Pope Donald?
I'm not sure he's thought this through
At the Potsdam Conference that ended WWII, Winston Churchill is said to have told Josef Stalin, who demanded hegemony over Poland and its millions of Catholics, “The Pope will be very displeased.” Stalin is said to have replied, “And how many divisions does the Pope have?”
So there’s a “Board of Peace”. Created and chaired by Donald Trump, and self-empowered with the right to do as it pleases with the Gaza Strip.
(And who knows what else.)
If you think the Board of Peace is being chaired by the President of the United States, you haven’t been paying attention. Yes, the CBOP and the POTUS are currently the same person. But there’s just under 3 years until that changes.
Let’s fast forward to January 20, 2029. And this is assuming that Trump finishes out his term. As of noon plus one second, Eastern Standard Time, Donald J. Trump will no longer be president, and will never again be able to run for that office. He’ll also be 82 years old, but I’m not sure how relevant that is any more.
He will, however, still be CBOP. That’s a lifetime appointment. And at that point, he’ll be running an organization with no rules, no limits, and no jurisdiction other than what has been ceded to it. Possibly not even that which had been ceded to it.
CBOP Trump will try and throw his weight around, because that’s what he does. And while he will have spent 3 years with the power of the American government backing up his weight, that won’t be the case any more. At which point, he’s just a loudmouth from Queens trying to give orders to people who have actual power.
The countries in the CBOP might listen to him at first. If they’ve gotten used to doing so, they might continue, simply because of the political momentum. But very quickly, someone (or a number of someones) is going to notice that CBOP Trump has less power than the Pope did in 1946.
Will they wait for a meeting of the Board of Peace outside American borders and give him the old Julius Caesar treatment (possibly even bowing to tradition by doing it on March 15)? Or will they be more subtle than that, and retire him with honors, creating a succession procedure on the fly?
In any case, I don’t think Donald Trump has thought past his presidency.
Have we?
The so-called, right-wing, Religious Zionist Jews who slobber over Trump, and who experienced ecstasy over his latest election win certainly have not. Personally, I would not under estimate him.
Recall "House of Cards'" President Underwood who explains his resignation by saying that he realized who had the real power. IOW, it wasn't the president.
Speaking of Caesar, I prefer Emperor Trump over Pope Donald. https://esseragaroth.substack.com/p/edoms-conquest-of-israel-is-proceeding
He might use these years to gather an international "peacekeeping force" parallel to the U.N. Depending on how successful that move will be, he might indeed have divisions at his disposal when he leaves office! I certainly wouldn't put it past him.