Sever Voinescu: The love for Trump, among Romanians

A Gallup poll from February highlighted that Romania is the only European country where Donald Trump has a net positive perception (11 percentage points is the difference between positive and negative). In the rest, in the opinion of the "peoples" within the European Union, the American president "comes off negatively," as they say. The research I have access to does not go in-depth, it does not explore motivations. Therefore, I take its results at face value and add what I observe in the environment in which I live. In the face of the phenomenon of Romanian sympathy and antipathy towards the impetuous American president, I have come to the conclusion that a contemporary compatriot supports Donald Trump for three main reasons.

The first reason would be political-strategic opportunism, cold calculation, and – I say this clearly – patriotism. Essentially, Trump is the president of America, he is an atypical president, extremely subjective and changeable, egomaniacal, anti-institutional, for whom loyalty to his person is essential. We did not make him president, we are not the ones to bring him down; his presence in this position of global power is, for us, a given that we must somehow work with. The idea that we discipline him, that we show him, that we can apply some pedagogical corrections is stupid. It is more useful, from the perspective of national interest, to curry favor with him and accept all his whims. Why? Because only America can ensure our security in this terrible regional context. You look around, calculate, see that the EU does not have a strong enough military-strategic profile to deter, at a pinch, Russia, our main enemy, and then you stay close to the only one who can do it. It is true, until yesterday, we knew that America could and wanted to deter Russia. Today we no longer know if it wants to or not, but we know it can and we bet on that. Some of Trump's supporters bet on him with a sincere heart, others with complete confidence. The fact is that this kind of opinion, this kind of support for Trump is also that of those who decide Romania's strategic policy. I cannot say that it is a wrong calculation, just as it would not be so certain that it is correct. There is a risk here, because Trump – an instinctual and irrational president, who believes more in his feelings than in strategic calculation – sincerely sympathizes with Putin. I do not see him willing to confront him. On the other hand, breaking ranks in the EU for the sake of such a fragile bet does not seem very intelligent. No matter how weak and hypocritical the EU is (which it is both!), we are closer to the shirt than the coat. These are the times, and it is good to know that the age of certainties has passed.

The second reason why a Romanian can support Donald Trump is that he stands up to the leftists, that he aggressively reverses absurd gender policies, that he shakes an establishment that had imposed its agenda by all state, media, and economic means. I have often written here against the disnationalizing, politically correct left, against the severe cultural censorship it imposed, against the reintroduction of processes of intent very similar to those from the communist years, against anti-racist obsessions taken far beyond anti-racism, taken to the point of inventing an absurd anti-racist racism, against the hunting of people and reputations by unleashing packs of incompetent activists. Trump came against them, and here he represses them, and many of his supporters, in fact, support this.

In my opinion, these two sets of reasons are legitimate. Neither opportunistic calculation nor opposition to forced ideologization, to the leftist militancy of today seems to me to be worrying for the health of our society. The third reason, however, seems to me to be worrying, even dangerous: anti-Europeanism and pro-Putinism.

Of course, Trump is right in some respects: Europe has become weak, has alienated itself, no longer produces civilizational energy, but only flaccid welfare, lamentation, and a strange joy in its own de-Europeanization. Europe is no longer capable of defending itself, is no longer capable of being an economic competitor to the two giants, is no longer capable of defending its identity (it is so frightened by ideological aggression that it does not even affirm it anymore!). But let us not forget that Europe's weakness is not a cause for concern for Trump.

On the contrary, it is a reason for joy. The man aggresses European countries, threatens them, imposes absurd tariffs, he sees in life the strongest external enemy of Europe and intensively cultivates all those who want to destroy the Union from within. Therefore, to appreciate Trump because he detests us is, after all, unacceptable. There are people who love Trump out of a kind of self-hatred. The psychopathology of self-hatred is no longer marginal in today's Europe and Romania; it is a significant ideological and political force. More and more people are making public careers and have massive support around their own identity. Who does not receive applause on Facebook when they write how miserable we are, how horrible orthodoxy is, how we mean nothing, we are a wandering tribe, we are not even Romanians, not even Latins, everyone around us is brilliant, we are just imagined shadows, our history does not exist, everything we know about ourselves from our parents is a lie? What a remarkable success such discourses have! Have you ever thought about why? Have you ever thought that it is possible to have a better opinion about your enemy, about the one who wants to destroy you, to deconstruct you, to make you dust, than about yourself? We know that it is possible for the ideas in our minds to suppress the most elementary instincts of conservation and survival. Many Romanians hate themselves believing that this makes them intelligent.

In this current of thought and feeling, Trump fishes a lot of support. I promise you that I will study the phenomenon further and keep you updated.

https://www.dilema.ro/tilc-show/amorul-de-trump-la-romani