F o c u s o n t h e T r u m p c u l t

Much has already been written regarding the indictments against former US President Donald Trump

The crimes he is alleged to have committed have been examined And his defense that this is a partisan political attack to derail his candidacy has been thoroughly critiqued The story, however, is bigger because, in a real sense, we re not just dealing with the law justice or even reason Instead what is playing out is the radical transformation of a substantial component of the American electorate into a cult-like movement in the thrall of a cult leader Donald Trump

TH E R E was a time when the Republican Party was a centre-right group that prided itself on the simple conservative philosophy of rule of law individual freedom less taxes and small government But over the past six decades that party morphed into an intolerant xenophobic pseudopopulist movement that deepened political divisions and exploited the fears, insecurities, and resentments of Americans shaken by the economic, political and cultural changes occurring in the USA

While these factors laid the kindling what provided the spark that ignited the flames of social unrest were the sudden economic collapse of 2008 and that year s election of Barack Obama as president Obama had inspired much of the electorate with a message of hope and a vision of an inclusive America that brought together a substantial coalition led by young voters, women, and Black Latino Asian and a number of recent immigrant communities

Within months of Obama s decisive victory Republicans launched a cultural counterattack that preyed on the resentments of voters who felt left behind The GOP effort took two forms: the Birther movement suggesting that Obama was not born in the USA and therefore was an illegitimate president and the Tea Party’s railing against “big government” as responsible for the economic woes and social tensions confronting middle class white Americans The political revolution generated by these two movements laid the predicate for Donald Trump s ascent to power in 2016

Trump was never a conservative Republican, in the traditional sense, and therefore can’t be understood by his political philosophy He has been called a showman r

GLOBAL

ON June 19, Chinese President Xi

Jinping met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing, which was the most important and highly anticipated part of Blinken s China visit Until the last moment whether Blinken would secure a meeting with President Xi was a topic of great interest in the US media, carrying significant indicators to measure the achievements of Blinken’s visit and the level of easing in China-US relations

Therefore once the meeting was confirmed and the scene of the meeting was released it immediately became one of the most significant international events of the day Against the backdrop of the international community’s widespread concern over the downward spiral of China-US relations this meeting has released the expected signal of relief

Though the meeting was not long it carried substantial information President Xi expounded on the principled stance for stabilizing and developing China-US relations, providing strategic and guiding suggestions President Xi emphasized that the world needs a generally stable China-US relationship and whether the two countries can find the right way to get along bears on the future and destiny of humanity The vast expanse of the Earth is big enough to accommodate the respective development and common prosperity of China and the US Xi pointed out The Chinese like the Americans are dignified confident and self-reliant people Xi said adding that they both have the right to pursue a better life, and the common interests of the two countries should be valued, and their respective success is an opportunity instead of a threat to each other

These words are full of sincerity and goodwill while also targeted Some people in the US view China s development with a narrow mindset of zero-sum game or even negative-sum game, perceiving it as a threat rather than an opportunity Their biases toward China, catalyzed by the complex political and diplomatic environment in Washington have become the crux of the twists and turns in China-US relations

In other words the US own problems have turned into problems in bilateral relations, which need to be resolved by the US side China has consistently demonstrated its strategic clarity to the US which is a sharp contrast with US side’s strategic ambiguity The three most commonly used adjectives by both sides for their high-level communication are frank, in-depth and constructive Clarity represents frankness

We believe that Blinken deeply understands this during his visit China has thoroughly explained the root causes of the low point in China-US relations the urgent tasks for both sides China s intentions and goals for development and revitalization and the most prominent risks in the bilat- whose popularity was due to his celebrity status But he s more than that He fits the classic definition of a cult leader who has been successful in convincing a sizable minority of the electorate that he alone understands them and can save them He has also transformed the contemporary GOP from a political party into a personal cult Cult leaders throughout history share many characteristics They are narcissists who seek the limelight They never avoid conflict but rather seek it out as it places them at the centre of attention They project success and power, never admitting failure, error, or wrongdoing, and use humour to ridicule and demean their opponents They are charismatic and persuasive, convincing their followers that they alone know their fears and insecurities and they alone can address them At the same time by creating this identification with their followers cult leaders convince the faithful that those who oppose them or seek to bring them down are not just the leader s enemy, but their enemy as well Cult leaders project a vision of success:

