Donald Trump is an Outlaw Leader. A leader who will linger forever in American lore precisely because he is an outlaw.
First things first. Trump is among the American leaders who have had the most seismic impact – ever. For eight years now his imprint on America’s national psyche has been so strong, so outsized as to transform the country and leave forever his mark on the time in which he led. Whatever he has said or done, and continues to say or do, always dominates the conversation, and sometimes determines the course of American history.
His impact has been overwhelming and overpowering since he first came on the political scene. It so remained during his first campaign for the White House and during his four years as president. And it remains the same now, in his post-presidency. No other American leader – including the incumbent president – comes close to so effectively grabbing and holding the national spotlight. To being so completely the center of our collective attention. And to suck the air out so totally of our communal room.
Trump leads us to his alter. All of us. Even those among us who insist they detest him cannot resist him. He is irresistible – we are incapable of pushing him away or turning away. He pulls us in, the force of his personality and persona so strong we are drawn as if by a magnet into his orbit.
He dominates America’s news. He impinges on America’s discourse. He plays with America’s politics. He tramples on America’s trust. He leads his followers, and he leads other leaders, leaders who become, who long ago already became, his followers.
Trump is a familiar American archetype – an outlaw. He is an Outlaw Leader. A leader who leads not because he is good but exactly because he is bad. Because he disrupts the status quo. Because he tramples on American norms. Because he leads an outsized life. Because he has an enormous appetite for money and power and food and sex. Because he is a rebel and a risk-taker. Because he defies the establishment. Because he bends rules and breaks them. Because he is as outrageous as rebellious. Because he is Jesse James and Dillinger, Rambo, and Tony Soprano.
Trump is an outlaw because he is, among other things, literally outside the law. He is not law-abiding he is law deriding. Four times over he has been indicted. And four times over his popularity will not decrease but increase. Why? Because he is an outlaw – and proud of it. Trump is America’s id. Trump is America’s bad boy. Trump is America’s poster child for the triumph of impulse over reason.
Trump’s time will not be forever. But forever this will be the Time of Trump.