Donald Trump’s bizarre theatrics are a brilliant tactic to distract Americans from the climate crisis

The deluge of headlines surrounding Trump’s Independence Day celebrations drowned out news that extreme weather forced the cancellation of fireworks in Alaska – the latest example of how the president’s strategy keeps global warming off the radar

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US President Donald Trump applauds during the “Salute to America” event in Washington on July 4. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 2:00am, 9 Jul 2019Updated: 3:34am, 9 Jul 2019

The spectacle of warplanes roaring over the Lincoln Memorial for Donald Trump’s “Salute to America” on July 4 – less than a week after the president squabbled with the United States’ strategic allies and made light of Russian election interference with his buddy Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit – could be read several ways.

The most obvious conclusion about Trump’s actions over the week, which so many of his opponents have put forward, is that he wants to undo the world order Washington has moulded over decades. But consider also that these are just another example of the brilliant obfuscation tactics that have served Trump so well.

Many US media reports of Trump’s Independence Day atmospherics lamented the militaristic display, pointing out the reasons the US doesn’t traditionally put its arms on show. Others noted that Trump refrained from attacking everyone he perceives as an enemy, giving him extra points for acting like a grown-up.

Few groused about Trump’s order to make this year’s fireworks extravaganza longer than usual, and no one could blame him for the fact that weather conditions made it difficult to see the entire show, another aspect of the festivities that got lots of coverage.

The deluge of headlines about the Fourth of July in Washington, good and bad, was good for Trump and his party. That’s because news and analysis of the celebration in Washington helped drown out the fact that an Independence Day fireworks display was cancelled in Anchorage, Alaska, where record-breaking temperatures in recent months made explosives too much of a wildfire risk.

Unfortunately for Trump and his party, extreme weather events in the US, like the heatwave in Anchorage, provide further evidence of what climate scientists have been saying for decades. But as long as Trump keeps fuelling the outrage of Democrats and many moderate Republicans, he’s safe.

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