林德宜：特朗普和美国之战

当特朗普总统穿越吉隆坡与亚洲，推动他“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）使命之际，他似乎颇为享受这段暂时摆脱国内政治纷争的出访时光。

特朗普最近在全国反对其领导与政府的抗议浪潮中发布的一段迷因图——画面显示他驾著战机向美国同胞倾泻污泥（据部分媒体报导为粪便）——展现了一位将政治对手视为最卑劣之人的领袖形象。这也揭示出一个严重分裂、与自身交战的国家。

美国国内这场反特朗普示威范围广泛，全国数千个地点、数百万人参与，显示出美国各社群与州之间存在著广泛而深层的反对声浪。这一现象也印证了近期多项民调与研究的发现——美国正经历现代史上最严重的内部分裂与对立。

以下是部分数据摘要，揭示这种分裂的深度与性质，体现出前所未有的政治极化、党派互不信任，以及对政治暴力升温的普遍担忧：

分裂面向              关键数据／来源

国家走向认知：  对“国家走错方向”的观点出现68点党派差距（史上最高）／美国民调机构（PRRI）2025年

领导印象：         56%视特朗普为“危险独裁者”，41%视为“强势领袖”／美国民调机构（PRRI）2025年

政治暴力：         85%美国人认为政治动机的暴力正在上升 ／皮尤研究中心，2025年

团结愿景与信心： 84%认为美国人应该团结，但仅25%相信这会发生／民调机构舆观（YouGov）与经济学人（Economist）2025年

来威胁“假想敌”

美国的分裂与内耗，不仅是美国人民的问题，也应是全球关注课题。历史早已证明：当一个政府面临严重的内部分裂时，往往会寻求“外部目标”以转移焦点、凝聚国内民意，甚至制造“假想敌”以煽动民族团结。结果往往是，点燃一场不必要、代价高昂的战争。

不像鼓吹狭隘民族主义媒体从业记者，一些政治分析人士与评论员指出，对外议题例如与被视为敌对国家的紧张关系，往往能在政治分裂的社会中发挥凝聚作用，或转移人们对内部纷争的注意力。

虽然目前尚难证明美国正在执行这样一项有意识的“转移视线”战略——反之，特朗普在外交上也确实展现过若干斡旋与和解努力——但西方国家领导人藉对外冲突来掩盖内部问题的例子是屡见不鲜的。

近年来，被归入“外部敌人”威胁之列的显著案例包括：

1.针对俄罗斯（尤其是2022年入侵乌克兰之后）

俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰后，西方世界的“团结反应”成为化解内部分歧的有力工具。

掩盖分裂：通胀高企、生活成本危机、能源短缺，以及政治极化（如美国国会暴动后的对立、英国的脱欧、欧洲极右势力崛起）。

道德清晰的敌人：普京被描绘为专制与邪恶的化身，使拜登、鲍里斯强森等西方领袖得以构建“民主对抗专制”的叙事，暂时团结了国内民意。

合理化经济代价：对俄制裁导致能源价格飙升与通胀恶化，但政府将此解释为“捍卫自由的代价”，从而把责任从自身的经济政策转嫁给普京。

北约重生：俄乌战争使北约重获存在意义，终结了马克龙2019年所称的“脑死”状态，暂时压制了内部分歧。

2.聚焦中国（“战略竞争”框架）

美国对中国的“战略竞争”政策，已成为跨党派共识，并被用来推动国内产业政策及压制内部分歧。

掩盖分裂：美国经济痛点——去工业化与供应链脆弱——被归咎于中国的“产能过剩”与“国家补贴”。

跨党派一致：在两极化的国会中，唯一能形成共识的议题之一就是“对抗中国”。

《晶片与科学法案》（CHIPS and Science Act）被包装成对抗中国科技威胁的国安行动，而非单纯的工业政策。

转嫁经济不满：美国社会对就业流失（特别是制造业岗位）的焦虑，被共和党与民主党政府巧妙地引导至中国身上。这种做法将责任从国内政策失误转移到一个替罪羊身上，一个即便是受过高等教育的美国人也能轻易辨认并谴责的对象——以此达到“团结在美国之下”的政治效果。

人权作为凝聚武器：藉炒作新疆维吾尔族议题与香港治理问题，营造“正义”与“自由”的共识，分散对国内种族与社会正义议题的争论。

3. 针对委内瑞拉

目前，特朗普政府将委内瑞拉马杜罗政权视为“当前需要被推翻的外部敌人”。

主要行动包括：

将其政权列为“毒品恐怖主义”组织，并悬赏捉拿马杜罗。

对委内瑞拉政府、官员及石油产业施加广泛制裁，恶化该国经济与人道危机。

在加勒比海地区进行军事部署，包括战舰与战机，以“打击毒品走私”为名，实际执行军事行动。

授权中情局在委内瑞拉展开秘密行动，目的明确——推翻马杜罗政权。

面对美国战鼓

未来几个月内，我们或将见到特朗普政府与其媒体同温层更强力地敲响战鼓，将对外政策包装为“捍卫美国”之举，借此转移国内不满与政治撕裂。

若此情势成真，国际社会及独立观察者的首要任务，应是揭露并戳破这种以内部政治利益驱动的外交操作与伪善叙事——以免世界再次被卷入一场由美国内政失序所引发的战争。

林德宜《特朗普和美国之战》原文：Trump And His War In America

As President Donald Trump makes his way across Kuala Lumpur and Asia to further the other pillar of his MAGA mission, he appears to be enjoying the break away from the rancour of American politics hounding his current presidency.

