No matter how one may have tried, the situation has become too loathsome and dangerous – and, for a U.S. citizen, too ridiculous and fearsome – to ignore. And for Mexico, this week’s fresh assessment of Donald Trump and a nuclear bomb has made the consideration of a Trump “wall” seem relatively innocent.
The “U.S. clown” continues to administer a careless consideration of such things as nuclear bombs: “We’ve got ‘em, so we can use ‘em, right?” A chilling new consideration regarding one of Trump’s favorite nearby targets. That, coupled with the absence of penetrating thought on the part of the Enrique Peña Nieta administration, creates a fearful cluster of considerations. Brutal – and revealing – ornaments of war among non-service personnel.
Falsely facile targets, almost as easy-seeming as Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Muslim-American parents of an American war hero killed while serving in Iraq. The elderly Khans, whose seemingly unworldliness turned out to be something of an unapparent trap – innocently placed in the path of Trump’s over-weening arrogance and egotism.
The “villain” bared the depth of his ceaseless attacks against logic and reason as he continued to deride the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, who received the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart when he was killed by an Iraqi suicide bomber. It turned out to be just another deplorable Trump ego trip. And to top it off, Trump weirdly equated selling real estate with serving in Iraq and fatefully defending his men. That might not have warned some Mexican onlookers, but it should have stirred loathing among U.S. expat observers.
Trump was enjoying another familiar spasm of yet another deplorable and mystifying ego fit: equating a soldier’s death with real estate deals. But still, why would a presidential candidate mock the parents of a soldier who died in combat under any conditions?
Some Republicans – House Speaker Ryan, Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire – made statements “defending” the Khans. Yet, weirdly, they steadfastly continued to support Trump, even though journalists noted that Trump gave both Senator McCain, and Representative Ryan, fresh causes to bolt, noting in a Tuesday media interview that he isn’t supporting them in their respective Republican primary election contests.
Meanwhile, other Republicans – notable business, political and social leaders – are moving to back Hillary Clinton. Changes of loyalty jarring the G.O.P. to include a split between the two members of the Republican ticket – endorsing the speaker of the House in his own party’s glaring divisions. Republican officials nearing a state of panic as Trump’s near-daily provocations divert attention from the perceived vulnerabilities of Hillary Clinton.
But if Trump “makes himself the issue, we’ll lose,” says Henry Barbour, a G.O.P. National Committee member from Mississippi and a top lieutenant to Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee. “There’s only one guy who can fix this, and that’s Donald Trump.”
People here – both Mexican and foreign residents – note this of course, frequently responding alertly to such diverse changes. Especially this week as political changes have been settling in. True, most of Trump’s threats to Mexico originally took place back when he began his declaration of racially based changes of policy aimed at undercutting useful Barak Obama-Mexico policies. And the real concern for Americans dealing with Mexico actually involved drugs and violence.
The U.S. assistance for these matters to Mexico – basically the Mérida Initiative – focuses on disrupting organized criminal groups, institutionalizing the rule of law, creating a 21st-century border, and building strong and resilient communities.
Newer areas of focus have involved bolstering security along Mexico’s southern border and addressing the production and trafficking of heroin in Mexico. As of November 2015, more than $US1.5 billion of Mérida Initiative assistance had been delivered.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has continued U.S.-Mexican security cooperation. U.S. intelligence has helped Mexico arrest top crime leaders, including Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán – the world’s most wanted drug trafficker – in February 2014. Guzmán’s July 2015 prison escape proved to be a setback for bilateral efforts, but his January 2016 recapture may provide an opportunity to work together on extraditions and broader security efforts.
These won’t satisfy Trump, but it will help Mexico and certainly U.S. firms doing business in and with Mexico.
In the past few days, even skittish Democrats have demonstrated confidence that Trump has made the conversation about himself and the swirl of controversy over his words focused in his own party, rather than attacking his supposed target, Hillary Clinton.
In interviews, several of Clinton’s allies pointed to a three-month sprint to November’s election day, and predicting that Trump would continue to distract attention from his message. Meaning that Clinton’s campaign could busily work, strengthening her support and registering voters in critical battlegrounds.
These Democrats pointed to Trump’s presumably laying the groundwork for a prolonged post-Labor Day fight over whether he will participate in the presidential debates. He complained this week that events were scheduled so that two of the three debates take place during professional football games.
“I don’t think there’s any question he’ll drive the next 11 weeks,” said William M. Daley, Obama’s former White House chief of staff. “She’s out there with a message, whether or not it’s moving anything, great. He’ll be embroiled” with other stuff.
Clinton’s reliance on Trump’s misfires, rather than the strength of her own message, is an inherently risky strategy, political people say. “What if, for the next 90 days, he stops shooting himself in the foot?”
But many Democrats said the period of wondering whether Trump could become a more disciplined candidate had already ended – with his attacks on the Khans.
“It’s like saying if I became eight feet tall, I’d be a great starter for the Cleveland Cavaliers,” said Guy Cecil, chief strategist at Priorities USA Action. “It’s never going to happen.”