Woe to the politicians who lose control of their cherished narratives. Trump’sclaim to be a statesman worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize has been badly tarnished by his failure to stop existing wars or prevent new ones. The Democrats’ denunciation of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as an inhumane abuse of power has been drowned out by violent protests in Los Angeles.
Trump came into his second term boasting that he would end the war in Ukraine and obtain a ceasefire in Gaza. Not only did he fail to achieve either, but a third war has now broken out on his watch.
Trump spent his first term showering Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with political gifts, from moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem to recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Yet in Trump’s second term, Netanyahu ignored his request to refrain from attacking Iran while negotiations over its nuclear program were taking place.
“I don’t want them going in because, I mean, that would blow it,” Trump said. Not only did Netanyahu ignore him and attack Iran, but the Israeli strike killed a senior Iranian figure involved in the negotiations, which Iran has since broken off.
Add to this dismal record an inconclusive war against the Houthis and a stalemated trade war against China, whose leaders seem to understand America’s dependence on rare earth metals better than Trump does. Despite the vast economic and military power of the U.S., less than six months into his second term Trump looks like a weak leader struggling to keep up with events.
The Democrats assert, with considerable justification, that Trump is inhumanely sweeping up and deporting undocumented immigrants who are peaceful, hard-working members of their communities. But to win over the public, Democrats need more than outrage — they need dignified, nonviolent demonstrations and a sensible immigration policy that acknowledges voters’ concerns over crime and border security. Instead, in downtown Los Angeles, the American public saw Waymo cars burning, federal buildings defaced and policemen injured by rocks and bottles — images that drowned out any message about abuse of power.
Democrats are still groping for an immigration message. After Trump federalized and sent the California National Guard — and then the U.S. Marines — into Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) delivered a “Defense of Democracy” speech. It was a good address and may have given Newsom a boost for the 2028 presidential race. But listeners would have had to to pay close attention to catch the one sentence about how Democrats support deporting “immigrants with serious criminal records and people with final deportation orders.”
Governors give speeches, but National Guard troops and protesters make headlines. Democrats are just one riot away from catastrophe.
Newsom and other Democratic leaders are urging restraint. But if fringe groups over whom they have little control act violently, the American people could easily blame Democrats. In 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen shot and killed four unarmed, nonviolent Kent State students during a campus protest against the Vietnam War. The shootings ignited nationwide campus outrage, but a majority of the public blamed the dead student protesters and not the guardsmen.
Trump has warned that more troops could be sent to other cities, calling the L.A. deployments the “first, perhaps, of many.” Should more riots occur, even if confined and containable by local authorities, Trump will have his pretext for, in effect, a military occupation.
If that happens, there may be no more “Defense of Democracy” speeches — because not much democracy will remain to be defended.
Gregory J. Wallance was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team, which convicted a U.S. senator and six representatives of bribery. He is the author of “Into Siberia: George Kennan’s Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia.”
