And We Are All His Apprentices Now
Unlike typical TomDispatch articles, this one won’t be divided into sections for a straightforward reason: it revolves entirely around Donald J. Trump, a figure in this bizarre era who never seems to get a moment’s respite.
With that in mind, here’s some advice: avoid aging if you can. For many years, I managed to do just that, but those days are long behind me, and now I find myself steadily growing older. In fact, I am less than two years senior to Donald J. Trump. Born on July 20, 1944, during the ongoing World War II, I precede him who arrived on June 14, 1946, in the brief peacetime before the frosty tension of the Cold War with the Soviet Union took hold.
Let me add this: keeping the TomDispatch website running decently amid this ever more perplexing, Trump-dominated global and national landscape is already a tall order for me. Imagining the 80-year-old President of the United States—who still has over two and a half years left in office—grappling with a world seemingly unraveling at the seams? That’s beyond my comprehension. I couldn’t picture it for Joe Biden either, who left office at an impressive 82 years and 61 days, and who would still be younger than Trump on January 20, 2029, if he serves his full term. Both of these men would outlive the oldest Roman Emperor, Gordian I, who held power only briefly at age 81.
It’s no surprise that Donald Trump stands as the oldest president ever sworn in (twice!), marking him as a record-setter in his own peculiar way. Yet, should you have missed it, his peculiar behavior is becoming increasingly frequent and stranger by the day. After all, how many presidents in this country’s history have mistaken themselves for—or perhaps confused themselves with—Jesus Christ? Ah, wait—the president himself clarified that the image wasn’t Jesus but, as he insisted, a lookalike medical doctor. (“I thought it was me as a doctor,” he claimed. “Only the fake news could come up with that.”)
Simultaneously, in true unpredictable fashion, “our” president lashed out at Leo, the youthful American pope of 70, labeling him “WEAK on crime” and accusing him of “catering to the Radical Left.” On top of that, Trump shared a digitally altered photo showing himself embraced by (guess who?) Jesus. In response, Leo rightly condemned a world “ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” a category seemingly including Trump himself.
As the world’s leading imperial power—historically the only one to exert widespread global control in its prime—this nation too is visibly aging and, in its own paradoxical way, declining, as all great empires inevitably do. That was a lengthy sentence from an old fellow, but when it comes to Donald J. Trump’s world, you can’t help but deal with complexity—or perhaps confusion. By reelecting him in 2024, 49.8% of voters consciously embraced an extraordinary form of imperial aging.
Unsurprisingly, Trump’s approval ratings are plunging toward historic lows. While I draft this, only 31% of Americans support his economic management. (One might wonder why it isn’t even lower.) Simultaneously, Vice President J.D. Vance faces record disapproval numbers.
Donald Trump has epitomized unpredictability throughout his political life, but today his middle name might well be “aging unpredictability.” Recall the president who once opposed “warmongers and America-last globalists” and promised to remove them in his second term? Remember the leader committed to “turning the page forever on those foolish, stupid days of never-ending wars”? Now, reflect on the reality of his escalated conflict with Iran, which has shattered any hope of peace and brought destruction. But that’s just the current chapter. In this era dominated by an elderly Donald Trump, no one can predict what lies ahead—not even “our” president.
(Without breaks, I’m already out of breath, but truly, how can anyone rest when Trump’s in focus?)
The most disheartening reality, though (besides the grim nature of it all and how it threatens to drag us into literal hell) is that the U.S. military, which “the peace president” is eager to increase with an **extra $500 billion** installment (no mistake here), boosting the Pentagon’s budget by nearly 50%, still wields unmatched capacity to unleash devastation unparalleled among waning empires. (And this doesn’t even factor in the vast nuclear arsenal.)
So here is the stark truth: within the next two and a half years—unless he collapses suddenly or somehow extends his hold on power (recall his ominous query last year in Iowa, which he won three times, “Should we do it a fourth time?”)—Donald Trump could very well drag not only this nation but the entire world down with him. Better catch another breath!