“If I win, you win, and all will be well in the future If I lose you lose and we’ll all be going to hell ”

This was the essence of Donald Trump s address to the Republican Convention in 2016 He drew a dark and foreboding portrait of America and painted himself as the only one who could lead America back to greatness

During the campaign and the years that followed,

While the legal process runs its course, no one should expect that a conviction will spell the end of Donald Trump or his cult following. If he wins, his followers will feel vindicated. In the likely event that he loses, TrumpÊs supporters will feel as victimized, threatened, and ripe for revolt as they were on 6 January 2021. This cult has been decades in the making and wonÊt be ended by an election defeat or a conviction eral relationship China does not harbor ill intentions toward the US, but it will definitely counteract any suppressive actions

If the US still has any misunderstandings about China s strategic intentions then we can only assume that they are deliberate and pretending to be ignorant

Overall, in a situation with low expectations from various parties and having experienced twists and turns Blinken’s visit to China has achieved some specific consensus and the communication has been efficient and in-depth It is worth noting that during the talks, Blinken made some statements that moved toward China s position For example, he said that the US is committed to returning to the agenda set at the summit between the heads of state in Bali and reiterated US President Joe Biden s commitment of five noes Some of Blinken s statements during the press conference held on Monday evening also reflected this point However, it should be pointed out that the “stability” of ChinaUS relations requires both sides meeting each other halfway especially for the US to be consistent in both words and deeds

Even though it is still too early to determine if it was a successful visit, ChinaUS relations made positive progress because of the trip This is in the interests of the US, China, and even the world, which is also what the international community hopes to see The world once had unprecedentedly low confidence in the turnaround of China-US relations but now there are more expectations for the stability of China-US relations China and the US have taken a step forward but it is still far from enough The key lies in the next steps It goes without saying that there are still differences between the two countries on many issues No one expects Blinken s trip to resolve these divergences Its greater significance lies in the possibility of reversing the highly unhealthy and tense atmosphere in bilateral relations and thus creating conditions for managing and resolving the differences China s reception of Blinken also showcases China s demeanor as a major power and its sincerity in stabilizing China-US relations and strengthen communication Previously, the US gave the world the impression that China was unwilling to communicate but it is clearly not the case

Some media outlets noticed that the blooming lotus placed at the center of the meeting table between President Xi and Blinken was particularly eye-catching It is currently the season of lotus blooms, and “lotus” has the same pronunciation in Chinese as “harmony ” conveying the expectation of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between China and the US

We hope that after returning to the US Blinken will comprehensively and objectively convey the information received in China, generating new momentum for stabilizing China-US relations and

Trump further developed these themes and as his hold over his followers grew, he not only sought to deepen this identification with his base, but also successfully established their shared enemies: Democrats, Republicans who opposed him the press the courts the “deep state ” and those who supported foreigners who were in his words ruining America

When the reality he sought to create was undermined by facts, he posited alternate facts And his cult believed them

What is playing out in response to the recently unsealed indictments is more of the same His words and his supporters’ raucous cheers illustrate what is so worrisome about this situation in which we find ourselves

For example in his remarks to the Georgia Republican Convention less than a day after the indictments were released, Trump painted the following picture Maintaining that the 2020 election was stolen, he portrayed the indictments as just another form of “election interference ” It was a “witch hunt” and an abuse of power by Democrats who were using the courts to undermine his electoral chances in 2024 Biden he said is trying to jail his leading opponent just like they do in Stalinist Russia and Communist China

Trump went to great lengths to defend himself and minimize the charges levelled against him, saying that his alleged misdeeds paled in comparison to those of his former opponents Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden He insisted that the indictments were all based on politics

