The Danger After Trump

Why The Hate Machine Behind MAGA Won't Let Go

My upcoming book, The Hate Machine, is well underway. Today, I want to introduce you to the concept and tell you why it’s an existential threat to America, even after Trump.

Donald Trump will die someday.

For those of you who, like me, hit your 60s and have become very interested in the promising field of longevity research and the expanding range of genetic, pharmaceutical, and other treatments to extend our span of days, it’s too late for him to benefit.

We’re not quite at Longevity Escape Velocity yet, but that’s a story for another day.

Trump, that someday is sooner than later.

Setting aside that his gravesite will become the largest gender-neutral restroom in history, and that we will never be rid of the stench of his low corruption, his ticky-tacky trailer-park Versailles whorehouse design sensibility, and the wreckage he’s caused our economy, our national reputation, and our immortal souls, I have some additional bad news.

The comforting myth I hear whispered in Washington is that Trump was a brutal storm, and the calm comes after. I hear it from Democrats. I hear it from Republicans. I hear it from people who work “in the process” of lobbying and legislation. I hear it from reporters.

As they tell it, after Trump, we’ll go back to “regular order” and the world will spin quietly on its axis as we take on a new world without the Umber Apollo illuminating every corner of our politics.

It’s a story told to children to quiet them as the wind roars outside and the wolves howl in the night; comforting, but false.

We’ll wash off the graffiti, sweep up the broken glass, call the insurance adjuster, and get back to normal, right? That story sells well in green rooms and donor salons, but it misreads the moment.

Trump was not the storm. He was the barometer dropping so fast your ears popped. He was sui-generis, to be sure, and did more damage than anyone believed possible.

Most are preparing, either gleefully or dolefully, for Trump’s passing from the political stage and his passage across the Styx.

There’s one group, I call the Hate Machine, an emergent, leaderless assembly of parallel financial interests, political desires, and ideological demands, that isn’t just ready for his passing; they’re eager for it. For The Hate Machine, the post-Trump world means they’re leaving beta and launching FaaS: Fascism as a Service.

The Machine has tasted nearly unchecked power, and damn did it like the flavor. In four short years (2016-2020), a brief chaotic interregnum, and a malicious encore, it discovered how to bend institutions to its will through a mix of chaos, lobbyists, campaign cash, lawlessness, and procedural ruthlessness.