And I’m not only referring to his ability (if we dare call it that) to join with allies like Israel in transforming regions into war-torn hellscapes. Consider also the looming climate catastrophe, compounded by a president who has dismissed it as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and a “green scam,” while proceeding to push the planet inexorably closer to a reckoning heat. Keep in mind, the U.S. military remains the largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases on Earth, even at rest.
It still bewilders me that nearly half of American voters have placed their trust in such a clearly disturbed elderly man once more, a figure bent on crushing renewable energy and possibly dragging the world to disaster a second time. It’s truly bizarre (or maybe disturbingly predictable) that the two eldest presidents in our nation’s history, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, have reigned consecutively over the past decade, mirroring a country—and a planet—that are themselves visibly aging and potentially fading with alarming speed.
Having witnessed 15 presidents throughout my life (not even counting Trump’s second tenure), I can say that he is distinctly unparalleled in the most negative way imaginable. It’s ironic that a swindler of his caliber might turn out to be the greatest deception ever inflicted upon our planet and possibly its undoing. Whether we like it or not, we all appear to have become his students.
Consider also that the acts of waging war and “unleashing” more coal, oil, and natural gas extraction seem to be his defining features during this second term—despite the fact his conflict with Iran has suddenly constrained global oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz and inadvertently damaged major Middle Eastern oil producers.
(If only I could insert a section break here to catch my breath—this old writer is running out of steam facing such a world and such a presidency!)
Back in my younger years, under John F. Kennedy amid Cold War tensions, if anyone had tried to describe Donald Trump’s reality, I would have dismissed it as madness and the worst kind of fiction. Is there any doubt that President Trump is among the worst products of a planet in deep crisis?
I almost wanted to write “fictional creations.” If only this were a dystopian novel and Trump a mad fictional character, it would be a bizarre but thrilling story. Such a wild scenario might once have been read as a dark comedy.
If only that were true…
But when a large portion of a nation’s voters turn such fiction into reality—twice—you realize something truly is amiss on Planet Earth.
In a way, Donald Trump embodies the tired aftermath of decades of American imperial wars—from Korea to Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Iran (not to mention others too numerous to recount). By reelecting a leader who dismisses climate change as the “greatest con job ever perpetuated” and a “green new scam,” we are clearly locking ourselves into what might be called World War III: a total war against Earth itself.
Just typing “Donald Trump, climate change” into any search engine brings an avalanche of unsettling stories. Currently, a report by Maxine Joselow of the New York Times stands out, titled “Climate Change Denial Sees a Resurgence in Trump’s Washington”. It begins bluntly:
“Climate change is a hoax perpetrated by ‘leftist politicians.’ Fossil fuels are the greenest energy sources. More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be harmless. These were some of the false claims made at a conference on Wednesday held by groups that reject the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. What might have seemed like a fringe event in years past this time boasted a prominent keynote speaker: Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and one of President Trump’s possible choices for the next attorney general.”
Try telling that to folks in New York City, who recently endured record-setting 90-degree heat in July weather during early April. It’s truly strange that despite mounting evidence of humanity’s role in turning the planet into a fossil-fueled oven, nearly half of the population reelects a president who makes denial of climate change sound downright mild.
Of all the things Trump has failed to do, his most consistent—and frightening—effort has been to block or dismantle renewable energy initiatives that might cool our warming world. Despite his frequent scattershot behavior, he has maintained an unwavering focus on halting wind and solar developments, while expanding fossil fuel projects. This includes opening over a billion offshore acres for drilling and paying a French firm nearly a billion dollars to forgo two planned wind farms and instead invest in domestic oil and gas operations.
It’s truly dystopian. Donald Trump epitomizes a real-time, full-scale nightmare unfolding before our eyes.
Before I conclude, I must catch my breath and add the missing section heading:
The Hothouse President on a Planet Going to Hell
[And yes, while this ends the piece, it by no means ends the nightmare we endure.]
Original article: tomdispatch.com
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