The political strategy of Donald Trump is increasingly characterised by what observers describe as a panicked attempt to recreate a mythical, homogeneously white America through cruelty and persecution, according to a searing analysis by writer Rebecca Solnit. This vision, she argues, not only clashes with historical fact but is destined to fail against the nation's immutable demographic trajectory.
The Targets of Cruelty: From Somali Americans to US Citizens
As his political influence wanes, Trump has intensified vitriolic attacks against female journalists and ethnic minorities, with Somali Americans among the most recent targets. Solnit contends these insults gain traction through animosity and the remnants of his power, not through accuracy. The administration's immigration enforcement actions, spearheaded by ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement), are similarly broad and driven by falsehoods.
The true target, the analysis suggests, is not individuals with criminal histories but anyone perceived as 'brown'. Documented cases have seen Native Americans with tribal ID cards, US citizens, military veterans, college students, and small children caught in the dragnet. Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, has condemned these operations, stating, "ICE raids are cruel, inhumane, and do nothing to serve public safety." The scenes of masked agents breaking car windows and separating families, Solnit writes, serve only to terrorise communities and disrupt societal functions.
A Historical Myth: America Was Never a 'White Country'
The foundational premise of this push—that America was once a white nation that can be restored—is historically false. Solnit dismantles this myth by noting that in 1776, the thirteen colonies included significant Black and Indigenous populations. The annexation of Texas in 1844 and the seizure of Mexico's northern territories in 1848 incorporated a large Spanish-speaking populace. Furthermore, the first African Muslim arrived with a Spanish expedition nearly a century before the Mayflower landed in 1620.
"The persecution of huge numbers of brown people and even the mass deportations will not create the white country of far-right fantasy," Solnit asserts. She points to Los Angeles, a city nearly 50% Latino, whose very Spanish name is a testament to its origins. Demographic shifts are entrenched, rendering the project of a white majority America an impossibility.
Pronatalism and Policy: A Coherent Strategy of Demographic Control
This anti-immigrant fervour is coupled with a pronounced attack on reproductive rights, which analysts like Margaret Talbot of the New Yorker label as 'pronatalism'. This ideology, often pairing concerns over falling birth rates with anti-immigration and anti-feminist ideas, was exemplified by J.D. Vance's insults towards childless women. However, as CNN reports, these efforts are undermined by simultaneous cuts to vital support programmes like Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US Health Secretary, has further complicated public health efforts by promoting unscientific dietary schemes. Meanwhile, the administration's sentimentality towards fossil fuels, especially coal, leads to policies that sabotage cheaper renewable energy, all under the banner of rejecting 'climate change ideology'.
Ultimately, Solnit frames Trump's immigration and social policies as "dim-witted bullying" by those who must base claims of superiority on race and gender, having no coherent intellectual foundation. The most powerful rebuke, she concludes, is visible in the thousands of citizens who organise, protest, and risk arrest to defend their neighbours from ICE raids. "City after city has risen up to defend its own," she writes. "All of Trump’s insults cannot change that."
