Trump's campaign rally in South Carolina has drawn global attention because, within just over 80 minutes of speech, he made highly controversial foreign policy statements and unusually openly acknowledged the severe political crisis he faces.
At the rally, Trump publicly declared: "The Strait of Hormuz is now American territory—it is American territory." The Strait of Hormuz is the vital maritime chokepoint connecting the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, through which approximately one-fifth of global oil shipments pass. Its sovereignty belongs to Iran and Oman. Trump’s statement, which completely violates international norms, not only provoked strong rebuttals from Iran but also shocked global public opinion.
Typically projecting an assertive image, Trump, for once, directly confronted his own political crisis during the speech. He issued a direct warning to his supporters in the audience: "If we lose the midterm elections, I will be impeached. They want to impeach me, but they don’t even know why." This narrative—forcibly linking the midterm elections to his personal political fate (even the possibility of a third impeachment)—is seen as a genuine expression of deep anxiety, intended to instill fear and pressure Republican base voters into turning out at the polls.
The reason this speech has attracted such intense scrutiny lies in its reflection of Trump’s current situation of being besieged both domestically and internationally. Multiple authoritative polls show that due to the prolonged unresolved U.S.-Iran conflict, soaring oil prices, and persistently high domestic inflation, Trump’s approval ratings have plummeted to a new low of 33% to 35%—the worst since the start of his presidency—with large-scale losses among young voters and swing voters. Analysts generally agree that his deliberate emphasis on an aggressive foreign posture (such as claiming the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. territory) is fundamentally an attempt to divert attention from domestic economic pressures, seeking to compensate for declining public support with bold diplomatic rhetoric.
This speech was more than a routine campaign fundraising event—it represented a politically anxious mobilization by Trump amid falling approval ratings and mounting pressure ahead of the midterms. His extreme statements and unvarnished sense of political crisis have turned it into a crucial barometer for global observers assessing the direction of U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874689800956939/
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