His list of enemies grew to include: Marxists law enforcement agencies in the control of Democrats Republicans who opposed him, elites in the media, and the sick political class that hates our country who

TEHRAN TIMES

HA M S H A H R I wrote in a note about Riyadh s rapprochement with Tehran: Saudi Arabia after suffering heavy political security and economic losses, concluded that America s humiliating and blackmailing attitude had cost the kingdom greatly

Over the past years America has received about 500 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia through the sale of arms But now Saudi Arabia has realized that the American supportive umbrella is not stable and should change its behavior toward the neighboring and eastern countries The new foreign policy of Saudi Arabia is that Iran is a trusted country and the United States through Iranophobia has prevented the kingdom to establish a stable relationship with Iran and other Persian Gulf countries

Today, Saudi Arabia is seriously seeking a stable mechanism for relationship with Iran Also, a maritime security coalition involving Iran Saudi Arabia the Emirates and Oman is also on agenda to localize security in the Persian Gulf The Saudis also hope to be able to use Iran s native technologies

JAVAN: TO REVISE THE CON-

TRACTS IN THE FIELD OF ENERGY:

Javan had an exclusive interview with the oil minister In a part of the interview Javad Oji said: There was a revision in the contracts so that the contracts became attractive for domestic and foreign investors We signed contracts worth about 100 billion dollars with domestic and foreign companies Last year, we had about 5 5 billion dollars in foreign contracts in various fields We used the capacity of domestic holding companies and involved banks in projects such as the Azadegan oil field Upon the progress were defending the corrupt system that he was determined to smash

In remarks following his first court appearance he made the following claim to a cheering crowd:

“If the communists get away with this it won’t stop with me They will not hesitate to ramp up their persecution of Christians pro-life activists parents attending school board meetings and even future Republican candidates They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom

They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you and I am the only one who can save this nation because you know they’re not coming after me they re coming after you

We can debate the charges against Trump and the validity of his claims of persecution but what must not be ignored is his hold over a substantial portion of the GOP Despite the indictments, endorsements by Republican elected officials continue to roll in He is their cult leader, and they are afraid to go against his massive following

While the legal process runs its course no one should expect that a conviction will spell the end of Donald Trump or his cult following If he wins his followers will feel vindicated In the likely event that he loses, Trump s supporters will feel as victimized, threatened, and ripe for revolt as they were on 6 January 2021 This cult has been decades in the making and won’t be ended by an election defeat or a conviction Attention therefore must be paid to the root causes that bred this cult and they must be addressed in order to restore sanity to our political life

The writer is President of the Arab American Institute of these projects people themselves directly become shareholders in the projects

The unfinished Iran LNG project, with a value of 5 2 billion dollars, had been abandoned Fortunately, this project power plant became operational and its sweetening unit is being done by various contractors and we are trying to make the LNG project carried out in this government based on the emphasis of the Supreme Leader

ARMAN-E-EMROOZ: AGREEMENT OR UNDERSTANDING; THIS IS NOT

THE ISSUE: In a commentary Arman-eEmrooz wrote: Rumors indicate that the goal of the recent talks between Iran and the United States is an understanding because the agreement must also be approved by Congress However, many members of Congress are against giving any concessions to Iran The parties could not revive the 2015 JCPOA and they hope to return some limitations on Iran s nuclear program to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons In recent days, Michael McCall, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, warned about the Biden government’s attempt to avoid the scrutiny of Congress about any agreement or understanding

Generally if the Biden government reaches a nuclear agreement with Iran this agreement must be voted and approved by Congress A big obstacle that some experts believe is that the Biden government is trying to give less information about the process of the nuclear negotiations to Congress so that the serious opponents of the agreement do not stop it But is it an agreement or understanding as the media report?

