If, But Actually: An Executive Summary of Trump 2.0 at the 10% Mark
- john raymond
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
If…
If Donald Trump were what he claimed to be—a nationalist populist fighting for the forgotten American, a disruptor of corrupt institutions, a defender of sovereignty, and a builder of strength—then we’d see a nation steered, however clumsily, toward a course of renewal. His parade would be a celebration of civic unity. His immigration policy would balance compassion with order. His economic vision would uplift American workers, not just shareholders or cronies. His enemies would be America’s enemies, and his allies would be those who stand for liberty, not oligarchy.
If Trump were serious about sovereignty, he would have strengthened NATO rather than undermining it. If he cared about the economy, his appointments would have focused on monetary stability—not on personal vengeance against the Fed. If he were interested in law and order, he wouldn’t have pardoned violent insurrectionists. If he were truly America First, Russia wouldn’t always come first—and him just behind Putin.
But Actually…
Trump is not an American populist. He is a Russian-aligned asset whose actions consistently, if sometimes incompetently, align with the Kremlin’s goals of destabilizing the West, sowing internal chaos, and weakening the democratic institutions of the United States.
He speaks loudly against protesters at home, threatening “very big force” if they dare interrupt his birthday parade—but he won’t do a thing against Vladimir Putin, the man whose regime placed bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan. His fury is for the weak. His silence is reserved for the powerful.
He touts a “Big Beautiful Bill,” but the legislation has stalled in Congress, bogged down not by Democratic resistance but by the incoherence and incompetence of his own administration and allies. Meanwhile, his actual priorities have gone elsewhere: promoting crypto scams like DOGE, meddling in Fed policy, and elevating sycophants with Fox News résumés and no policy depth.
Take Tulsi Gabbard, once a marginal political figure, now serving as one of Trump’s most visible surrogates on foreign policy—not advancing American interests, but pushing Kremlin-aligned talking points on nuclear escalation and Western decline. Or JD Vance, reduced from bestselling author to begging Ukraine for acknowledgment on national television with a pathetic, “Have you even said thank you?”
Trump surrounds himself with intellectually vacant loyalists—Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth—who smile for the camera but contribute nothing to governance. Mike Waltz was once the supposed adult in the room; now he’s been discarded. The First Lady has vanished. The Pope himself has condemned the cruelty of Trump’s ICE deployments and detention policies. Meanwhile, the American people face recession and public lies, while Trump and Elon Musk openly coordinate to scrub damaging content from public view—including his own references to Epstein.
Even the parade—his big celebration at the 10% mark of his term and on his birthday—is not a symbol of national strength. It’s the insecure ritual of a man who has yet to become the dictator he clearly wants to be, propped up by a movement growing wearier and more fractured by the day.
His policy choices, from tariffs that drive China closer to Russia to attacks on American institutions, don’t benefit the United States. They serve the long-game strategic interests of the Kremlin. And yet even in that mission, he underdelivers. He has harmed the republic, yes—but not fatally. America is not broken. It is bruised. And Trump, despite all his rage, remains what he has always been: a blunt instrument wielded by sharper powers who think little of him, but use him anyway.
So no—he’s not some misunderstood patriot. He’s not a populist hero.
He’s a puppet.
Not even a good one.
He is just loud enough to make the strings invisible to the people who need the lie.
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