The President of the United States has vanished from public view. There have been no cameras in the Oval Office today, even though his schedule lists both a signing and a meeting, both the kind of events that usually come with a choreographed press appearance. We haven’t seen any late-night posting sprees, and no unhinged rants. Not even a desperate attempt to change the subject by launching some new crisis to distract us. Just silence, loud silence. And that should concern us all. In normal times, that kind of retreat from a leader might feel steady, even reassuring. But when Donald Trump goes quiet, it almost always means one thing: he’s feeling trapped and doesn’t know how to control the consequences of his actions. He knows the past is catching up to him, and he doesn’t know where to run. Or his staff sees how bad the situation is and is keeping him locked away while they scramble to cover it up.
Because this is not a man who stays silent by choice. This is a man who posts at three in the morning. Who attacks allies and fellow citizens alike before most Americans are even out of bed. Who cannot stand being contradicted, embarrassed, or exposed. He responds to everything with escalation. With him, silence is not his instinct; it’s a warning for the rest of us.
But right now, as the…
