Trump’s enduring grip on the American psyche

When Donald Trump took his final walk from the White House, boarded a helicopter and vanished into a cold sky, millions of Americans breathed a sigh of relief. With the former president retired to his Mara-Lago estate, they reasoned, they would no longer live in constant dread of new scandals or impulsive tweets.

Two years and two months later, his legal perils dominate headlines, Republicans define themselves in relation to him and he remains the favourite for the party’s nomination for next year’s presidential election.

Trump is impossible to ignore. His conduct before and during the January 6 insurrection was the subject of congressional hearings. He inserted himself into the midterm elections and declared his own presidential run.

He is also on the brink of becoming the first US president charged with a crime. A grand jury in New York is examining his involvement in a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about an alleged sexual encounter years earlier. Trump has denied the claim, insisted he did nothing wrong and assailed the investigation, led by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, as politically motivated.

With an indictment seemingly imminent, Trump used his Truth Social platform to predict his arrest last Tuesday and called for his supporters to protest. New York police erected security barricades outside the Manhattan criminal court as well as Bragg’s office. The day passed without an arrest, though the prospect reportedly helped Trump raise $1.5m in three days and he fired off a barrage of messages on Truth Social, saying Bragg was “doing the work of Anarchists and the Devil”.

Dozens of congressional Republicans who were in Orlando, Florida, to discuss the party’s legislative achievements found themselves talking about Trump and his potential indictment.

Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives, said: “I think you know in your heart of hearts that this is just political. And I think that’s what the rest of the country thinks. And we’re kind of tired of that.”

Potential rivals in the 2024 Republican primary were also forced to rush to Trump’s defence rather than risk alienating his base and forced to talk about him rather than set their own agendas. Political analysts suggest it will be hard for any of them to cut through the noise.

The hush money case is only the beginning: Trump is under scrutiny from special counsel Jack Smith for his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election and mishandling of classified documents after leaving office. In Georgia, a prosecutor has been investigating whether Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the election in that state.

Although Trump’s call for protests fell flat, the higher-stakes investigations are only likely to increase the potential for social unrest heading into the 2024 election. Last Thursday, he wrote on Truth Social: “Our country is being destroyed, as they tell us to be peaceful!”

There is little prospect of an end to media obsession with Trump given the way his dramas translate into ratings.

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center thinktank in Washington, said: “It’s extremely depressing that elements of the left want to keep scratching at the national scab. It takes two to tango and we definitely have a willing partner in this. Alvin Bragg does not have to bring this prosecution and yet he chooses to do so. Let’s apportion blame to all contributing actors.”

Trump’s enduring grip on the national psyche marks yet another break from his predecessors, who largely devoted their time to preserving their legacies through philanthropic work and presidential libraries. Although Barack Obama campaigns on behalf of Democrats before elections, he no longer drives news cycles.

Trump’s refusal to leave the stage did not surprise Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to Bill Clinton and biographer of Abraham Lincoln. “It’s entirely possible and even likely that Trump could be the Republican nominee and has a possibility of reentering the White House to, as he has promised, abrogate the constitution and the republic, destroy the western alliance and, in effect, rule as a dictator.”