Defeated

In the mugshot seen around the world, the scowl on the 77-year-old face under a combed-over “strawberry blond” mane was intended to sow fear in those prosecuting him under federal and state laws.

Despite the fearsome mask, the four-time indicted Donald Trump showed fear and defeat, both of which seemed to weigh heavily in his body language as he ambled – slumped-shouldered – across the airport tarmac after getting booked in the Atlanta jail on Aug. 24.

This is no longer MAGA’s inevitable triumph who boasts of slaying imaginary enemies that are out to get him and thus them. This is a pathetic man long broken – probably since childhood –with a diminishing base of supporters who struggle to hang onto his lost cause.

Trump performs, even if all he does is play himself, but great actors are confident in themselves, highly imaginative, with sharp understanding of human behavior; you can’t tell how they actually feel when they perform, you just think you do.

Whatever mask he wears – bluster, braggadocio, arrogance, cockiness – Trump always lets us know how he feels, projecting his anger, fears, hurts, deviousness and lusts onto others.

A fortunate son of a New York City developer, Trump spent a life using wealth and privilege to attain wealth and power, a singular focus that deprived him of essential self-reflection.

We know Trump is transactional and angry, but we know little else about the man. I wonder if Trump even knows who he is, lost in his performance of the caricature “Trump.”

Loneliness must consume him.

Tellingly, at every one of his arraignments, none of his family or friends are there for him. From all the news footage and photos, the only people who are ever there are Secret Service agents assigned to him, his staff, some hangers on, and the media.

Despite calls to his supporters to turn out for massive protests at each of his arraignments, Trump has seen only small gatherings who are outnumbered by the media. After each indictment, the din of “unfair charges” from GOP politicians and conservative media becomes quieter.

At the Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News the night before the Fulton County Jail arraignment, no one gave a full-throated roar of support for Trump. Two candidates on the stage denounced him and the one candidate that sought to emulate the former president, Vivek Ramaswamy, was constantly attacked by the others.

Trump is aware of this. In the fragmented way that he often speaks, he seemed to subconsciously allude to his lack of support on the tarmac when he told the media, “I’ve never had such support.”

If latest polls are any indication, Trump has already been defeated in his bid to become president again, even before voters go to the polls next November. He may win the GOP nomination, but a majority of the country believes he should stand trial for his attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021 and his pilfering of secret documents.

He may voice defiance as juries of citizens are prepared to hear evidence and render verdicts, but this fourth indictment seems to have unsettled him. Trump no longer appears like the historic figure that he always tries to emulate, World War II Gen. George S. Patton.

Unsurprisingly, he does exhibit many character traits of the general, according to a 2016 article in Politico that compared the two men:

Twelfth Army Group commander Omar Bradley, who knew Patton well, described him as “colorful but impetuous, full of temper, bluster, inclined to treat the troops and subordinates as morons. He was primarily a showman. The show always seemed to come first.” Patton acted as though he didn’t care what people thought, but he “harbored a burning ambition for personal recognition,” wrote [Supreme Allied Commander Dwight] Eisenhower’s son John.

Since he doesn’t like to read, Trump’s understanding of the general is solely based on the 1970 film biopic, “Patton.”

Trump should watch the movie again and heed a quote from “Old Blood and Guts” himself that actor George C. Scott, who portrayed Patton, narrates in the final scene:

“For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters, musicians and strange animals from conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children robed in white stood with him in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.”