“Liberals are freaking out about sanctuary cities,” said Twitter today, through the typed fingers of hundreds of Trump supporters. “Trump got the entire Democrat party to admit sanctuary cities are dangerous,” One America News host Jack Posobiec crowed. Act For America, a self-described “grassroots national security organisation” hoping to “make America safe again”, added that Democrats had said they “want illegal immigrants in our sanctuary cities” but responded with outrage when told by Trump, “OK, here they come!”

“This was a great move,” said a Trump supporter whose tweets are still raking in the likes, “and why Trump is a smart businessman. Call their bluff … Well played, Mr President.”

Of course it plays well for Donald Trump to frame a liberal idea as hypocritical. They know that illegal immigrants are dangerous really, the argument goes. They just like to say they back open borders because they live in huge houses in gated communities and don’t have to deal with wage depression, rising crime rates, and oversubscribed schools and hospitals. They want everyone else to deal with the repercussions of immigration so they can claim the moral high ground from their mansions in LA or their cushy apartments on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

All of this would be fantastic for the Republican Party – especially its pro-Trump section – if it were true.

The actual truth is that immigration makes communities stronger, richer and better places to live. Sanctuary cities are safer than comparable cities without sanctuary policies; immigrants are less likely to offend than their US-born counterparts; and no one has ever been able to conclusively prove that immigrants depress wages in the jobs market, but Nobel Prize-winning economists from across the political spectrum have all agreed that the presence of immigrants is better for the economy overall. An easy way to prevent wage depression from happening is to institute a proper minimum wage or a living wage, of course, but Ivanka Trump doesn’t think people want that. The economic policies which favour the rich and fail to build infrastructure or invest in public services belong to the right wing, not the left.

I could say all of that until I was (liberally) blue in the face and not win over lifelong Republican voters; I’ve accepted that already. But what I do find interesting is the way in which Trump marked out his base so explicitly with his on-again/off-again threats to “release” detained immigrants into sanctuary cities. After all, there are Republican voters in New York City, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco. There are certainly Republican voters in the state of California, about which the president tweeted over the weekend: “We hereby demand that [illegal immigrants] be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the state of California, which is well known for its poor management & high taxes!”

At this point, Republicans living in sanctuary cities or even certain states known to be majority liberal have become Democrat by association for Donald Trump. He doesn’t even want to try and win them over, much less engage with swing voters. He doesn’t want to accept that they are part of the country he leads; they are, instead, “dumping grounds” for “bad hombres”, outside the boundaries he has decided to acknowledge. I think we can say with some certainty now that he has no plans to widen his appeal in 2020.

Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Show all 23 1 /23 Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Joe Biden The former vice president - poised to be a frontrunner - has announced his run. He recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Bernie Sanders The 2016 runner-up has announced that he will be running again in 2020 Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Hillary Clinton The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State says she is “still considering” whether she will run again. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Pete Buttigieg The Indiana mayor and war veteran will be running for president. If elected, he would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kamala Harris The former California attorney general will be running for president in 2020. Introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions’ testimony, she has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts Senator has formally launched her bid for president in 2020. A progressive Democrat, she is a major supporter of regulating Wall Street. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Beto O’Rourke The former Texas congressman told Oprah Winfrey that he “has been thinking about running for presidency”, but stopped short of formally announcing his bid to run in 2020. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam has announced his bid. He intends to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Vice News Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that “healthcare should be a right, not a privilege.” Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has announced that he will be running for the presidency in 2020. If he secures the nomination he said finding a female vice president would be a priority. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a “special meaning” for the Latino community in the US. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but is likely to face tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Andrew Yang The entrepreneur has announced his presidential candidacy, and has pledged that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18. AFP/Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual advisor has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? John Kerry The former secretary of state has said he is still thinking about whether to run. Getty Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Michael Bloomberg The entrepreneur and former New York mayor– with a net worth of around $50bn – has said he will decide by the end of February whether to seek the presidency. AFP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Howard Schultz Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has not yet ruled out running for president in 2020, despite criticism that his bid could help re-elect Mr Trump by dividing the Democrat vote. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Holder The former attorney general has said he will decide in “the next month or so” whether to run as a 2020 presidential candidate. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Eric Swalwell The California congressman said he is “ready to do this” and will decide before April whether to run. MSNBC Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Terry McAuliffe The former Virginia governor, who worked to elect Democratic governors during 2018 midterms, said there was a “50 per cent” chance he would run. AP Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Sherrod Brown The Ohio senator is still undecided about whether to run for president in 2020. Who could be running against Trump in 2020? Mitch Landrieu The former New Orleans mayor said he doesn’t think he will run for president, but “never say never”. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

What we learnt in the past couple of days is that Donald Trump does not govern America; he presides over a fandom. High on retweets and rallies populated with thousands of bright red MAGA hats, he’s decided that his America is his business and the rest of the country can be somebody else’s. If you’re not a paid-up member of his base, or you live somewhere where most of the people aren’t Trump enthusiasts, then that’s your problem and you can deal with the consequences.

This is exactly why Trump can’t understand liberal thinking when it comes to migration. When you’re addressing the issue of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict and hardship at your country’s border, your solution has to be a nationwide solution, and your belief system has to be based on a “vision for America”. You have to speak to people with varying opinions about how many people can enter, how they should be housed and supported, and where they should settle. You have to assume that every area should be treated fairly and equally, for the good of the country as a whole. You have to accept that the majority of voters have spoken, but governance has to be undertaken for the benefit of everyone. This is the antithesis of playing to a singular base as if they are your employees in a Trump-branded organisation.