First of 3 parts

I will prevent, and very easily, World War 3. Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled ... quickly. I will get the problem solved. And I will get it solved in rapid order and it will take me no longer than one day. I know exactly what to say to each ... I got along with them."

– Donald Trump


ON this declaration alone, I think Americans should get him re-elected in 2024. We Filipino colonials, once under American tutelage, are reminded of a great American who after tasting defeat in WW2 in Bataan and Corregidor, declared in 1942, "I shall return!" These three simple words gave hope to the Filipinos and sustained their will to fight the Japanese. And when Gen. Douglas McArthur indeed returned to liberate the Philippines in 1944, we knew America, or at least McArthur, kept its word. This sealed the special bond between the two races that has proven to be a boon and bane over the years.

The Donald, after an election "defeat" — one that was stolen from him, according to his MAGA base — demands retribution. He was cheated out of his destiny to fulfill the promises of his great presidency, by the very structure he sought to overhaul. As he claimed in accepting the GOP nomination in 2016, "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it."

Although his statement is not "McArthurian," at the very least it should inspire Americans, not only his "basket of deplorables" (BOD) — not my words, it's Hillary's — who did in fact help elect him to office. This is not to disparage his supporters — but in a curious way, even they themselves cherish their appellation, wearing this title on their sleeves gleaning from the behavior of his "tremendous crowd" in his campaign sorties.

Which brings me to the conclusion that the way the political cauldron is boiling in America, its society polarized, and the discombobulation he has caused the Republicans, etc., there is little doubt he can capture the GOP nomination and his MAGA-BOD will carry him through to victory over "Sleepy Joe" Biden. And 2025-2028 will usher in a new American age!

Perfect phone calls

I'm sure he will also solve the China-Taiwan problem, preventing the inevitable. This could be a tutorial in the art of the deal — a direct virtual face-to-face initiative, I suspect, with Xi Jinping, through another phone call. This could be a replay of his "perfect phone calls," similar to one he did with Ukraine President Zelenskyy in 2016, presumably asking the latter for dirt on his Democratic political opponent Biden and his son, Hunter, with his now famous 10 words "I would like you to do us a favor, though..." triggering the first impeachment inquiry against him..

And the other call to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger to change his losing election results: "What I want to do is this. I just want to find, uh, 11,780 votes, which is one more than (the 11,779 vote margin of defeat) we have, because we won the state." This is now being investigated by a special grand jury and awaiting multiple indictments.

Trump must come back

Since he left office, a slew of books on Trump hit the book stands and social media. These will form the core of my subsequent columns to understand the man better in case he recaptures the White House in 2024.

A Very Stable Genius (Penguin Press, 2020) by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, two Washington Post investigative reporters and Pulitzer Prize winners who followed Trump's White House stint interviewing many of Trump's administration people. Their inferences in their book basically revolve around the Donald's ignorance of subject matters that traditional American presidents are expected to know, and his propensity to dismiss, ignore and even berate his own advisers and experts if their opinions run counter to his. His earlier encounters with his most senior military leaders calling them "losers" prompted Secretary of State Tillerson to label America's commander-in-chief "a fucking moron."

This is a consequence of his aversion to reading briefing papers from his advisers, thus, he is prone to impulsive foreign policy decisions. Two particular cases cited here are his December 2019 decision to pull out of Syria and the demand to close the US-Mexican border, which are both popular with the MAGA-BOD fringe.

Syria

In the first case, the US special forces had been assisting Kurdish forces successfully fight IS. For two years Trump agreed that US forces were there for the long haul, their presence being a deterrent to a Turkish invasion; until he had a conference call with Turkish President Erdogan who was not particularly fond of the Kurds, questioning the US position. "You know what, it's yours — I'm leaving." A US policy commitment established over the years, which Trump on a whim, abandoned in seconds, not even coordinating with US allies, the UK and France, that also had boots on the ground working alongside the Americans. "All it had taken was a single phone call."

South American migration

In 2018, the Donald demanded from his secretary of homeland security, Kirstien Nielsen, the immediate closure of the US-Mexico border to prevent an "invasion" of migrants fleeing Central America. Nielsen, although hawkish on immigration, refused to follow this illegal order. Apparently, people have legal rights to cross the border and claim asylum, denying his MAGA brand looking at the bigger picture; America's immigrants are what made America great!

These two cases depict Trump as non-traditional, non-conventional, and cavalier on his approach to legalities — traits that endear him to the MAGA-BOD tired of the deep state, woke-washing, antifa, limousine liberals as portrayed by the hated fake mainstream media. The Donald simply reflects not only his base but perhaps a segment of American voters who in the first place caused him to be elected (through the electoral college) despite losing the popular vote.

And as far as these fanatics are concerned, the Donald is right, correct and real. They all sing hosanna to his accomplishments, among others:

Abraham Accords normalizing diplomatic relations among Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco.

His North Korean Gambit, persuading Kim Jung-un in a summit to stop his missile tests. It was a nice approach until Kim tested his first ICBM demonstrating the potential to reach the US continent. This ended in the two immature boys trading insults.

But an accomplishment that would put an indelible stamp on his presidency is the continued conservative direction the US will take in the years to come. His nominees made up roughly 54 judges in 13 circuit courts, an estimated 25 percent of all circuit judges. The courts are the final arbiter in US politics, setting precedents, shaping the country for years to come.

Part 2 and 3 will examine the repercussions of Trump's possible return based on his past actions described in four books: The Making of Donald Trump (Melville House Publishing), American Kompromat (Dutton), A Warning (Hachette Book Group), and I Alone Can Fix It! (Penguin Press).