Opinion: Like Hannibal of antiquity, Trump is baiting the Democrats into fighting on his turf
By David Von Drehle David Von Drehle Columnist focusing on national affairs and politics Email Bio Follow Columnist May 10 at 5:16 PM One doubts that President Trump has been reading Livy on the Punic Wars between Twitter storms. So any resemblance between his post-Mueller report reelection strategy and Hannibal’s victory at Lake Trasimene in 217 B.C. is probably coincidental.
Alarmed, the Romans sent an army under Gaius Flaminius northward to reinforce their defenses. Hannibal taunted the Roman general by staging politically embarrassing raids across the countryside until Flaminius could stand no more. The Carthaginian genius then coaxed his angry foe into a fearsome ambush. Having hidden some 50,000 men on a forested hillside overlooking a narrow road beside the lake, Hannibal sprang a surprise attack.
Democrats have trouble remembering the two rules of Trump. First, he thrives on conflict. He reportedly told senior aides from the start that every day of his presidency should be a TV show in which he battles rivals and wins. Second, he believes that elections are won by dominating the spotlight. “It’s not the polls. It’s the ratings,” he explained to me in 2016.
A more cautious army than the Democrats would have suspected a trap the moment Barr spurned the House Judiciary Committee. This veteran of Washington warfare easily shrugged off hours of questions from a Senate panel concerning special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his lightly redacted report. Barr could have sparred for another day in the House just as comfortably and pugnaciously. Barr’s decision to boycott can only be understood as a deliberate provocation.
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