>"Trump’s history of pettiness, demagoguery and sheer narcissism is so long and consistent that it seems a fantasy that he might ever change and put his country over his own wants and desires. But it is worth fantasizing for a moment."
>"A brush with death has — at least temporarily — ushered in a more reflective Trump. Bluster is replaced by an appreciation of luck, chance and his own mortality: 'If I only half-turn, it hits the back of the brain,' he said. 'The other way goes right through [the skull]. ... The chances of my making a perfect turn are probably one-tenth of 1 percent.'” >"And his conclusion <https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/3082224/trump-im-not-supposed-to-be-here/>: 'I’m not supposed to be here.'” >"Stories of near-death experiences chastening sinners and pushing them toward the light are the stuff of legend. But they are also the stuff of real, ordinary lives — of individuals who make a conscious choice to turn away from the past and restructure their own narratives toward a better end." >"If God is real — something that most Americans still believe <https://news.gallup.com/poll/508886/belief-five-spiritual-entities-edges-down-new-lows.aspx#:~:text=Belief%20in%20God%20has%20been,in%20hell%20and%20the%20devil.> — then presumably no one is immune to his gifts. The question then remains: What will Trump choose to do with his? Not known for speaking about the divine with real feeling or sincerity, he has been quick to praise God, saying <https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112784638860095397> that 'it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.' The Trump family is feeling <https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/15/politics/rally-shooting-aftermath-trump-god/index.html> 'spiritual, in a way,' according to a person close to them." >"It could mean that he [Trump] campaigns and then governs — in the now more likely event that he wins — in a manner that is less authoritarian. It could mean that when presented with an opportunity to escalate tensions, he might choose instead to tamp them down. As it happens, this would also be in his self-interest, a way to redeem [h]is tarnished legacy." >"If this sounds like a fantasy, perhaps it is. But fantasies sometimes come true. Fortunately for Trump — and perhaps for us — God works in mysterious ways." ---------------------------------------- By: Shadi Hamid Published in: *The Washington Post* Date: July 16, 2024 What a nation can expect when a leader is nearly assassinated. Extreme, unusual events — all it takes is one — can change the trajectory of individual lives and entire nations. Although we didn’t know it yet, America had just days ago two potential futures — one in which Donald Trump <https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2> was shot and one in which he wasn’t. Trump’s history of pettiness, demagoguery and sheer narcissism is so long and consistent that it seems a fantasy that he might ever change and put his country over his own wants and desires. But it is worth fantasizing for a moment. Perhaps Trump is doing the same. Less than 24 hours after the bullet grazed his ear, he told reporters <https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/3082224/trump-im-not-supposed-to-be-here/> that he had a “brutal” speech ready for the Republican National Convention but “threw it out” in favor of something more unifying. Displaying an unusual level of self-awareness, he explained: “I think it would be very bad if I got up and started going wild about how horrible everybody is and how corrupt and crooked, even if it’s true.” Knowing what we know now, the Trump rally in Butler, Pa., is striking to watch <https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/13/politics/video/trump-secret-service-butler-pennsylvania-digvid>. A moment before shots ring out, the former president turns his head. It’s a turn that changes American history. A brush with death has — at least temporarily — ushered in a more reflective Trump. Bluster is replaced by an appreciation of luck, chance and his own mortality: “If I only half-turn, it hits the back of the brain,” he said. “The other way goes right through [the skull]. ... The chances of my making a perfect turn are probably one-tenth of 1 percent.” And his conclusion <https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/3082224/trump-im-not-supposed-to-be-here/>: “I’m not supposed to be here.” Stories of near-death experiences chastening sinners and pushing them toward the light are the stuff of legend. But they are also the stuff of real, ordinary lives — of individuals who make a conscious choice to turn away from the past and restructure their own narratives toward a better end. Foiled assassination attempts are their own subgenre, and here the evidence is more mixed. Egyptian relatives of mine noted the similarities between the attack on Trump and a plot on Egyptian strongman Gamal Abdel Nasser in October 1954. A gunman fired at him during a speech but missed. Seconds later, Nasser was defiant and