Cory Mills that included the link to Robert Kagan's essay.
Mills, a representative from Trump's adopted country of Florida, wrote: “For months, the radical left and never-Trumpers have been trying to become president. Trump couldn't win a general election. They tried to bring numerous charges and false accusations to get him off the ballot.
“Now it is clear that Americans from all walks of life, and not from any particular socio-economic background, staunchly support Donald J. Trump.”
Mills' post went on to say that Americans are tired of the results of the “failed Biden administration,” and want the “economy Trump has created, affordable living conditions, safety back in our communities, peace back through a strong foreign policy that all war, and an America-first driven agenda.”
The presumptive GOP nominee's promotion of the article appears to be the latest signal he is sending that this campaign is being waged far beyond the bounds of established DC opinions and beliefs.
Trump on Monday “refuted” a Washington Post report that called him a dictator
In the lengthy Washington Post piece, Robert Kagan lays out his argument that Trump is well on his way to becoming the Republican nominee for president and has a good chance of beating Joe Biden in November.
He says Trump could become the most powerful president in US history during his second term after defeating two impeachments and filing four indictments, which have only boosted Republican Party support.
Kagan also believes that Trump – who can only serve one term after previously serving as president from 2017 to 2021 – could also defy that convention and stay in office for as long as he sees fit.
“The idea that he is unelectable in the general election is nonsense — he is tied or ahead of President Biden in the latest polls — depriving other Republican challengers of their own raison d'être,” he wrote.
Right now, Trump is still about 30 to 40 points ahead of his nearest Republican competitor in the polls, and is ahead of Biden by several points in many general elections.
If that happens, Kagan writes, Trump will be in a comfortable position to thwart all the checks and balances built into the US government and potentially establish himself as supreme leader.
“Like Caesar, Trump wields power that transcends the laws and institutions of government, based on the unwavering personal loyalty of his army of followers,” Kagan writes of Trump as he argues that the former president's plethora of legal troubles are not a will be effective blocks. against his political rise.
Robert Kagan makes the case for the strength of Trump's power and what could happen if he ends up back in the White House
He continues: “The most likely outcome of the trials will be to demonstrate the inability of our justice system to restrain someone like Trump and, for that matter, to reveal his impotence as a brake should he become president.”
He then states that if Trump comes to live in the White House for a second term, he could very well decide that he wants a third term.
He writes, “Trump may not want or need a third term, but if he decided he wanted one, as he has sometimes indicated, would the 22nd Amendment prevent him from being president for life more effectively than the Supreme Court , if he would? refuse to be blocked?'
“Why would anyone think that this amendment would be more sacred than any other part of the Constitution to a man like Trump, or perhaps more importantly, to his devoted supporters?” Kagan asks.
The author supports his argument by pointing to Trump's ruthlessly loyal base, which did not abandon him during the impeachment attempt, on January 6, or in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
That support is unwavering, Kagan argues, and will thus inevitably be followed by the Republican Party's donor class, even if many of them would have preferred a different candidate this time.
'All this will end once Trump wins Great Tuesday. Votes are the currency of power in our system, and money follows, and by those measures Trump is about to become far more powerful than he already is,” he wrote.
“The next phase is about people playing by the rules…Will corporate leaders endanger the interests of their shareholders just because they or their spouses hate Trump?”
Moreover, he suggests that any form of united opposition to Trump will falter if he wins again.
'In evolving dictatorships, the opposition is always weak and divided. That is what makes dictatorship possible in the first place,” he says.
There is no sufficient reason to hope that today's disorderly and dysfunctional opposition to Trump will suddenly become more unified and effective once Trump takes power. That's not how things work.'
And as the author himself admits, Trump has a track record to rely on that includes a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a major terror attack on Israel, runaway inflation, and the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
With such a record for Biden to defend, Kagan writes, “It's hard to defend Trump's unfitness to someone who doesn't already believe it.”
Ron DeSantis, who did well last week in a much-discussed debate against California Governor Gavin Newsom, remains about 30 points behind Trump in almost all polls.
Nikki Haley, whose campaign has soared in recent weeks, is still battling for a distant second place in the polls, behind Trump
Trump's loyal fan base will lead the Republican Party's donor class to a Trump nomination, Kagan says, and ultimately cheer him on to the White House
It's hard to defend Trump's unfitness to someone who doesn't already believe it,” the author writes.
For his part, Trump is chugging along in full campaign mode, having recently released his Agenda47 plan for the federal government.
In the plan, released on social media, Trump lays out his vision for flying cars, revamped American cities, a crackdown on teachers and the liberal media, as well as his usual refrain of targeting crime, immigration and the war on drugs and drugs. traditional culture.
The upcoming Iowa caucus will mark the first time the former president will face off against any of the other GOP politicians in the race. He is refusing to appear again at the upcoming fourth Republican presidential debate.