Masha Gessen: Trump Is Performing the Way He Imagines Power with Troops, Helicopters, and Tear Gas

EXCERPT:

GESSEN: “You know, a power claim always begins with a performance. And I think that Trump is performing the way that he imagines power. He thinks that power looks like control. I mean, we’ve heard him say these many times, right? It looks like dominance. He perseverated on the word domination or dominate when he was on his call with governors last week. He — you know, the Black Hawk helicopters, the tear gas, and then the unidentified full combat troops in front of the Lincoln Memorial between those columns. All of those to him are images of power. That’s what he thinks power looks like. And that’s what he’s — he thinks power sounds like.”