Mar 3, 2019 6 min read

Recently, President Trump went to El Paso to rally his base in support of his border wall. His rally was yet another example that Trump revels in political theater while caring little about actual policy.

As he was about to go onstage, Trump said that members of his staff stopped him, and wanted to tell him about the tentative bipartisan agreement that would avoid another government shutdown. But instead of waiting a few minutes, getting briefed on the development, and then sharing that knowledge with his followers, Trump declared that he did not have time for that. He had to get to “his people.” Evidently, hearing the adulation of his supporters was more important than informing them of developments related to the ostensible purpose of the rally.

Another aspect of his rally that shows he prioritizes theater over getting things done is his changing concept of the wall. The border with Mexico is about 2,000 miles long. In the past 20 years or so, almost 700 miles of barriers (fencing, wall, bollards) were erected in the places where it was most likely to deter illegal entries. During his campaign, Trump claimed that he would erect a “big, beautiful, concrete wall” from 30 to 50 feet high, and that Mexico would pay for it. The whole reason Trump began talking about a wall at his rallies was not because he thought a wall was good policy but because his staff thought it would remind him to talk about immigration, which they felt was a winning political issue. When Trump claimed Mexico would pay for it, his supporters loved it, so that became a theme. One thing Trump is very good at is telling his supporters what they want to hear; it improves ratings. But at some point, a president making promises is expected to deliver.

When Trump was elected, the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, the presidency and a majority of the Supreme Court. But instead of using their complete control of the government to address the “emergency” at the border, the Republicans focused on tax cuts for the rich (which demonstrates the power and influence of their most important constituents – wealthy donors). Was there not a “crisis” on the border then? Did it develop since then, and if so, doesn’t that make Trump responsible for it?

Prior to the government shutdown, the Democrats offered Trump $1.5 billion in spending on border security, but specifically not for any new wall. Although congressional Republicans agreed to the deal, and Trump seemed to be on board, Trump changed his mind after right wing pundits (Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Steve Doocy on Fox News) pilloried him for it. His refusal to sign the bipartisan legislation to keep the government open was what caused the shutdown, which he admitted in an effort to demonstrate his toughness to Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi (and more importantly, the televised audience watching the discussion; more theater that made his policy goals more difficult to achieve).

It does not take an astute politician to understand that Trump had a stronger hand in December, while the Republicans still had a majority in the House, than he did in January, with the new Democratic majority. Not surprisingly, the new agreement that ended the shutdown included $200 million less in funding for border security (not a concrete wall) than he would have gotten had he taken the deal offered in December. It was so important to Trump that he look tough that he was happy to put 800,000 people out of work and cost the government billions of dollars while accepting less from the Democrats than he would have gotten without the shutdown. And he claims that was a win.

One of the Republican criticisms of the Democrats is that because many members previously voted for money to build a border fence, the only reason they won’t do so now is not legitimate policy differences, but because they hate Trump (it’s all politics!). While most are not Trump fans, this charge is absurd. They voted for additional border security when there actually was a crisis there; in 2000, at the peak of illegal immigration from Mexico, the border patrol made more than 1.6 million arrests for illegal crossings along our southern border. But by 2017, that number declined by 82 percent, to its lowest level in decades. The Democrats are against spending more money on the issue because the money they approved earlier actually did the job.

This leads to another piece of political theater Trump demonstrated at the rally. He told his followers that they should not be chanting “build that wall.” Trump told them to say “finish that wall” because he claimed to have already built “a lot of it.” To be clear, no new border wall of the type Trump touted has been built. Remember the eight prototypes built outside San Diego that he had special ops soldiers try to climb? More theater, as the legislation specifically excluded those. While he wants his followers to believe that he’s been very successful (“Promises Kept”), the only way he can now claim to have built most of his promised wall is to rely on his followers not to verify his claim. Besides, if he had built the wall, why did he shut down the government? Or more recently, declare a “national emergency?” At some point, reality will intrude on the bubble Trump creates for his supporters (ask soybean farmers).

The press conference in which he declared the “national emergency” demonstrated that it’s all theater; he admitted that he didn’t “need to do that.” He just wanted to get the wall built faster. But he even undermined that claim for speed, mentioning that the wall would be tied up in court, likely for a long time. But he’s OK with that; he doesn’t actually care about the wall. He just wants it to be a political issue. And after declaring his emergency, what does he do next? Leaves for a weekend at Mar-a-Lago to play golf; he won’t be confused for Churchill anytime soon.

Trump is all about appearances. In assembling his Cabinet, his priority was that nominees “look the part.” But government officials are not actors, and unlike in roles being played on television, they are expected to shape the real world. And if Trump continues to focus on political theater without achieving results, he may find that he’s lost his audience and his show’s been canceled.

Kent James is an East Washington resident and has degrees in history and policy management from Carnegie Mellon University.