His meme showing him raining sludge (faeces according to some news reports) on his fellow Americans during the recent nationwide protest against his leadership and administration shows a leader who thinks the worst of his political opponents. It also reveals a badly fractured country at war with itself. See https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump

The protests were geographically widespread and involved millions of participants turning out at thousands of locations nationwide. This demonstrates a broad and deep opposition across many communities and states. It confirms evidence from recent surveys and studies that the United States is experiencing its most profound internal division and disunity in modern times.

The table summarizes findings that illustrate the depth and nature of this division manifesting in record levels of political polarization, mutual distrust between partisans, and concerns about political violence.

Aspect of Division Key Finding Source / Data Point

Overall National Direction: 68-point partisan gap on whether country is on the wrong track (highest on record) - PRRI, 2025

Perception of Leadership: 56% see Trump as a "dangerous dictator," 41% as a "strong leader" - PRRI, 2025

Political Violence : 85% of Americans believe politically motivated violence is increasing -Pew Research Center, 2025

Desire vs. Hope for Unity : 84% believe Americans should unite, but only 25% believe they will - YouGov/Economist, 2025

External Threat Bogeyman

The division and disunity in the US should not solely be a concern of the American people. It should also be a cause of concern for the rest of the world. This is because the situation where internal division leads a government to focus on external targets to foster national unity through providing a distraction or fabricated threat is a well recognized phenomenon in political history. The outcome is almost inevitably the ignition of needless and costly wars.

Political analysts and commentators, though not journalists employed by jingoistic media, have noted that external issues, such as tensions with countries labeled as adversaries, can serve to unite a divided political body or distract from domestic strife.

While it is difficult to prove that such a deliberate and coordinated strategy is taking place in the US today - Trump, to his credit, has been engaged in peace making efforts abroad -there are clear examples where Western leaders have leveraged focus on external adversaries, so as to paper over deep internal divisions.

Recent prominent recent examples categorized by the "external enemy" threat bogeyman include :

1. Focusing on Russia (Especially Post-2022 Invasion of Ukraine)

The unified Western response to Russia's full-scale invasion has been a powerful tool for managing internal discord.

· Divisions Distracted From: Soaring inflation, cost-of-living crises, energy shortages, and pre-existing political polarization (e.g., the aftermath of the Capitol riot in the US, Brexit fatigue in the UK, rise of far-right parties in Europe).

· Moral Clarity and Unity: The war provided a clear, morally unambiguous enemy in Russian President Vladimir Putin. Leaders like US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson followed by other Western leaders used it to frame a narrative of a struggle between democracy and autocracy. This created a temporary, powerful sense of purpose that overshadowed domestic squabbles.

· Justifying Economic Pain: Soaring energy prices and inflation were partly a direct result of sanctions on Russia and disruption to energy markets. By framing these hardships as the "cost of defending freedom," governments have deflected blame from their own lack lustre domestic economic policies onto Putin.

· Revitalizing NATO: The war effectively ended existential questions about NATO's purpose (famously called "brain dead" by Macron in 2019) and unified a fractious alliance, sidelining internal critics.

2. Focusing on China (The "Strategic Competition" Framework)

The bipartisan focus on China as a strategic competitor has been used to advance anti -China domestic policy and mute internal criticism.

· Divisions Distracted From: Intense political partisanship in the US economic pain resulting from deindustrialization and supply chain vulnerabilities is increasingly attributed to China’s over capacity and state subsidies.

· Bipartisan Consensus: In the deeply divided US Congress, the confrontation of China is one of the few issues - perhaps the only one - to generate strong bipartisan support.

Legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act which aims to boost US semiconductor manufacturing was sold primarily as a national security measure against Chinese dominance, rather than just a domestic industrial policy.

· Economic Grievance Channeling: Economic anxieties about job losses, particularly in manufacturing, have been successfully channeled towards China by both Republican and Democratic administrations. This redirects blame from domestic policy failures to a scapegoat that most Americans, even the highly educated, can readily identify and denounce in the effort to rally around the flag.

· Human Rights as a Unifier: Highlighting China's treatment of Muslim Uyghurs and its governance in Hong Kong to create a unifying cause that distracts from domestic debates over human rights, race, religion and social justice. 

Targeting Venezuela

For now, the Trump administration is targeting Nicolás Maduro's government as the immediate external enemy to take down.

Actions taken include :

* Designating the regime as a "narco-terrorist" entity and placing a bounty on Maduro.

* Imposing broad sanctions on the Venezuelan state, its officials, and its oil sector, thereby significantly contributing to the country's economic and humanitarian crisis.

* Military buildup in the Caribbean, including the deployment of warships and aircraft, with the stated goal of disrupting drug trafficking. The US military has conducted strikes on vessels it alleges are involved in narcotics smuggling.

* Authorizing CIA covert operations in Venezuela with the explicit intention to drive Maduro out of power.

Responding to Beating War Drums

In the coming months, we could see the Trump administration and its echo chamber in the American and western mass media beat the war drums more strongly on new and old external threats and work to frame foreign policy actions in a way that distracts from the intensifying internal political tensions and disunity in the US?

If this happens, unmasking and exposing the foreign policy actions and hypocrisy of America and its allies that are driven by their domestic political dynamics and internal shortcomings and division should be a priority in response from independent stake players.