It's been the speech of the week, and it's going to last for years. I'm referring to Trump's speech at the UN, and I don't say this just because of the egotism, the lies, and the threats, which we could have taken for granted, but because of what it enshrines and what it announces.
The president of the United States has enthroned before the world his contempt for international institutions, his ridicule of multilateral cooperation, and his mockery of scientific criteria.
But more serious than anything he says is the signal he sends, which is none other than the end of democracy. Trump places his presidency above the law. At Charlie Kirk's funeral, he was clear: "I hate my opponents." In his view, the fragile political mechanism that allows for balances and alternations in power is a naiveté that stands no chance against the will of the supreme leader. Whoever sends people to storm the Capitol, whoever brings troops into the streets of their cities, and whoever renames the Pentagon the War Department is announcing that from now on, the world will live in a permanent state of emergency, which will inevitably force the indefinite suspension of the rules of democracy.
But just as important as the disturbing fascination of his speech was the impact with which it was received. It was the silence of a motionless rabbit, dazzled by the headlights of the car about to run over it. Trump stuns the world by presenting reality from the perspective of his interests, perched on his long, armed arm. But reality is much greater and includes peace and decency, which, like democracy, we cannot allow to be taken away from us.
