Americans are starting to realise Donald Trump is part of the problem, not the solution

Editorial: President Trump is declaring war on his own people. It is a deliberate attempt to escalate tensions and provoke more violence

Trump is increasing his exploitation of America’s racial divisions (EPA)

Why vote Trump?

In 2016 it seemed obvious. Donald Trump was going to put America first, scrap the unfair trade deals, bring the jobs home, stand up to America’s enemies, build the wall and “drain the swamp”. He was the ultimate insurgent, invading first the Republican Party before taking the White House on a wave of inchoate populist protests. The mission was to Make America Great Again.

Today even a personality as spectacular as Mr Trump cannot pose as the rebel. He is now President Trump, the incumbent seeking a second term. The plan was to run the Trump re-election campaign on the economy, “to keep America great”. A combination of the killing of George Floyd and a global pandemic have thrown that strategy into disarray. The Democrats have not obligingly imploded, at least so far, and the Trump campaign has suddenly woken up to the possibility that Joe Biden could trounce Mr Trump in November. That would be a humiliation far greater than any messy divorce or unplanned bankruptcy Mr Trump has previously experienced.