The press asked what international leaders thought. Trump responded that they were already on board: “Countries calling us up, kissing my ass.”
This is not wartime mobilization. This is not Roosevelt invoking emergency powers to fight fascism. This is not Nixon navigating inflation or Reagan pushing strategic trade controls. Trump isn’t reacting to crisis—he’s staging one. The enemy is always someone new: Mexico, China, the “deep state,” even your local mayor. The solution, always, is Trump.
And unlike every president before him, he isn’t pretending it’s about process, teamwork, or even results.
His presidency is a one-man brand. And its slogan hasn’t changed.
“I alone can fix it.”
That line isn’t just a memory. It’s the central doctrine of his second term. The courts are being reshaped. Civil servants are being purged. Loyalty tests are quietly becoming prerequisites. No rivals. No systems. No inconvenient checks and balances.
“Nobody knew the system like I do,” he says, again and again. It’s a claim of ownership, not understanding.
If enough people keep believing it, he won’t just control the prices.
He’ll control the building. The register. The receipts.
And eventually, the customers too.