Donald Trump understands the camera. He is particular about angles, lighting and his inimitable hair. But the camera is very likely to turn tormentor; Trump was due to be told in a New York courthouse on Tuesday to pose for a mug shot like a common criminal.
The first US president to be twice impeached and attempt the overthrow of an election is now the first US president to be charged with a crime. He was due to face the humiliation of being photographed, fingerprinted and entering a plea to charges involving a 2016 hush money payment to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels.
The effects were felt before his day in court. There were signs that the legal perils engulfing Trump are pushing him to new extremes. He has never been a conventional politician, but his divisive brand of populist-nationalism is growing ever more provocative.
His 2024 campaign for the White House is embracing a violent rhetoric that could inflame tensions and put the US on a path to conflagration. Barricades were put up around the New York courthouse. Daniels cancelled a television interview out of "security concerns". Trump's language on the campaign trail and social media, haranguing his enemies, is laced with race-baiting and antisemitic conspiratorial tropes.
"There's nothing traditional about Donald Trump and there never has been, but we've never been in this situation before and what's different now is how polarised we are," said Frank Luntz, a pollster who has worked on numerous Republican election campaigns. "This is like lighting a match in the middle of a bonfire that's been doused with gasoline."
Briefly, it seemed this time might be different. Trump launched his 2024 election campaign last November at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida with uncharacteristic low energy, avoiding his stolen election lies and insisting: "We're going to keep it very elegant."
Denne historien er fra April 07, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 07, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The Saudi football World Cup is an act of violence and disdain
Well, that's that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa's extraordinary virtual congress last week to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 football World Cups.
AI has made the move into video and it's worryingly plausible
I recently had the opportunity to see a demo of Sora, OpenAI's video generation tool, which was released in the US last Monday, and it was so impressive it made me worried for the future.
With tyrant Assad ousted, Syrians deserve support and hope
Last week, time collapsed. Bashar al-Assad's fall recalled scenes across the region from the start of the Arab spring almost 14 years ago. Suddenly history felt vivid, its memories sharpened. In fact it no longer felt like history.
TV
The Guardian Weekly team reveals our small-screen picks of the year, from the underground vaults of post-apocalyptic Fallout to the mile-high escapism of Rivals
Albums
Murky love stories, nostalgic pop and an in-your-face masterpiece captured our critics' ears in 2024
Film
Visual language, sound, light and rhythm are to the fore in the best movies of the year
Hidden delights Our 24 travel finds of 2024
Guardian travel writers share their discoveries of the year, from Læsø to Lazio
'It's really a disaster' The fight to save lives as gang war consumes capital
Dr James Gana stepped out on to the balcony of his hospital overlooking a city under siege. \"There's a sensation of 'What's next?'. Desperation is definitely present,\" the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medic said, as he stared down at one of scores of camps for displaced Haitians in their country's violence-plagued capital.
Trailblazers The inspiring people we met around the world this year
From an exuberant mountaineer to a woman defiantly facing the guns of war, here are some of the brave individuals who gave us hope in a tumultuous 2024
Votes of confidence
From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?