Antony Blinken, the U S Secretary of State, answered this question on Saturday About the Iran nuclear case, Blinken said that some reports about the nuclear agreement or the

(American) detainees (in Iran) are not true

KAYHAN: DEFEAT OF AMERICA AND ISRAEL AGAIN AFTER FAISAL

BIN SALMAN VISIT: In an analysis, Kayhan discussed Faisal bin Farhan’s trip to Iran and said: Bin Farhan s trip to Iran with the aim of securing Iran-Saudi relationship and the two key sentences cooperation in the field of maritime security and freeing the region from weapons of mass destruction”, which of course can be summed them in two words “sustainable security” had many reflections in the world and attracted the attention of many political experts However they provoked the anger of America and Israel America, which had tried to push the Arab countries to compromise with the Zionist regime and create a united front in the form of a single security umbrella against Iran through the Iranophobia project and promises of selling weapons today sees its dreams have gone with the wind The new positive developments in the region will deprive the U S from highly lucrative sale of weapons The U S will also suffer a heavy blow to its hegemony as countries are taking steps toward regionalization of security Moreover its presence in the region will become irrelevant

The Hebrew language MivzakLive also commented on the matter It said Iran has recently completed the process of de-escalating tensions with many Arab countries in the southern Persian Gulf among which we can also mention the expansion of relations with the United Arab Emirates Israel has long tried to isolate Iran diplomatically in the Middle East and the world However, the process of rapprochement between Iran and the Arab countries proved that this action has failed

US’ plan to rope in India to serve Washington’s purpose wishful thinking

GLOBAL TIMES

Wa n H e n g y i

TH E US intention to rope in India to counter China and Russia, and even further intensify the regional tensions toward militarization and conflict is only Washington’s own wishful thinking analysts said on Sunday

The US expects a transformational moment in India ties during Prime Minister Narendra Modi s upcoming trip to Washington, President Joe Biden s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said as he downplayed chances for a diplomatic breakthrough in China when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Reuters reported on Friday Secretary Blinken s trip to China will be a significant event but it s likely not even the most significant event of next week when it comes to US foreign policy, Sullivan said at a briefing in Tokyo on Friday Biden has made deepening ties with India a cornerstone of his efforts to contain China s expanding influence with his administration also hoping to persuade India which maintains some security and economic ties with Russia, to buy US military drones, Reuters said on Friday

The close engagement between India and the US is a continuation of both coun- tries’ foreign policies, and India has indeed maintained close cooperation with the US in recent years particularly in the areas of economy technology and defense Qian Feng director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times

It is foreseeable that both sides will reach new agreements during the leaders’ meeting particularly in economic and defense cooperation to further deepen their strategic partnership the expert noted India has traditionally followed a diplomatic approach of maintaining a balanced relationship with major powers, particularly regarding its relations with the US and Russia, Qian said, adding that its relationship with Russia has faced challenges especially with the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine leaving India confronted with numerous irreconcilable issues and challenges in managing its relationships with the US and Russia India has never directly criticized Russia since the start of the Ukraine crisis publicly but it has consistently called for the “cessation of hostilities by both sides and the need for a peaceful solution India has also become one of the top buyers of Russian crude in the last one year, according to Indian media reports T h a p p r o a c h e s o f I n d i a O n t h e o n e h a n d , I n d i a h a s s t r e n g t h e n e d c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h the US and the West especially in defense and security but on the other hand it has e x p l i c i t l y r e f u s e d t o j o i n t h e U S - l e d

NATO Qian remarked

Analysts noted that these seemingly contradictory actions are taken with the purpose of safeguarding India’s existing strategic framework and maximizing its position among major powers in order to pursue its national interests to the fullest extent Separately Blinken began meetings in Beijing on Sunday just days ahead of Modi s arrival in Washington on June 22, wishing to manage the escalation to ensure that the world’s two biggest military powers do not “veer into conflict ” Sullivan was quoted as saying in a separate Reuters report on Friday

The discrepancy between the US stated position and its actual actions can be attributed to the fact that one of the key focuses of US-India cooperation is to contain and exert pressure on China, experts noted However whether such US’ scheme will be successful or not does not solely depend on itself India as a regional power that upholds strategic autonomy is unwilling to be a pawn of any major power and does not want its national interests to be held hostage as a result, the experts added

