United States: Shooting in Washington

Is Donald Trump an invincible hero or a cursed president? Since 2016, the American billionaire has been attacked five times, twice during election campaigns and twice during his presidency. Something unprecedented in US history. “Respectfully, why do you think this keeps happening to you?” a journalist asked him this Saturday during the press conference following the gunfire at the press gala dinner at the Hilton hotel in Washington. The president of the world’s leading power had a ready-made answer: “Those who have the most impact are the ones we target.” And he explained without flinching: “We have changed this country and there are many people who are not happy about it. So I think that’s the answer.”

Like Abraham Lincoln…

Before referring to Abraham Lincoln, considered one of the greatest presidents of the United States (1861-1865). This is not the first time the White House tenant has cited his illustrious predecessor, the initiator of the abolition of slavery assassinated in Washington. “I have been treated worse than him,” even dared the Republican candidate on July 20, 2024, resuming his presidential campaign. A week earlier, he had narrowly escaped death at his electoral meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania. Face covered in blood but fist raised on the stage just minutes after a bullet pierced his right ear. A turning point in the election race, his miraculous and combative posture had galvanized MAGA supporters (Make America Great Again) and strengthened Trump’s chances against his Democratic rival, the incumbent President Joe Biden, weakened by age and illness.

Saturday night’s attack did not directly reach the president and initial information on Sunday even suggested that “the assailant was targeting administration members” of Trump. Later, the presidency hinted that a “depraved lunatic was seeking to assassinate the president.” The Republican, at his lowest in the polls, could take advantage of this serious event to attempt to rebuild his political image just a few weeks before the November Midterms – these midterm elections historically unfavorable to the incumbent.

« It’s a dangerous life »

Without waiting for the investigation’s conclusions, the White House host quickly reappeared in front of the press, unshaken as a man, a father of the nation, and a war chief. “I lead a fairly normal life, given the fact, you know, it’s a dangerous life,” he downplayed […] It’s not going to make me give up on winning the war in Iran.”

Of course, the media sequence of a standing president – always in his evening tuxedo and mastering the art of television as no one else can – also overshadows the stolen images of the aging political figure. At 79 years old, the former real estate magnate is regularly caught falling asleep in public. More than half of Americans even believe that his mental faculties have deteriorated, according to a Reuters/Ipsos-BVA poll from early April. While being contested on the Israeli-American offensive in the Middle East, the American president quickly received the logical and supportive backing of his European counterparts (such as Emmanuel Macron), temporarily overshadowing the disagreements on the international stage.