Trump's Two Killing Fields

Why is his violence escalating at home and abroad?

Friends,

In response to public outrage following ICE’s recent murders in Houston and Maine, the Department of Homeland Security moved to pause vehicle stops. But the pause reportedly infuriated Trump, who ordered ICE to continue the stops. ICE’s arrests and aggression continue to escalate.

Trump’s war with Iran is also escalating, with the U.S. striking critical infrastructure sites including power stations and bridges, and Iran attacking a U.S. base in Jordan, killing two American troops (one is still missing).

I think the two killing fields are related, and the question I’ve been pondering is why Trump’s violence is growing both at home and abroad?

It can’t be because the violence is achieving Trump’s stated objectives. Illegal immigration was already down to a trickle before ICE’s recent violent resurgence. The escalating bombing of Iran is fortifying its militant leaders, causing even more Iranians to become anti-American, and widening the war.

Nor is Trump’s escalating violence popular with American voters. In fact, most Americans have turned against ICE and against Trump’s war in Iran. Strikingly, Trump has lost enthusiasm even among many fellow Republicans, a core source of his power for more than a decade.

So why is Trump escalating the violence, at home and abroad?

At first I thought it was to justify Trump’s use of emergency powers in the midterm elections — giving him trumped-up reasons to deploy troops at voting places, curtail times and places of voting, and confiscate voting lists and machines.

That may still be a motive, although his address to the nation last Thursday night focused on fake reports of fraudulent voting rather than Iranian aggression or a fake resurgence of immigration.

So, is there any other reason for Trump’s escalating violence at home and abroad?

As Americans and much of the rest of the world turn on Trump (and, by extension, Pete Hegseth, JD Vance, and Stephen Miller), I can’t help but wonder whether they feel their manhood to be under assault.

Remember, this is a president who staged a cage match on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday and incited an attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

It’s also a secretary of defense who’s testing troops for their levels of testosterone.

A vice president who excoriates “childless cat ladies” and other “people without children” for allegedly having no stake in the nation’s future.

And a White House deputy chief of staff who’s taunting Texas senatorial candidate James Talarico for having “less testosterone” than his opponent and emitting “soy milk” when his blood is drawn.

In the Trump manosphere, violence is seen as a sign of virility. When that virility is challenged, the automatic response is to escalate the violence.

Hence, the growing mayhem in Trump’s two killing fields.