President Donald Trump has gone from “showman” to “strongman” and is becoming more hawkish and dangerous, according to The Guardian’s Washington D.C. bureau chief, David Smith.
Last week, Trump brought a military parade to the streets of Washington, D.C. Yet, Smith believes it could also be seen as “more than just an authoritarian ego trip. It was a show of strength and a statement of intent.”
The intent came “exactly a week later” when Trump (the strongman) “ordered the biggest US military intervention in decades as more than 125 aircraft and 75 weapons – including 14 bunker-busting bombs – struck three Iranian nuclear sites.”
Trump may have called it a “spectacular military success,” but it’s not yet known how damaged the nuclear sites actually are.
During his time as head of the D.C. bureau, Smith has observed that Trump is two lights, “there is Dove Trump and Hawk Trump.”
Dove Trump is the one who calls for peace, calling on Iran to “agree to end this war," while "Hawk Trump looks familiar enough to any student of US foreign adventurism.”
The bureau chief recalled several different military actions Trump took during his first term, including the cruise missile strike in Syria and the drone strike of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani, as examples of “hawk Trump.”
“The latter would allow Trump and his army of loyalists to declare victory,” Smith said. “The former would give him potential for a ‘rally around the flag’ effect that puts Democrats in a bind.”
Smith added, “Nothing suits an authoritarian better than an external threat.”
“The Trump who threw a birthday parade and used the military like a prop invited ridicule,” Smith said. “The Trump who deploys troops to the streets of Los Angeles and drops bombs on Iran is altogether more dangerous.”
He later added, “Exit the showman. Enter the strongman.”