Trump’s Contradictions Are His Final Cowl: ‘You Can’t Pin Him Down’

What does President Trump actually imagine?

Does he wish to run for a 3rd time period, or is that only a joke? Does he intend to grab management of Gaza and expel hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, or is that only a suggestion? Is Black Historical past Month a waste of money and time, or value a lavish celebration on the White Home?

Anybody on the lookout for definitive solutions can have a tough time discovering them.

Since storming again into workplace, Mr. Trump has used a dizzying rhetorical tactic of shifting positions like quicksand, muddying his messages and contradicting himself, typically in the identical day. The inconsistencies have offered the American public with dueling narratives at each flip, permitting folks to choose and select what they wish to imagine concerning the president’s intentions.

Mr. Trump has lengthy dealt in distortions and lies, together with in his first time period. However as he executes a way more aggressive agenda at residence and overseas, his contradictions have develop into extra brazen and extra pronounced.

“He says a lot, you may’t actually pin him down,” stated Julian E. Zelizer, a Princeton historical past professor and editor of a guide of essays about Mr. Trump’s first time period. “The purpose isn’t to have a contradiction, the purpose is to have cowl.”

“The fact of our fashionable data world is you can decide and select what you wish to imagine,” Mr. Zelizer added. “He instinctively is aware of that.”

Inside hours of taking workplace, Mr. Trump pardoned Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted Capitol Cops, a transfer that clashed together with his professed help for legislation enforcement.