The past weeks have shown the Donald Trump more tired, resentful, almost vengeful. Undoubtedly, the darkest after almost a decade of permanent election campaigning. In 2015, he burst onto the scene like a force of nature that broke all the schemes with a style, improvisation, and unique language. He had outlandish ideas, statements inappropriate for a presidential candidate, and never seen in a particularly puritanical political system, but also an undeniable talent for connecting with the masses and entertaining. He was different, an outsider in a world tired everywhere of traditional politics. In 2020, seeking reelection, he showed an even more aggressive side, brutally offensive and derogatory towards Hillary Clinton. He took victory for granted and has never accepted defeat. The 2024 Trump does not hide his frustration, his anger, his absolute contempt for rival media. He talks repeatedly about retaliation, lawsuits, using the military against what he calls "the domestic enemy".
Although no longer in the White House, Trump is now all-powerful in his party. Nothing moves without the leader's approval and his family, who control all the strings. He is supported by tech billionaires, and the few critics, the longtime figures of the Republican Party, remain silent or quietly protest. His plans, from "the largest deportation in history" to pursuing his enemies and his dreams of revoking licenses from critical media or reducing the public administration by a third with an audit commissioned to Elon Musk, are no secret. But due to a unique psychological mechanism, both his allies and his voters do not believe him. They see it as a way of speaking, attracting attention, but not actually following through with much of what he suggests.
In recent days, the accumulated fatigue of a 78-year-old candidate has also been evident. In his rallies, he has lost coherence. He gives speeches of almost an hour and a half on average and constantly loses track. He also admits that he wouldn't mind if shots were aimed at the press covering his rallies. He revels in the thought of a scenario resembling a firing squad targeting Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman who campaigned with Harris against him. He repeatedly mentions Hannibal Lecter, gangs of Venezuelan criminals, or immigrants who eat pets and should be deported by the millions.
Just yesterday, in his final campaign events (four in three pivotal states, no less), he attacked Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House and one of his archenemies, saying, "She is a bad and sick woman. She is crazy as a bedbug. She is crazy." He said he would impose 25% tariffs on Mexico if they did not completely close their border. He called Van Jones, a former Obama advisor and regular CNN analyst, "a not very bright guy who screams uncontrollably." He warned that the beginning of the next legislative term, which he assumes will be with him at the helm, "will be a bit unpleasant at times, especially at the beginning."
The feeling among analysts and the establishment is that he will not accept defeat if it occurs and that lengthy litigation would be the least of the worries. But if he wins again, Trump will not be the same person who entered politics in 2016 knowing nothing. He has experience, scores to settle, many identified causes. Half of those who were in his government repudiate him, calling him "fascist," will vote against him, or have ended up in jail. Now everyone knows what to expect, and he only surrounds himself with loyalists.
With all that, in recent weeks, in his numerous rallies and interviews, he presents two faces simultaneously. The first one, confident. He is the leader who boasts that he will sweep everywhere and almost savors the almost total immunity that the Supreme Court decreed in July that presidents have. He wants to avoid convictions, ongoing cases, and going to jail. He also aims to transform the entire country, society, and now he has a plan and much more clarity, from border tariffs to devaluing the dollar to removing beggars from the streets. He says it openly, and his allies put it in writing. To start, they insist on the need to fire tens of thousands of officials to "completely annihilate the deep state", as he calls it. He would try to achieve this by reissuing an executive order from 2020 known as "Schedule F," designed to screen out what he defines as "corrupt bureaucrats who have turned our justice system into a weapon" and "corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus."
The second face, often difficult to reconcile, is the constant complaint. Barack Obama has repeatedly mocked an "80-year-old millionaire who whines about everything". He believes that the media is against him, the establishment is against him, the administrations and authorities are against him. And, above all, he believes that the elections are already rigged. It is not surprising that much of the anger this Monday was directed at the former president, whom he calls the "chief polarizer."
In his rallies yesterday, he reiterated that the alleged non-citizen vote is a widespread problem. He has claimed that there is no verification for overseas or military absentee ballots. He has repeated that election officials are using early voting to harm him and that millions of mail-in ballots are irregular, although at the same time, he has strongly encouraged his supporters to vote by mail this time.
He and his children are betting that there will be "a magical truck of votes" in some states to try to give Harris the victory. That there are "massive frauds on a scale never before seen in history." And that the next hours, the next days, will be decisive. "Honestly, I shouldn't have left," he told his supporters in Pennsylvania the day before yesterday about his departure from the White House. This time, everything indicates, it will not be the same if he loses again. Because his campaign, his final message, can be summarized in one idea: he is convinced and wants to convince his supporters, those who vote, and those willing to storm Capitols, that the only way Harris can beat him is by cheating.