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Mexico Holds All The Power

While Trump peddles weak showmanship

Carlyn Beccia
5 min readFeb 7, 2025

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Mexico Holds All The Power
Pexels | Photo by Israel Torres

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In 2018, the grand room filled with the nation’s top officials and enough tension to smother a wildfire. Trump, seated at the helm, turned his gaze to Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary. Without warning, he erupted, chastising Nielsen for failing to secure the nation’s borders.

The room fell silent. Nielsen, composed but clearly stung, took the public flogging.

But this wasn’t about border security. This was theater. Trump wasn’t running a government meeting — he was staging a reality show. The yelling, the finger-pointing, the manufactured outrage? All part of the act. Beneath the bluster, though, was something far less impressive: panic.

For all of his posturing, Trump was deeply rattled by immigration. Immigration, to Trump, had become a litmus test of his strength.

Now, immigration is again Trump’s favorite chest-thumping, strongman exercise. Except he doesn’t want real enforcement — he wants TV-ready cruelty: kids in cages, half-built walls, and, in a particularly twisted touch, a migrant detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.

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Carlyn Beccia
Carlyn Beccia

Written by Carlyn Beccia

Award-winning author of 13 books. My latest: 10 AT 10: The Surprising Childhoods of 10 Remarkable People, MONSTROUS: The Lore, Gore, & Science. CarlynBeccia.com

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