Reed's Opinion | The Myth of Incompetence: Trump's Weaponized Chaos

Let’s kill the myth right here right now: Donald Trump is not stupid. He’s not fumbling. He’s not failing. He’s executing.

Everything about Trump’s public persona — from his off-script rants to his spelling errors to his “oops-did-I-say-that” interviews — is part of a well-worn tactic to confuse, distract and destabilize. In that fog, he builds power.

For years, critics have leaned on the idea that Trump is too dumb to be dangerous. But underestimating him has never been a winning strategy — it’s been his greatest weapon.

Trump doesn’t operate on traditional political logic because he’s not trying to govern — he’s trying to dominate. What looks like incoherence is often strategic ambiguity. He creates so much noise that intent becomes deniable, and accountability gets lost in the static.

The Chaos Shield

Remember when he called the Constitution “phoney”? When he suggested nuking hurricanes? When he stared into a solar eclipse without glasses? These moments weren’t gaffes — they were gifts to his strategy. While everyone debated his IQ, he was reshaping the judiciary, stacking loyalists and shifting headlines away from real scandals.

• When asked about the Proud Boys during a 2020 debate, Trump didn’t outright denounce them — he told them to “stand back and stand by.” Confusion followed, but so did action. The chaos allowed his supporters to feel emboldened while his critics argued over what he really meant.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, he publicly floated injecting disinfectant and downplayed masks — while behind the scenes, his administration quietly moved to defund public health infrastructure, weaken worker protections and shift blame to state governments.

  
  

• On January 6, 2021, while rioters stormed the Capitol, Trump tweeted cryptic messages calling for peace but praising “patriots.” Even in the aftermath, he pushed election conspiracies with just enough ambiguity to inspire doubt without triggering immediate legal culpability.

  
  

The “Stupid” Playbook

What looks like cluelessness is often calculated:

• Contradicting himself keeps supporters flexible and critics off balance.

• Mispronunciations and misspellings lower expectations and muddy focus.

• Rambling speeches test what lines get applause — then those lines become policy.

• Obvious lies aren’t to convince — they’re to assert dominance over reality.

• Bizarre diversions (“windmills cause cancer”) eat airtime and drain scrutiny from scandals.

  
  

It’s the oldest trick in authoritarian politics: appear just unstable enough to be underestimated, while quietly executing an agenda of control.

The Real Intelligence Behind the Madness

This isn’t about intellectual depth. It’s about tactical instinct. Trump has weaponized the illusion of incompetence. He’s the loud drunk in the bar fight who somehow always walks away with your wallet. While we mock, he maneuvers. While we fact-check, he fundraises. While we joke, he builds loyalty. This strategy is borrowed — from autocrats who understand that confusion is a form of control.

Viktor Orbán. Rodrigo Duterte. Silvio Berlusconi. They all used humor, insult and public absurdity to lower resistance while consolidating power.

We must stop framing Trump as a bumbling fool. He is a clear and present threat — not because he outsmarts his enemies, but because he outmaneuvers them through distraction, manipulation, and emotional exploitation. He is not the clown. He is the ringmaster. And the longer we treat him as a punchline, the more likely we are to be left bleeding in the seats.

It’s time to stop laughing — and start fighting back.

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