So dumb, it can’t possibly be true…

Some of Trump’s shifting policy positions seem to make so little sense, I find it hard to believe they are genuine. One example was the Operation “Rough Rider” back in March, when he ordered the bombing of Yemen, “like nobody’s ever seen before,” of course. The operation’s objective was to disable Ansarallah’s obstruction of maritime traffic through the Red Sea. In that, it was basically the same operation as the “Prosperity Guardian.”

Operation Prosperity Guardian kicked off in December 2023, it is ongoing to this day, and it never achieved its objectives. Doing more of the same seemed too dumb to make any discernible sense, so I couldn’t help but wonder whether Trump ordered that operation for reasons other than what was publicly disclosed, but I can only guess at what those reasons were. …

Trump’s Sport of Kings

The particularly fascinating part of my discussion with E. M. Burligame was in his perspective on Donald Trump and his role in the system. As he put it, Trump is playing the “Sport of Kings,” which unfolds above the “Great Game.” The Great Game would be the domain of the “managerial class”: the statesmen, diplomats, military leaders, intelligence networks, media, etc. It entails fields like economics, trade, finance, politics, geostrategy and warfare.

What E. M. Burlingame called the Sport of Kings entails managing the managerial class: controlling those who run the Great Game without getting killed, overthrown, or having one’s family destroyed, compromised, or drawn into traps set by your adversaries. The risk for “kings” is that, if anyone close to power could articulate the case that the king is making bad decisions and failing at his mission, they will maneuver to sideline or eliminate him.

The king is especially vulnerable to those who are nearest to him and for that reason, much of what the king must do on a continuous basis amounts to very tough tests of loyalty. E. M. believes that Trump is indeed playing the Sport of Kings, but that this is lost on the public in “democratic” West as we no longer recognize the true nature of the relationship between the people and their princes. He thought that among today’s leaders only a few are adept at the Sport of Kings and named Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban (Hungary) and Aleksandar Vučić (Serbia). …

The ultimate battle against the global financier class

Ms. Kokinda is very active in the Michigan Republican party and shared something Donald Trump said at an event where she was present: he called on the attendees to join him in what he said would be the ultimate battle against the global financier class. Kokinda shared another few stories suggesting that Trump understands the layout of the fault lines and really does appear to be playing the Sport of Kings.

For example, she pointed out that in a recent cabinet meeting, Trump deliberately and repeatedly referred to US adversaries as “our so-called enemies,” and “people who are perceived to be our enemies.” My discussion with Susan Kokinda is linked above. The full conversation with EM Burligame, which ran about 80 min. is available on X, at this link. Whatever the naked truth of the matter is, it would appear that we really are living in an extraordinarily interesting time.

If Trump really is playing the Sport of Kings, and doing it skilfully, rather than being lost at sea, we should expect many unexpected surprises through the rest of his term in office, unless it is somehow cut short. …

Gangster, not philosopher

In light of all this, I find it hard to take Donald Trump at face value. I believe that he probably understands a lot more than he lets on, that the shallowness - if not the vulgarity - of his public and social media statements are part of the Vincent Gigante-like deception, and that the policy positions of his government are only seemingly shifting with the political winds of the day.

As E. M. Burlingame put it during our conversation, to successfully negotiate the political challenges before him, Trump does not need to be a sage or a great philosopher. Instead, he needs to be a gangster. At least, he needs to be comfortable with that mindset, and that much does appear to be the case.