President Trump is many things — among them a great entertainer and a celebrity who relishes being a maximum disruptor. To his followers, he is magnetic and all-embracing. His words are not only accepted, but given a mystical and almost hypnotic, cult-like power, to be repeated and emulated.
But his greatest accomplishment may have been as a magician. The reason is in plain sight. Trump has “disappeared” America’s two major political parties.
The Republicans’ Grand Old Party or GOP has become instead the Trump’s Own Party. It has been purged of its past relics, ranging from the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to the retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and its other old hands. It is divorced now from its traditional conservative principles of internationalism, sensible spending, strong defense, and smaller but competent government.
The demolition of the U.S. Agency of International Development and the jettisoning of Ukraine in favor of Russia appears to be a rejection of internationalism and a return to Depression-era Republican isolationism.
As for rhetoric supporting “peace through strength,” a combination of proposed defense cuts and the damage Department of Government Efficiency will likely do to the Pentagon seemingly contradicts that. On its current course, DOGE will make government smaller, but not better. Weight-loss usually seems sensibly, but not if it is accomplished through amputation.
Meanwhile, proposed tax cuts are estimated to add trillions to the debt, despite DOGE’s misguided efforts.
On the other side, Trump has won a new working-class coalition constituency formerly loyal to Democrats. This has occurred with remarkable speed. Regarding the opposition party, the famous humorist Will Rogers once remarked that he was not a member of an organized political group because he was a Democrat. Showing his remarkable and magical skills, Trump has made the old Democratic Party disappear — quite a trick.
Trump’s brilliance was that he mobilized common sense and sent it off to do political battle. He was assisted by the loyal opposition, who came up the very edge of nominating former President Joe Biden for a second term. The June 27, 2024, presidential debate, catastrophic for Biden and Democrats, left them with Kamala Harris. Despite her remarkable effort over a short time, she lost.
The new TOP controls the White House, both branches of Congress, the Supreme Court and a substantial portion of the old Democratic constituency. Trump did that through common sense — ironically, with the MAGA wing of his party.
The 2024 presidential election was won and lost over the soaring costs of goods and inflation, chaos at the border and a rejection of what was seen as Democrats’ support of diversity, equity and inclusion — especially of transgender-identifying male athletes playing girl’s sports.
Trump has cleverly tricked or forced Democrats to assume positions that defy common sense because of their so-called “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” since their default response is to oppose in principle whatever Trump supports or proposes.
Trump’s congressional address last week could not have been more illustrative of this case of Democratic cognitive dissonance — taking action in direct opposition to their political interests.
Trump made that point glowering over Democrats in the chamber, daring them to applaud or react to ideas with which they agree. Instead, a group of women Democratic representatives dressed in pink in protest. A large number held up paddles with disparaging comments printed on them, as if they were attending an auction or a bingo game.
At various points, Trump introduced an American long held hostage in Russia and a 13-year-old cancer survivor who for his courage was made a member of the Secret Service. Democrats remained silent in both cases, immobilized by the inability to deal with common sense.
California Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), dressed as if he were the villain in a Jason Bourne film, was quickly escorted from the floor as the lone obnoxious protester. To many viewers, Democrats were seen as clowns or just foolish.
To be fair, how does the loyal opposition challenge common sense? Take the border. From a simple comparison, what appeared to be a running sore for the Biden administration, Trump has solved almost overnight. Illegal crossings are down over 90 percent.
Democrats voted against a House bill that would prevent transgender-identifying male athletes from playing girl’s sports. And progress in resolving the Gaza War under Trump far exceeds Biden’s.
As for Ukraine — well, we will see.
After six weeks, Trump has been more than dynamic. But his actions with tariffs, Ukraine, DOGE and tax cuts will not all have happy endings. At some stage, plans and policies will come undone. Some (myself included) predict many unhappy endings.
Still, for the moment, it is Trump 2, political parties 0.
Harlan Ullman Ph.D. is UPI’s Arnaud deBorchgrave Distinguished Columnist, a senior advisor at Washington D.C.’s Atlantic Council, the chairman of two private companies and the principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. He and David Richards are authors of the forthcoming book, “The Arc of Failure: Can Decisive Strategic Thinking Transform a Dangerous World.”
