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Unknown A
Here's the question I want to explore with you. Would Donald Trump be willing to either stage or allow a terrorist attack against the United States if he thought it would help him politically? This is based off of an email I received that suggested this was something that he would do. So let me get one thing clear. Trump is a man of extreme impulses. He's all about impression, image. He's all about perception. He's all about how he is seen by others. He needs to be seen as a hero, the man who can solve all problems. And that's where the idea of staging something as dramatic as a terrorist attack could come into play. Now, before people get triggered. And go, David, how dare you Step back for a moment and think about the man that we're dealing with. Trump has a history of bending the truth to fit his narrative.
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Unknown A
We've seen him embrace any crisis that boosts his image, or we've seen him downplay a real crisis when it doesn't serve his agenda, whether it's taking a Sharpie to a hurricane map or whether it's rewriting who is the aggressor in a global conflict. We've seen him praise authoritarian figures looking for ways to impose control. And at the core of Donald Trump's temperament is an undeniable fact. He loves to be the man in charge during moments of national peril. Think back to his obsession with I'm now a wartime president during COVID Why? Because it's a power move. Would he go so far as to stage a terrorist attack? Well, here's the thing. Trump is a man driven by ego. He desperately wants to be seen as strong and resolute and the one who can lead us through any storm. He would love to have a 911 style moment when he could show up, get on TV and declare that he's the only one who can protect us.
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Unknown A
But there is a twist here, and there's a major problem. I don't believe Trump's nearly competent enough to pull it off, and neither are the people that are working for him. And there are multiple reasons why Trump, even if he wanted to, would not be able to get away with something like that without everybody figuring out what happened. Now, this is separate from whether Trump's morality or ethics would make him plausibly willing to do it. But first, let's just talk about the facts. Trump's incredibly impulsive. As I mentioned. To stage a terrorist attack would require a level of coordination and secrecy that Trump doesn't have. And his people aren't competent enough to Maintain. Remember when he tried to get that FIFI tweet to stay secret for a few hours? I mean, there's just not a chance. You think he could orchestrate a full scale national conspiracy and keep it quiet?
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Unknown A
I hesitate to believe it. His impulsive nature would make any such plan a walking time bomb of leaks and accidental exposure. Secondly, there's the logistics. Trump couldn't even handle the basics of White House pandemic response without making a mess of it. Think of the botched military operations, his love of chaos over strategy. He would be setting himself up for catastrophic failure. But imagine for a moment that Trump pulled it off. If Trump orchestrated an attack, it would quickly unravel even an intelligence community led by Tulsi, with its sophisticated surveillance and interagency coordination. I think that we would find out about it. And don't forget the public reaction. Do you think his approval rating would rise after a staged attack? People wouldn't see him as a hero. They'd see him as an architect of mass destruction, because, frankly, that's what he would be. Not to mention the consequences of something like this.
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Unknown A
For the people involved, the fallout would be immediate, and I believe that even many of his loyal followers would not go for it. So morally and ethically, Trump would love to have a 911 moment. He would see it as, this is how I will cement my legacy as the ultimate strongman. But there's a difference between being in wanting something and being able to actually pull it off. So from a moral standpoint, is Trump the type of person that would stage a terrorist attack? I don't know. Is he the type of guy who would look the other way in preventing one, with the idea that then it would be an environment in which he can rise to be a global or national hero? Maybe. I don't think that he would if. Here's the thing with Trump, he's able to convince himself that there is a greater good in anything he does.
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Unknown A
And when you look at why would he take the Sharpie and change the hurricane map? Well, it was politically inconvenient. And Trump, I'm sure, would say to himself, we are going to be better off if people see me as being omniscient and right about everything, and therefore I am justified in changing this hurricane map with a Sharpie, even if it terrifies people in Alabama who have no reason to be scared that the hurricane is really coming their way. Trump has never been shy about leveraging crisis for personal gain. The reality is, I don't think he has the competence and I don't think he and the people around him can maintain the secrecy that would be needed to execute something like that. So in the end, it's not really about whether Trump could put a pull off such a stunt. It's about whether he could get away with it.
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Unknown A
I don't think he could. He tries to be a master of manipulation, but I think he would not be able to do it and therefore he wouldn't try. Let me know what you think. Let me know what you think. I want to hear from you. Well, I wrote a book.
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Unknown B
After a long journey and a ton of work, I am really thrilled with how it turned out and I hope you'll read it. The book is called the Echo Machine, and in a nutshell, it looks at how American politics got so broken, who has already figured out solutions, and how we can try to fix it and stop the terror of Trump for the next four years. With Trump winning this election, the Echo Machine couldn't be more relevant. Not only a warning about how we got here, but also about what might be coming and how to prevent the worst outcomes. We've got to stay engaged. We need a plan, and that's what the book is about.
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Unknown A
There is a belief out there that.
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Unknown B
Unless you have corporate media behind you, you can't have a successful political book launch, that it's not possible. I think we can prove that wrong. Order the Echo Machine today at David pakman.com/echo on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Audible, Kindle, anywhere that books, ebooks and audio books are sold. You can also call any local bookstore and say please order me the Echo Machine by David Pakman.
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Unknown A
Wherever you get the book, you'll get.
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Unknown B
The free preorder perks, including the signed book plate. Head to David pakman.com/free book stuff after ordering.