Have you seen Donald Trump lately? Maybe trying to present his unfinished Iran deal as something other than complete capitulation, or asleep in the Oval Office. Maybe you heard him talking about how good the leaders of India and Egypt looked. But most often he has been seen at sporting events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The self proclaimed sports president was everywhere, especially at the third game of the Knicks against the Spurs in New York, where he became the first president to attend an NBA Finals game, and at the UFC fights on the lawn of the White House. On July nineteenth he will be in New Jersey to hand the World Cup trophy to the victorious American captain Tim Ream, or perhaps to the captain of another nation. Sports, especially combat sports and football, have always served his project, and never more than in this second term. They are meant to present him as he wants to be seen, not merely as a simple man among the ordinary men who carry him, but as a power that commands culture itself. He appears where presidents previously did not appear, and the appearances are arranged so that the applause reaches its highest pitch. Hence the cage fights and the Army-Navy games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing stands in the way. The ordinary people in the stands do not like him anymore, worn down by a destructive agenda and by the economic wreckage of his trade war and his war with Iran. Instead of a president at the height of his power, the past week showed a weakened man losing not only power but culture itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n