I pause for the first time after an extraordinary few weeks.
It’s time to reflect on what has been, what could have been, and what could be yet to come.
The central point of the fortnight was the shooting. That moment, shortly after 6 p.m. last Saturday, when phones would have rang with automated alerts around the world: “Shots fired at Trump rally.”
I was at home in Washington DC (it immediately became one of those ‘where were you’ moments) and I happened to have the TV on.
Within six hours, with my DC team, I was standing next to a field in Butler, Pennsylvania, yards from where someone had come within half an inch of killing. donald trump.
Biden’s moment in NATO
The previous week had been quite extraordinary. The largest summit of its kind in 30 years in Washington: NATO leaders (and a few others too) gather to show that they are united, relevant and still led by the global power: the United States.
Unsurprisingly, the issue of American leadership was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. president bidenThe age and possible return of former President Trump.
As Joe Biden wandered around the summit, leading it, yes, but not with energetic aplomb, diplomats and their principles silently wondered what November would be like.
NATO and “the West” will be different if Trump wins in November.
Even if the existentialist doomsayers are wrong, there is no doubt that Trump 2:0 will fundamentally change things.
The gradual realignment towards Europe, the demand that Europe look after its own backyard, will become a brutal change. The “all for one” principle of Article 5 may not be worth the paper it is written on. The question then: what is NATO for?
That was the central theme of the summit. And then the predictable happened. President Biden had a moment.
There was a gasp in the huge Washington press center as the American president said: “Now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has both courage and determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
He followed it up, in his decisive press conference, minutes later, referring to “Vice President Trump.”
Everyone I talk to from outside the news orbit asks me the same thing: “How long will it last?”
They assume I have some kind of inside information. The truth is that Biden’s circle is small and shrinking. Family and assistants, so close that they could very well be family.
Donald Trump standing after being shot in the ear. Photo: AP
The brush with the bullet
Then came Butler. The brush with the bullet. The news agenda changed. Biden and his era forgotten for a moment. Someone had just tried to kill Trump. And they almost did it.
What if they had? It’s not really worth thinking about for a country that is already so divided.
But the story was not just the attempt to kill Donald Trump. It was the remarkable way he responded.
At that point, “Wait, wait, wait,” he told his Secret Service agents as they tried to remove him from the stage.
The master of the show had almost died and he still knew exactly what he had to do.
The fist was raised. The mouth moved. “Fight fight Fight”. It was absolutely extraordinary. Definitive and iconic, immediately.
It was the script for the movie that no one needs to write, because in America it really happened.
It propelled him to the next moment of this remarkable fortnight: Milwaukee and the Republican National Convention.
Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. Photo: Reuters
The Republican National Convention
The event immediately took on a completely new tone.
All eyes and ears were on Donald Trump. Would he be a different man after this near-death experience?
Well, first it turned out that the necessary ear bandaging was a charitable branding masterstroke.
Throughout the huge convention venue, his fans wore their own bandages over their right ears.
The night of his speech was almost disconcerting.
Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. Photo: AP
There was rock star status at this signature GOP event for a divisive convicted felon who had lost the last election and had been written off as a failure in the midterms just two years ago.
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It was an all-American show, at least for this whole part of the United States.
There was a wrestler, there was a prayer, a rock star and the re-emergence of the wife not seen in so long.
Melania Trump appeared with the help of Beethoven. It was strange; Almost a fairy tale fantasy. Apt maybe.
Honestly, the buildup really went through the looking glass; to a world where Donald Trump is king.
The vibe felt almost hallucinogenic. And for all the talk about a moderate and humiliated Trump, yes, maybe there was a little less rhetoric, a little more humility.
But in the end, when he deviated from the autocue, it was the same rhythm, the same speech, the same man. He was also low on energy and lacked substance. But the crowd didn’t seem to care.
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It didn’t seem like a Republican Party event. Now it’s the Trump Party. And marked so much.
I didn’t see many members of the Republican old guard. But maybe it’s more revealing? I didn’t see any members of Donald Trump’s latest White House team. That says a lot.
But before I could think about it any further, the pendulum swung again.
Let’s go back to Biden. More of his own call to resign. It has precipitated an unprecedented crisis in his own party. It is notable.
I’m getting on a plane right now. I wonder if he will still be the candidate when he arrives.
Crazy times in America and this is just the prologue.
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