TRUMP (AGAIN) : DANCING WITH THE BLUFF.

After six months of Trump presidency, America has already fallen prey to a hybrid of civil/cultural warfare. This president is not an ideologue, since he is not interested in political theory or in a given value system. He does not try to reshape society or priorities following an intelligent model. He only needs to keep his support system content by stoking frustration against what is perceived as biased, un-American and "foreign". Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon are supposed to dress up this populist "feel" for the larger media consumption. Jeff Sessions has the task to translate this rather primitive mindset into legal terms.

The Trump base resents the scope of the First Amendment and any infringement on the Second Amendment. It is pro-coal, pro-life against climate change, anti- secular, anti-inclusive, anti-immigration, anti-free trade, and one can go on. This vocal minority is rock solid and is the key to winning the electoral college. Hence Trump is not as much looking to enlarge his electoral slate as he is committed to holding on to the base which helped him to overcome a defeat in numbers (3m) through the loophole of the electoral college.

The US is now led by a minority which got the White House through some form of a coup. Now one can see the logical consequences of this dubious path to power. The press is under attack, past progressive advances are rolled back, the opposition is being lambasted as out of touch with the common man and the normal separation and independence of branches of government is blurred. America was the country on the move, be it for work and ideas. It is being set back on a political and economical dead end. True, Wall Street is booming (because of deregulation mostly) but Main Street is closing and the mine workers are invited to be the canaries in the mine again, rather than being encouraged to meet the skills and opportunities of tomorrow. Worldwide, America is in retreat where it is needed (climate, trade, Asia, Europe, Africa) and overbearing where it shouldn't (Iran, North Korea, Middle East).

This presidency is snubbed by most abroad and by rational commentators at home. The nationalistic background music coming out of this White House is in reality totally un-American, giving that this remains a country of immigrants and that the United States have always been able to push back against isolationism (which is different from nationalism). The downgrading or deconstruction of the State Department and the hostage-taking of Justice, Education, Energy, Environment (use of Federal lands) are objective indicators of a power grab which has only one goal:  the hijacking of a second presidential term over the ruins of the former American saga.

This might sound over pessimistic but the facts are clear. The concerted efforts of the Trump administration to change the political vocabulary are working (see the "fake news" impact, the new "Trump" news oulet, the multiplicative effect of preventive lies that contradict one another in succession...the president's lies can fill an encyclopedia). This guerrilla appears often misguided but there is a coherence in this madness. The antics in the administration are part vulgar, part entertaining, part deliberate. Trump will not allow to be dislodged or erased, be it for a day. His base loves it. The majority of Americans loathe it, but guess who is coming for dinner?

The Democrats had better consider a review both of message and messenger if they want to take political advantage from what will be a colossal Trump hangover after two or four years. This great deceiver was, after all, a tabloid and cable entertainer. He has many tricks up his sleeve and continues to defy Republicans who are spineless for the most part and Democrats who remain clueless . For now Trump can only fall prey to Trump, be it miscalculating (N. Korea) or going for one bankruptcy (the Russia probe) too far.