Close call with a bullet, ear wraps and NATO missteps: A whirlwind time in US politics | US News

I’m taking a moment to pause after a few incredible weeks.

It’s time to reflect on what has transpired, what could have been, and what may come in the future.

The focal point of the past two weeks was the shooting incident. That moment just after 6pm last Saturday when phones around the world would have received push notifications: “Shots fired at Trump Rally”.

I was at home in Washington DC (it quickly became one of those ‘where were you’ moments) and coincidentally had the TV on.

Within six hours, along with my team from DC, I found myself next to a field in Butler, Pennsylvania, just meters away from where someone had come perilously close to assassinating Donald Trump.

Biden’s NATO moment

The previous week had already been quite extraordinary. The largest summit of its kind in 30 years in Washington: NATO leaders (and a few others) coming together to demonstrate their unity, relevance, and ongoing leadership by the global powerhouse – America.

The question of American leadership was the focal point for all the wrong reasons. President Biden‘s age and the potential return of former President Trump.

As Joe Biden navigated through the summit, leading it but lacking energetic vigor, diplomats and leaders quietly pondered what November might bring.

NATO and ‘the West’ would undergo a significant transformation if Trump were to win in November.

Even if the doomsday scenarios are incorrect, it is clear that a second term for Trump would bring about fundamental changes.

The shift towards Europe, the necessity for Europe to take responsibility for its own affairs would be a stark change. The Article 5 principle of “all for one” may lose its significance. This raises the question – what is the purpose of NATO?

That was the main focus of the summit. And then, as expected, President Biden had a slip of the tongue.

An audible gasp filled the massive press center in Washington as the US president announced: “Now I want to introduce the President of Ukraine, who exemplifies courage and determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”

Following this, in his crucial news conference minutes later, he mistakenly referred to “Vice-President Trump”.

Everyone outside of the news sphere asks me the same question: “How long will he stay in office?”

They assume I have inside information. The truth is, the circle around Biden is small and shrinking. Family and close aides make up his innermost circle.

The encounter with the bullet

Then came Butler. The close call with the bullet. The news cycle shifted again. Biden and his age were momentarily forgotten. Someone had just attempted to murder Trump. And they almost succeeded.

What if they had succeeded? It’s a chilling thought for a country already so divided.

But the story wasn’t just about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. It was about his extraordinary response.

In that moment, “Wait, wait, wait,” he instructed his Secret Service agents as they tried to whisk him offstage.

The master showman had narrowly escaped death but still knew exactly what needed to be done.

His fist rose. His voice rang out. “Fight, fight, fight”. It was truly remarkable. Instantly iconic and defining.

It was the kind of scene that doesn’t need a screenplay, because in America, it happened for real.

This propelled him to the next chapter in this remarkable fortnight – Milwaukee and the Republican National Convention.

The Republican National Convention

The event took on a new significance.

All attention was on Donald Trump. Would this near-death experience change him?

Initially, it was noted that the bandage on his ear became a symbol of solidarity.

Throughout the convention venue, his supporters donned their own bandages over their right ears.

The night of his speech was surreal.

It felt like a rock star moment at the Republican Party’s marquee event, for a divisive figure who had lost the previous election and been dismissed as irrelevant just two years ago.

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It was an all-American spectacle, at least for a segment of America.

There was wrestling, prayer, a rockstar, and the return of a long-absent First Lady.

Melania Trump made a grand entrance accompanied by Beethoven. It was strange; almost like a fairytale. Perhaps fitting.

Honestly, the buildup felt like something out of a surreal dream, into a world where Donald Trump reigned supreme.

The atmosphere was almost hallucinatory. And despite talks of a more subdued, humbled Trump, there was still the same rhetoric, the same man. It was lackluster and lacking in substance. But the audience didn’t seem to mind.

It didn’t feel like a traditional Republican Party event. It was now the Trump Party, unmistakably branded as such.

I didn’t see many members of the old Republican guard in attendance. But perhaps more telling? Not a single member of Trump’s previous White House team was present. That says a lot.

Before I could delve deeper into that, the tide had shifted once again.

Returning to Biden. Calls for him to step down are mounting. He has sparked an unprecedented turmoil within his own party. It’s astonishing.

I’m boarding a plane right now. I wonder if he’ll still be the candidate by the time I land?

Crazy times in America, and this is just the beginning.