Photographs by Damon Winter
Introduction by David French Mr. Winter is a staff photographer currently on assignment for Opinion. Mr. French is an Opinion Columnist.<\/p>\n
What do you see when you look at pictures of President Trump\u2019s cabinet?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re used to partisan disagreement about cabinet officials. Democrats are never going to be that impressed by a Republican cabinet (and vice versa), but as with so many things, the perception gap between Republicans and Democrats has become so vast, it\u2019s as if they inhabit different universes. <\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s critics \u2014 and I am one \u2014 look at the lineup and see, in essence, a group of people that bears far more resemblance to a collection of North Korean generals than it does to a traditional American cabinet. <\/p>\n
And for good reason. Trump\u2019s cabinet meetings often feature its members publicly showering the president with praise, sometimes in the most absurd terms. <\/p>\n
Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said in one cabinet meeting that Trump was \u201coverwhelmingly elected by the biggest majority.\u201d Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said, \u201cWhat you have assembled in your vision is a turning point and an inflection point in American history.\u201d Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said, \u201cWhat you\u2019re doing now I think is a great service to our country but ultimately to the world.\u201d <\/p>\n
There has been little indication that these cabinet members exercise any independent judgment. Instead, they conform to Trump\u2019s worldview and to Trump\u2019s whims.<\/p>\n
Rubio is among the worst offenders. Before Trump\u2019s rise, he developed a reputation as an independent strategic thinker, committed to America\u2019s global leadership. And now he\u2019s the caretaker of a shrinking State Department who has turned into Trump\u2019s willing accomplice as Trump undermines American credibility and destroys American alliances.<\/p>\n
But where Trump\u2019s critics see a wannabe dictator and his toadies, Trump\u2019s supporters see something else. They see a commander and his generals. They see warriors. <\/p>\n
To understand why, it\u2019s important to know exactly how the political right is defining strength, courage and \u2014 perhaps most important of all \u2014 gratitude.<\/p>\n
First, let\u2019s talk about strength and courage. MAGA mythology requires both of those virtues to support Trump. His supporters see virtually every significant American institution opposed to his rise. The mainstream media, the universities, Hollywood: They\u2019re all united in opposition to Trump.<\/p>\n
As a consequence, supporting Trump is an act of defiance in and of itself. This is one reason you see Trump supporters wearing clothing that says things like \u201cLions, not sheep.\u201d Trump is a lion, and his supporters are lions for standing beside him. <\/p>\n
In this formulation, defying Trump would be an act of weakness. Because it\u2019s what \u201cthey\u201d want Trump\u2019s cabinet to do.<\/p>\n
When you add Trump\u2019s legal woes to the mix, the acts of alleged courage only grow more profound. After all, to belong to Trump\u2019s team is to risk prosecution \u2014 the \u201cweaponization\u201d (as he and his law enforcement officers like to put it) of American justice. <\/p>\n
Again, look at the matter from MAGA\u2019s perspective. The history of Trump\u2019s scandals \u2014 including two impeachments, a felony conviction, a defamation verdict and a finding that he was liable for sexual abuse \u2014 isn\u2019t about Trump\u2019s flaws, but rather about his opponents\u2019 vindictiveness.<\/p>\n
Add that perception to the genuine relief that he survived two assassination attempts, and you can see that Trump\u2019s supporters don\u2019t view gratitude as just acceptable. It\u2019s mandatory. He\u2019s the man who was impeached for them, prosecuted for them, and shot at for them. <\/p>\n
Or, as Trump has said at his rallies, \u201cThey\u2019re not after me. They\u2019re after you, and I just happen to be standing in their way.\u201d <\/p>\n
In this context, Trump\u2019s cabinet isn\u2019t judged as much by its results as by its ability to trigger or enrage Trump\u2019s opponents. If the media is angry, Trump\u2019s base is happy. That means they\u2019ll cheer absurd pictures of the secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, cosplaying as an immigration enforcement agent, holding a rifle and wearing a tactical vest, simply because it makes Trump\u2019s opponents angry, because it upsets their vision of responsible, sober leadership. <\/p>\n
That means they\u2019ll judge Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, not by his handling of classified information but by his handling of the mainstream media. In their view, the MSM is the enemy of the people, so part of Hegseth\u2019s national security portfolio is defying it.<\/p>\n
Trump is a singular figure. No one else in the Republican Party comes close to matching his influence and authority. In fact, I\u2019ve never seen an American politician at any time match his influence and authority over the Republican base. <\/p>\n
That reality means that we should expect this same dynamic to endure throughout Trump\u2019s second term. His cabinet will genuflect, his supporters will cheer and his opponents will roll their eyes in contempt. <\/p>\n
But to describe the divide between Trump\u2019s supporters and his critics isn\u2019t to rationalize or justify his cabinet\u2019s sycophancy. The two competing positions are not equally valid. There is overwhelming evidence that Trump committed acts of misconduct that merited both impeachment and removal and criminal prosecution. <\/p>\n
There is also overwhelming evidence that he\u2019s not an economic or military genius, but instead often flies by the seat of his pants. The on-again, off-again tariff regime is an ideal example. He loves tariffs, but he fears the consequences of his own policy, so we lurch wildly from statement to statement, depending on the fluctuations of the market. <\/p>\n
Despite each mistake and each successive scandal, the cabinet members cheer. After all, if they want to be seen as strong, they have to surrender to Trump. That is their only path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photographs by Damon Winter Introduction by David French Mr. Winter is a staff photographer currently on assignment for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5311],"tags":[28645,20886,33463,33462,33469,33461,33468,33467,32245,32238,33466,1757,33464,49,978,659,33465],"class_list":["post-65368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-bondi","tag-donald-j","tag-gabbard","tag-hegseth","tag-kristi","tag-marco","tag-noem","tag-pamela-j","tag-pete","tag-rubio","tag-russell-t","tag-trump","tag-tulsi-1981","tag-united-states","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-vought"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114431994394284733","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}