While the G7 nations are meeting in Canada to discuss the looming escalation in the Middle East, while diplomats search for the right words and generals debate flight paths, there is one place where the tectonic shifts of global politics seem to mysteriously vanish: the lawn of the White House. There, between perfectly manicured grass and a marble façade, a spectacle is unfolding that reveals the priorities of the current U.S. president like few others.
Donald Trump, 47th President of the United States, leaves no doubt about what truly matters to him in the midst of global crises: the erection of two gigantic flagpoles, directly in front of the seat of government. A crane rises into the gray sky, workers brace against the metal, while inside the Oval Office someone is presumably coordinating the color scheme. Footage shows the full scale of the operation – meticulous, majestic, and of deep symbolic importance to Trump. "A gift from me," he declared. "Something this magnificent place has always been missing."
One might think this is about a new nuclear disarmament initiative or a plan to combat climate change. But no – it is about the monumentalization of the self. While hundreds of thousands are being evacuated from war zones, while diplomats warn of a new escalation in the Gulf, the president is busy with the vertical expansion of his ego. It is a spectacle only a man could produce who believes history is measured not in ideas, but in feet and inches. Two poles, taller than the world’s concerns.
That this scene is becoming reality now – in the midst of Trump’s public threats against Iran and his abrupt departure from the G7 summit – is no coincidence. It is the expression of a presidency that measures itself not by the substance of its actions, but by the height of its symbols. While other nations negotiate peace, Trump focuses on aluminum, flag size, and camera angles. The world may burn – but in the end, what matters to him is this: How high does the flag fly above the lawn?
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