CHINA n e w s d e s k

ARECENT report by a European organization investigating fake narratives of Indian media went viral on Chinese social media platforms recently drawing wide attention to India s supposedly vast smear campaign against China and Pakistan

Following reports in 2019 and 2020, the latest investigation report by independent non-profit organization EU DisinfoLab, published in February 2023 exposes more details and evidences to prove that Asian News International (ANI) an Indian news agency has been quoting a number of non-existent organizations, journalists and bloggers to spread disinformation that attacks and smears China and Pakistan The report further uncovered that India has long been building a huge anti-China and anti-Pakistan disinformation network and that Indian media outlets have built a sophisticated assembly line of fake anti-China and anti-Pakistan news

On the one hand, the Indian media produces and spreads false narratives about China and on the other hand the Indian government restricts Chinese journalists’ access to India and deny their rights of reporting a real India by treating Chinese journalists in an unfair and discriminatory manner during their posting in India and visa application process

Chinese experts said the investigation report exposes a deliberate effort by India or Indian media to shape negative narratives against China and Pakistan The presence of such disinformation campaign aligns with India’s strained relations with both countries

They pointed out that the production of fake news by Indian media can incite nationalist sentiment within the country and distract people from the real problems of the country and the poor performance of its government Within the complex geopolitical context of South Asia, such disinformation campaigns can have far-reaching consequences, which can exacerbate tensions strain diplomatic relations and hinder regional cooperation efforts observers warned

Bad sources

The investigation report titled Bad

Sources – How Indian news agency ANI quoted sources that do not exist,” published by EU DisinfoLab, unveils “its latest investigation into anti-Pakistan/China influence operations according to the organization

The report said ANI is an Indian news agency that plays a relevant role in the country s information ecosystem, providing content for many well-established media across India, such as The Print and Business Standard With this network ANI acts as a purveyor of news to millions of Indians

In the report researchers write that ANI has been repeatedly quoting articles and re- ports issued by a think tank named the International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) The think tank was previously chaired by Mario Silva a former Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) and dissolved in 2014, according to public information provided on a Canadian government website

However, when they checked IFFRAS’ official website the researchers found that it has kept updating information including articles news books and even conferences and that ANI has kept quoting information from the think tank s website

For example, on December 27, 2022, IFFRAS published an article titled “Pakistan’s persecution of minorities under scanner again ” and on the same day the article was quoted by ANI in a piece of news headlined Pakistan s ill-treatment of minorities under scanner after UK sanctions Sindhi cleric, with most of the contents coming from the IFFRAS article ANI has quoted IFFRAS more than 200 times from May 2021 to January 2023 and in most instances it was not only quoting but using the IFFRAS reports as the backbone of the articles said the report News reports produced by ANI quoting IFFRAS can possibly get republished or reported on by other media outlets For example in April 14 2022 an ANI report quoting IFFRAS was reproduced by The Statesman an Indian daily newspaper allowing the ANI report to reach a wider audience

In addition researchers of EU DisinfoLab further investigated whether the conference attendees at the think tank quoted in the articles actually exist

To find out who was attending conferences held by IFFRAS, researchers contacted attendees of a session discussing the “Increasing presence of Muslim Brotherhood ” But two of the attendees mentioned by IFFRAS responded that they had never attended such a conference and that the Muslim Brotherhood had nothing (to do) with their field of expertise

The investigation report also pointed out that more than 70 speakers mentioned in the fake conferences of IFFRAS did not exist at all Another interesting finding is that in contrast to the frequent updates on its website IFFRAS Twitter account has not posted any content since 2021 Therefore, the researchers assumed that the sole purpose of IFFRAS is to produce content that can be covered by ANI and then republished widely throughout the Indian press ” ANI s editor Smita Prakash responded to the report on Twitter on February 24 dubbing it defamatory and false The Global Times has tried to contact ANI through the email address provided on its website, wanting to get a response on whether the news agency was aware that IFFRAS had been disbanded in 2014 and does not exist now However as of the publication of this report there was no response from ANI