That old line that “politics is showbiz for ugly people” is so good it should be true, but it isn’t really. Politics has always been politics, and showbiz is something different. Not, however, in the unique case of Donald Trump. The current US president is best understood as a pomp-era megastar. Extraordinary, really, that Trump never even needed to get into cocaine. I think when he dies scientists will discover that his body naturally produced coke as a byproduct of digesting overcooked hamburgers.
Everything he says or does is redolent not of a politician, but an ego-driven entertainment industry behemoth. Monday afternoon in Egypt, with all the awkward world leaders box-stepping behind him, was very much The Official Release Party of a Peace Process. Ego can, of course, be very creative, so it should be widely acknowledged that this hold-your-breath settlement simply couldn’t have happened without our leading man.