electrified the crowd in one of the more emotional political moments caught on tape <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTXHeNpJ6OY>. “I will live for your sake and die for the sake of your freedom and honor,” he said, his voice rising <https://books.google.com/books?id=16U0mEbf4nAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=eugene+rogan+the+arabs&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiowIbzoKqHAxWKFFkFHU8lCSwQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=let%20them%20kill%20me&f=false>. “Let them kill me; it does not concern me so long as I have instilled pride, honor and freedom in you.” Sadly, the aftermath did not quite follow in that spirit. Nasser ordered one of the most extensive political crackdowns in Egypt’s history and nurtured a personality cult that would remain until his death 16 years later. In 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan survived a dramatic coup attempt. The plotters came close to killing him <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/turkeys-prime-minister-says-military-attempted-coup-against-government/2016/07/15/1709b04a-4ac6-11e6-8dac-0c6e4accc5b1_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_15>, firing on his location in the resort town of Marmaris, Turkey, shortly after he had left. Afterward, Erdogan called the coup attempt a “gift from God <https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/06/erdogan-turkey-islamist/531609/>.” He responded to the gift with escalating repression, leaning into his authoritarian instincts with renewed vigor. Failed assassination attempts on actual or would-be heads of state are, mercifully, less common in established democracies. For a similarly close call in the United States, one must go back to March 30, 1981, when John Hinckley Jr. shot and nearly killed President Ronald Reagan. “I was lucky,” Reagan recalled <https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/29/opinion/why-i-m-for-the-brady-bill.html?src=pm>. “The bullet that hit me bounced off a rib and lodged in my lung, an inch from my heart.” Reagan, too, considered this part of God’s divine plan. On his hospital bed, Reagan, who wasn’t an especially devout man, prayed to God <https://books.google.com/books?id=gNuLDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA412&lpg=PA412&dq=%22I+began+to+pray+for+his+soul+and+that+he+would+find+his+way+back+into+the+fold%22+reagan&source=bl&ots=mITTYqj_cu&sig=ACfU3U3tq5eaBmeGiUKI8o13XhKAbg9PeQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNtuqYrqqHAxV7MVkFHTZgDCsQ6AF6BAglEAM#v=onepage&q=%22I%20began%20to%20pray%20for%20his%20soul%20and%20that%20he%20would%20find%20his%20way%20back%20into%20the%20fold%22%20reagan&f=false> for help but also “began to pray for his [shooter’s] soul and that he would find his way back into the fold.” Back at the White House, Reagan told Cardinal Terence Cooke: “I have decided that whatever time I have left is for Him.” His encounter with death also had implications for the policies he pursued in the twilight of the Cold War. As he later recounted <https://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/30/avlon.reagan.shooting/index.html>, “Perhaps having come so close to death made me feel I should do whatever I could in the years God had given me to reduce the threat of nuclear war.” Trump is not Reagan. He is, well, Trump. But if God is real — something that most Americans still believe <https://news.gallup.com/poll/508886/belief-five-spiritual-entities-edges-down-new-lows.aspx#:~:text=Belief%20in%20God%20has%20been,in%20hell%20and%20the%20devil.> — then presumably no one is immune to his gifts. The question then remains: What will Trump choose to do with his? Not known for speaking about the divine with real feeling or sincerity, he has been quick to praise God, saying <https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112784638860095397> that “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” The Trump family is feeling <https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/15/politics/rally-shooting-aftermath-trump-god/index.html> “spiritual, in a way,” according to a person close to them. Of course, a change of Trump’s heart would not mean he would pursue policies that Democrats like. He is still the nominee of the Republican Party. But it could mean that he campaigns and then governs — in the now more likely event that he wins — in a manner that is less authoritarian. It could mean that when presented with an opportunity to escalate tensions, he might choose instead to tamp them down. As it happens, this would also be in his self-interest, a way to redeem is tarnished legacy. If this sounds like a fantasy, perhaps it is. But fantasies sometimes come true. Fortunately for Trump — and perhaps for us — God works in mysterious ways. Shadi Hamid is a Post columnist and member of the Editorial Board. He is also a research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary and the author of several books, including "The Problem of Democracy" and "Islamic Exceptionalism."
