Given Donald Trump is in his second wildly polarising term as president, it’s easy to forget that he was once a broadly liked – perhaps even beloved – television personality. The Apprentice might have been a long time ago, but it shaped Trump’s media instincts in ways that are still visible to this day.
On The Apprentice, Trump knew how to create an emotional moment. If a contestant told a personal story about their connection to a charity or cause, Trump would be “moved” by their situation to make a personal donation – the kind of thing which is the staple of reality television.
In recent days, Trump has spoken about how he’s been upset to see footage of Russian bombs falling on Ukrainian hospitals and care homes, and that his wife Melania has raised the cause of the suffering of Ukrainian civilians with him – crediting this with changing his mind on supplying weapons to the country. These shipments will include offensive weaponry, not just the defensive Patriot missile interceptors Ukraine had hoped for.
It is a stellar turnaround from a president who had previously campaigned on sending no more money or weaponry to Ukraine, and who seemed set to give Russia everything it wanted.
Except, something feels off about the whole thing. Trump talked about Russia and Ukraine in public remarks with a small audience of CEOs present, and was talking about his change of heart. “I’d get home, I’d tell the First Lady, I had the most beautiful talk with Vladimir. I think we’re finished,” Trump told those assembled. “And she’d say, ‘well, that’s strange, because they just bombed a nursing home’.”
Bizarrely, the assembled audience laughs, as if he’s just delivered a one-liner in a sitcom – as if the bombing of vulnerable civilians is somehow funny. But that was the way Trump set up and delivered the anecdote, as if it was a laugh line. It is not the way someone who was devastated at the loss of life would tell the story.
No-one should take Trump’s apparent emotional awakening seriously. He is a man who joked around about how he could “grab ‘em by the pussy”. He mocked a disabled New York Times reporter on the campaign trail. He separated families at the border, and is now engaged in mass deportations doing the same across America. He seems supremely unconcerned by the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
He is not an empathetic man. He just knows how to play one on television. I doubt Trump is sincerely moved by the plight of Ukrainians. The question is whether it actually matters if he isn’t. The order to sell weapons to Ukraine once again is real – the diplomatic efforts of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte have paid off.
Trump has decided that he will look like a good guy helping Ukraine, not Russia. The dial has shifted. He is a wildly inconsistent man who rarely sticks to a plan, so his sustained support cannot be taken for granted – but that’s more about his wider personality than whether or not his concern is sincere.
What might have changed Trump’s mind, then, if it wasn’t empathy? The answer might also lie in his televisual past. Trump might be a deeply divisive man, but he also appears to genuinely crave popularity – part of his relentless fury with the media is that they portray him in a bad light.
Trump had thought he could win popularity by ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, and he thought that Vladimir Putin would deliver this for him. He could be the dealmaker-in-chief, and the bringer of peace – but he was denied.
At first, Russia had some success making this look like it was Ukraine’s fault, for rejecting deals, but Zelenskyy and Europe succeeded in changing that narrative. Trump was ready to see Ukraine as the villain, not least because he associated it with his political enemies and his first impeachment scandal. But when Trump couldn’t get a peace deal, there was scope to change the narrative.
There is every chance Trump is insincere in his concern for Ukraine. But if he thinks faking it is good for him, the final results may be no different than if it were real. The risk, though, remains – if there’s anything reality TV loves more than an emotional human moment, it’s a plot twist. Trump may yet have a few in those in store when it comes to his stance on Russia and Ukraine.
Hence then, the article about trump says melania helped change his mind on ukraine don t believe him was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Trump says Melania helped change his mind on Ukraine – don’t believe him )
Also on site :
- Skanska signs additional contract with existing client to build a data center in USA for USD 228M, about SEK 2.2 billion
- ‘No way out’: Telangana student dies in Germany after jumping from burning apartment on New Year’s Eve
- Switzerland fire latest: King Charles ‘heartbroken’ after 40 killed in ‘horrific’ Crans Montana bar disaster