Trump has made some public appearances and spoke a bit. What did he have to say? To summarize it: He is happy about the riots and wants more. Of course that is not the way he said it. Understanding Trump is not difficult, but you have to do some translation, and here is how.
In short: If Trump says, I want X or I don't want X, it can mean the exact opposite or it can mean nothing. You have to read between the lines.
He does this to confuse the public and prosecutors and the jury, while his followers intuitively understand what he actually means.
He does this to confuse the public and prosecutors and the jury, while his followers intuitively understand what he actually means.
Trump speaks like a mafia boss who avoids incriminating statements while he is ordering crimes. He probably learned that In many past court battles because of his many fraudulent deals and businesses, and combined it with some shady marketing and sales psychology.
So when do we have to negate what he says? Here is one example: When he says: "Be peaceful", as a Trump supporter you put that in the context what he said before and after and also what he didn't say, and you need to know the basic rules of the Trump universe.
The basic rules are simple: Nothing and no one is more important than Donald Trump. Loyalty and praise for Trump comes first and will be rewarded. Criticism and noncompliance is treachery and will be punished. Praise Trump and you will be praised.
In his speeches after the riots he said things like "I like you", which means "I am ok with what you have done". By not saying to leave the Capitol, and adding "the election was stolen", when he said "be peaceful", his supporters understood: "Stay there and be aggressive."
Today he said things like "the impeachment is a witchhunt, and it will cost Joe Biden dearly, and it is very dangerous for the USA, especially at this very tender time".
Then he said: "Millions of our citizens watched on Wednesday as a mob stormed the capitol and trashed the halls of government - as I have consistently said throughout my administration we believe in respecting Americas history and traditions, not tearing them down, ...
.... we believe in the rule of law and not in violence or rioting". Source:
So what does that mean? What is he actually saying to his followers? "Millions of our citizens watched" means "I have watched", "our show had a lot of viewers" but ...
So what does that mean? What is he actually saying to his followers? "Millions of our citizens watched" means "I have watched", "our show had a lot of viewers" but ...
... also "Millions will watch the next riots, too." "A mob trashed the government" and not a single word about the dead means clearly: "The dead are not worth mentioning. I wouldn't mind if there were more next time." It is a thinly veiled license to kill for his followers.
So when he says that he wants peace and healing, you have three choices: He means it, he doesn't care, he means the opposite. You just try all three, and pick the one that makes most sense in context, and here "I want war and lasting pain" sounds very convincing.
Lets try another one, a complex one.
Trump: "we believe in respecting Americas history and traditions"
Does it mean:
a) What he said
b) "we don't believe in respecting Americas history and Tradition"
c) We don't care about believing in respecting Americas history and Tradition"
Trump: "we believe in respecting Americas history and traditions"
Does it mean:
a) What he said
b) "we don't believe in respecting Americas history and Tradition"
c) We don't care about believing in respecting Americas history and Tradition"
d) "we believe in not respecting Americas history and Tradition"
e) "we believe in not caring about respecting Americas history and Tradition"
I would say, answer e) is closest to what he really meant.
e) "we believe in not caring about respecting Americas history and Tradition"
I would say, answer e) is closest to what he really meant.
Maybe it goes a bit too far to actually assume he means the opposite instead of just making a pro forma statement, but when you try it, just literally take the opposite meaning, when things don't fit, and suddenly it all makes much more sense.
So the process to translate a Trump speech for sane minds is just inverting or prefacing statements with "don't care" until things make sense in the overall context and knowledge of Trump, and voila - he doesn't sound like a crazy person anymore, but more like a serious villain.
It also works with Trump's numbers and statistics. When you hear a number, you can be sure it is inflated. When you hear a comparison, it is probably the other way around. And when you hear something has happened, it probably didn't.
He is a man who interacts with other people in just three ways: Flattery, Favors and Threats. And it worked for him, because a lot of people just can't be reached by reasoning, but everyone is to some degree susceptible to flattery, favors and threats.
You can also usually clearly tell in which mode he currently is when he is giving speeches: He is either saying how great he or the crowd he is addressing or someone else is, promises conditional help or makes conditional threats. Determining that mode also aids the translation.
Anyway, in the past I found it usually too painful to watch Trump speeches, but after some practice, having learned to translate Trumpspeak to normal English on the fly, it is a very different experience - less painful, but way more terrifying.
One might criticize this translation method as putting words into his mouth he never has said, but it is not an arbitrary choice you make when you pick the variant, and it is not a perfect science either, but it makes sense to understand Trump by adjusting his words to reality.
Applying that method, Trump today has threatened Biden and America with war and injury, told his supporters that he'd like to see more bloodshed if congress goes through with the impeachment which he seems to be afraid of. He also wants to ruin Biden's inauguration.
You should note that this speech at his border wall was not easily seen by people in the U.S. Most US-TV-Stations are careful about broadcasting what Trump is saying because they understand that "I want peace" is part of a threat he is making and informing his followers about.
Yes, President Trump is being censored by the large majority of American media, but there are still enough outlets hanging on his lips. However, if you don't live in a Trump-Media-Bubble, you will see Trump only briefly, framed by Journalists who explain what he said.
This is not great, but we have seen first hand that words do matter and can cause death and harm, and when you have a stochastic terrorist like Trump who caused some deadly attacks before, it seems prudent to filter and contextualize what he says before you multiply his voice.
It took some time and deaths though and the near end of his presidency before they acted. I really hope the whole situation will not get worse than it already is, but Trump is still on the war path, and I fear that more blood will be spilled.
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