![Secret Service agents evacuate President Donald Trump after a gunman entered the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel and opened fire on April 25 (local time) in Washington. [Photo=Reuters/Yonhap]](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2026/05/06/20260506134813129455.jpg)
"Right now, it is more important than ever that we come together and show the world what it means to be Americans."
In July 2024, as the presidential campaign intensified in Pennsylvania, Trump’s words helped reshape the race. After surviving an assassination attempt, he delivered a message of unity with a markedly different tone, as if he had already secured the presidency. Paired with an image of him, blood on his face, raising a clenched fist beneath the U.S. flag, the moment became a political narrative. Trump went on to win an election that had been expected to be close.
During his first term, Trump had taken steps far from national unity, including supporting the “Capitol riot.” Still, his call for unity after the shooting resonated in a society sliding toward extremes, and some voters backed him with the hope that “this time might be different.” The narrative was so complete that some even floated claims the shooting had been staged.
In 2026, the reality of “Trump’s second term” looks different. Broad tariff hikes, fired without distinguishing friend from foe, have paralyzed the global economy, the article says. This year, the Iran war has reinforced that “Trump risk” remains an ongoing concern worldwide. The “peacemaker” and “unifier” promised in his inaugural address are nowhere to be found, replaced by what the article calls a “troublemaker” stoking division in the United States and beyond.
Against that backdrop, two shootings occurred near the White House in less than 10 days. The April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner revived memories of the Pennsylvania assassination attempt two years earlier.
After the latest incident, Trump again struck a unifying note, saying, "We need to resolve our differences." But the message carried less weight than it did two years ago, the article argues, because his actions over the past year have eroded its credibility. Unlike during the campaign, when the shooting boosted his approval ratings, the article says his ratings have remained at rock bottom despite the recent gunfire.
The article says the “Trump paradox” offers a pointed lesson with local elections a month away. A public figure’s message is shaped not by words alone, it argues, but by the record behind them. As candidates soon fan out across the country promising local development and community unity, voters should look past election-season rhetoric and judge the paths candidates have taken in daily life.
The article argues that politicians who routinely feed on hatred and conflict but call for “unity” only during campaigns are misleading voters. Promises offered without funding plans or a concrete roadmap, it says, can be as empty as Trump’s “peacemaker” pledge. It also warns that when a local government leader refuses to cooperate with councils and other levels of government and instead governs unilaterally, residents bear the cost.
The article concludes that Trump’s unity message lost power because his record showed no trace of unity. It says the responsibility now lies with voters to seek leaders who prove themselves through their lives and conduct, not their slogans.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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