:In his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump’s bold rhetoric serves as a defining force, potentially setting the tone for future policies and actions. Promising to be the “retribution” for his supporters and framing the election as the “final battle” to save the nation, Trump’s words resonate deeply with his base. His aggressive stance, including threats to appoint a special prosecutor against President Biden and attacks on political opponents, signals a campaign driven by confrontation and vengeance. If successful, this rhetoric could translate into a presidency marked by assertive policies and a maximalist view of presidential authority, reshaping the landscape of American politics for years to come.
Trump’s Rhetorical Warfare: The Prelude to Trial
In the more than 370 days between his first indictment and his first criminal trial, Donald Trump unleashed rhetorical warfare as predictable as it was extreme.
A Familiar Playbook: Sharpened and Defined
The familiar slash-and-burn playbook sharpened over decades in business and eight years in politics, has shaped an overlapping public defense and political message at an unprecedented moment of legal peril.
The Real Impact Amidst the Rhetoric
But the volume and repetition – always repetition, longtime allies note – obscures a stark reality. For a former president who has unapologetically shattered norms with an unrelenting message of grievance, vengeance and retribution targeting those who stand in the way of his policy and political ambitions, the rhetoric is far from empty.
Trump’s Pledge and Infrastructure: A Calculated Move
Trump emerged from the Republican primary – where he bulldozed his opponents – supported by a policy and personnel infrastructure designed to turn his rhetoric into reality. His pledge to direct Justice Department investigations is backed by allies who view his second term as driven by a maximalist theory of a president’s authority.
The Shift in Power Dynamics
Threats to target political enemies across the government are underpinned by planned executive action. The system and guardrails Trump spent his first term perpetually straining and thrashing against on Capitol Hill, in the courts and within his own White House, have tilted in his favor.
A New Phase: Aggressive Posture for 2024
“Democrats hit first, so we’re going to hit back harder,” a Republican official in regular communication with Trump’s inner circle told CNN about the former president’s four criminal indictments, which include charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith for attempting to overturn the 2020 election and unlawfully retaining classified documents.
Defining the Narrative
There is no proof that the special counsel’s indictments were tied to political motivations, and the allegation, made repeatedly by Trump, that Biden’s White House directed the investigations is a lie. Confronted with those facts, the official responded without hesitation. “That’s what he believes. That’s what his people believe,” the official said. “And unlike last time, this is his party now.”
The 2024 Campaign: Trump’s Vision
Trump has framed the 2024 campaign as existing to save the nation from an apocalyptic implosion. The rematch with Biden is the “final battle.” Trump is but a vessel for his supporters, he says. He’s their “retribution. He’s their “warrior.” He’s their “justice.”
A Controversial Narrative
The debate over Trump’s words has hung over US politics since his 2015 announcement. Should he be taken seriously or literally? Does he mean what he says or is he throwing red meat to his base? Is it getting darker? More autocratic? More extreme?
The Impact of Trump’s Statements
In the last year, Trump has threatened to appoint a special prosecutor to target President Joe Biden and his family if he’s reelected. He’s repeatedly attacked prosecutors and judges, their families and relationships, former officials and political opponents.
Strong Polling Despite Controversy
And amid all these statements, Trump currently sits ahead of, or within the margin of error, Biden in national and key swing state polling. His rock-solid base of die-hard supporters certainly hasn’t diminished.
Trump’s Second Term: A Potential Path
On some level, either many voters don’t seem to mind or, in the view of many Republican and Democratic strategists alike, have grown so accustomed to the extreme nature of his rhetoric that it has just been tuned out.
The Road Ahead: Retribution and Power
Trump repeatedly ran headlong into advisers, lawmakers and judges loath to bend to his will in his first term. His allies viewed these as unnecessary – or in some cases, unlawful – impediments to the agenda voters sent to the Oval Office in 2016.
An Altered Landscape
Yet Trump, should he secure a second term, would enter the White House with his most powerful Republican critics on Capitol Hill almost all gone.
Building the Infrastructure
His campaign has released an expansive and far-reaching series of policy outlines that the former president regularly highlights in the scripted sections of his campaign rallies.
The Concept of Presidential Authority
There is clear alignment on the embrace of a maximalist view of presidential authority that Trump could use to dispense with the long-standing concept of Justice Department independence.
The Controversial Question of Revenge
Trump and his campaign have publicly tried to massage his official position on personal retribution.
A Look Back at Trump’s History
Trump’s affinity for retribution existed long before his first campaign. He spoke at length, in a 1992 interview with Charlie Rose, about his desire to get even with those he viewed as disloyal when his business career sat on the verge of collapse.
A Striking Reality with No Precedent
It’s a striking reality with no precedent. But it also underscores why a second Trump term would be dramatically different.