Everyone who expected Donald Trump to come out all guns blazing after Elon Musk savaged him in a series of tweets last week were surprised by the rather mild, unTrumpian response.
In contrast to the venom he has directed at enemies real and perceived -- consider his vicious reaction to Joe Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis, for instance -- Trump's reaction to Musk's escalatory series of harsh tweets -- even dragging POTUS into the sordid Epstein affair before better sense prevailed and that tweet was deleted -- was remarkably subdued.
The Washington Post newspaper reported on Saturday that Trump had even cautioned Vice President J D Vance -- ever eager to demonstrate his fealty to the Boss -- not to strike at Musk. At week's end, almost like a petulant child moaning after a scrap with other brats in the playground, Trump said he didn't want to speak to Musk.
Unpredictability has been Trump's calling card in the early months of his second term, much, much more, than the first.
Autocrats like to keep allies and adversaries constantly off balance -- whether it is Stalin and Mao from the last century or Putin and Xi in this one -- but Trump has quickly become the gold standard in autocratic caprice.
It is likely that no one in his inner circle -- whether it is Susan Wiles, the White House chief of staff hired to control Trump's worst instincts or Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff for policy who is widely seen as the architect of many of POTUS' executive orders, especially on immigration -- can predict what America's 47th president will do today or tomorrow.
One of the most insightful dissections on Trump 2's early presidency appeared in Britain's Guardian newspaper on May 25.
'An autoimmune disorder': how Trump is turning American democracy against itself -- which you can read here (external link) -- is an eloquent and erudite deep dive into Trump's scheme to restructure American democracy.
'The very distinctive pillars of American democracy are being turned into fifth columns. Trump and his allies have created a massive autoimmune disorder -- one in which the features of American democracy turn on themselves, re-engineering democracy to kill democracy,' writes Arjun Appadurai.
Born and raised in Bombay, Professor Appadurai is a world renowned anthropologist who taught for many years at New York University, which, incidentally, Trump's youngest child Baron attends these days.
Professor Appadurai, professor emeritus at New York University and a former provost of the New School, has been based in Berlin, Germany, this past decade, which is where Rediff's Nikhil Lakshman caught up with him for a Zoom interview to discuss Donald Trump's presidency and the future of American democracy in the Trump years.
Video Curated, Edited and Presented by Rajesh Karkera/Rediff
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