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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
John Crace

Along comes Trump and our emperors have no clothes

Donald Trump holding up a fist in front of his face
Trump might just have got bored with Greenland. He had concentrated on it for nearly five days, and was on to the next thing. Photograph: Laurent Gilliéron/EPA

In weeks like this, the mask slips somewhat. Politicians love the illusion of control. It’s the special power that differentiates them from us lower orders. They are the ones pulling all the levers. Nothing ever happens that takes them unawares. They are the ones with answers to everything. They need it to be this way. Not just for their own psyches but for ours. It’s somehow comforting.

And then along comes Donald Trump and our emperors have no clothes. Their limitations on view to everyone. Scrabbling around just to stand still. Trying to make sense of the world in real time, just like the rest of us. Making it up as they go along.

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