Authored by Robert Bridge via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

The reason so many people continue to misread the actions of US President Donald Trump is because they tend to confuse him with the actions and behaviors of past US administrations, where indiscriminate death and destruction was America’s calling card around a shell-shocked planet. Although certainly erratic in his actions, Trump thus far has been predictable on one score: keeping the powers-that-be guessing.

Last week, Donald Trump, acting unilaterally and within full power as Commander-in-Chief, derailed the Deep State’s plans for yet another disastrous regime change operation, announcing the withdrawal of US troops from Syria.

In a video released via Twitter, the American leader announced that, “We have won against ISIS…and it’s time for our troops to come home.”

In the not-so-distant past, such an announcement would have been greeted with cheers since it is generally agreed that war is - at least for those doing the grunt work - a very unpleasant enterprise. But the times have changed, together with the national agenda, and instead of applause filling the airwaves, the American people can hear nothing but the screeching of incensed hawks on both sides of the political aisle. That screeching is the sound of the Deep State expressing its deep displeasure and even pain.

Trump withdrawing US troops from Syria strongly suggests that the real estate magnate from Manhattan just might be the real deal, a rabble-rousing populist delivered to the White House by an army of voters across an angry and divided country that are tired of traveling snake-oil salesmen deceiving them with empty promises.

Is Trump the real deal?

There are two schools of thought on Donald J. Trump.

The first says that he is just another typical politician beholden to the puppet masters of the Establishment, dutifully carrying out orders from above, albeit with a bit more bluff and bluster than past frauds. After all, the argument goes, there is no possible way any individual could reach the Oval Office without the full support of the establishment – media, military, intelligence, etc.

Although that position has some merit, it underestimates the full extent of the desperation that has been gnawing away at the American heartland for many years. Such sentiments peaked out after it became painfully apparent that Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, despite all the sweet talk of ‘hope and change,’ was no different from the others, and in many cases even worse.

At the same time, it overestimates the ability of the deep state to control every aspect of the political process. This explains why Russia was dragged into the picture – the Deep State needed to provide some sort of alibi as to how Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election, as well as provide an 11 time-zone smokescreen to conceal her myriad wrongdoings.

The other school of thought says that Trump is the real deal, one of those rare, irresistible forces of political nature who, by sheer exertion of will, character and – dare I say it – genius, ascends the misty mountaintops despite, or because of, the powerful forces aligned against him. In other words, the Trump phenomenon is an open window of opportunity to salvage what is left of the American political system, and the elite, fully aware as to what is at stake, is doing everything to destroy it.

The reason for belonging to the second camp of thought is twofold.

First, if Trump truly were just another political cutout in the Republican-Democrat, two-party dichotomy, the mainstream media would not be so fiercely committed to destroying this man and everything he stands for. It’s no exaggeration to say that never before in US history has a political leader attracted so much vitriolic, spleen-bursting venom from the so-called Fourth Estate, itself just another compromised arm of the deep state. Not only is he vilified 24/7 in nearly every mainstream media outlet, with Fox News as perhaps the only major exception, the attacks continue when the sun goes down and the merchants of late-night ‘comedy’ take over, spinning their tired anti-Trump ‘jokes’ night after shameless night. When has comedy in America ever been so mean-spirited? The same could be said of Hollywood, where the award ceremonies have turned into marathon hate rallies. Meanwhile, even across the pond in Britain the anti-Trump crusade continues, which seems rather odd given that a foreign country would be expected to present a more balanced version of reality. This concerted attack on one individual suggests something more than hate and loathing; it has the smell of palpable fear.

Another reason to believe that Trump is the real deal is because if he were just another political stooge, doing the bidding of special interests, then certainly we’d have been at war by now. It is easy to forget since the media never mentions it, but America has not experienced such a dry spell in full-blown military action like this for many years, since Barack and Hillary destroyed the most developed country in Africa and called it a peace.

And who could forget how giddy the establishment became last year when Trump gave them their first taste of bloodshed with a limited missile strike on Syria? Hopeful of a military conflict, neo-Liberal wolves in sheep clothing, like CNN analyst Fareed Zakaria who declared that “Trump became president last night” following the unauthorized strike on the sovereign state. MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, not to be outdone, referred to the “beauty” of the nighttime airstrike three times in 30 seconds.

Today, the ‘peace-loving’ Liberals have once again betrayed their true colors, not to mention masters, by rebuking Trump for having the audacity to bring our troops home from a warzone.

Does all of this mean that Trump – who may have been compelled to withdraw from Syria as an act of vengeance against the Deep State for not only pursuing him with ‘Russiagate’ for the last two years, but for refusing to fund his Mexican Wall - will continue to endorse non-military solutions to global problems? Not at all. In fact, we may actually live to see more militaristic mayhem under this president than from his predecessors.

Already, the situation between Ukraine and Russia, for example, where Kiev is deliberately provoking Moscow, looks ripe for some sort of escalation of events that could trigger a chain reaction of unfathomable consequences.

Whatever the case may be, one thing looks certain right now, and that is Trump’s newfound desire to unilaterally call the shots in his presidency. The Deep State must now be rightly wondering what Trump could do next: order the US military to build his wall on the Mexico border? Initiate indictments against the Clinton Foundation over “pay to play” allegations, among other things? Shut down the Federal Reserve and bring back the US Treasury to print America’s money supply, as called for in the US Constitution? Everything is now on the table as far as Trump’s options go, and that must certainly be of no small concern to the powers-that-be in Washington DC.