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PIERS MORGAN
Donald Trump isn’t just back, he’s more popular than ever – there are two secrets to his amazing Sinatra-like recovery
‘The best revenge,’ said Frank Sinatra, ‘is massive success.’
And he knew that better than most, after making the greatest comeback in American cultural history.
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Sinatra went from superstar to washed-up has-been during the 1940s, reduced to singing songs with dogs and getting dropped by his record company.
‘He’s a dead man!’ scoffed Hollywood’s top talent agent Irving ‘Swifty’ Lazar.
‘Even Jesus couldn’t get resurrected in this town.’
But Sinatra did, winning an Oscar for best supporting actor in From Here to Eternity in 1954, and going on to become a showbusiness icon.
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Donald Trump, also written off after losing his presidency to Joe Biden in 2020, is now pulling off the political equivalent of Sinatra’s return.
The 2024 presidential race is far from over, in fact it’s only just started.
But make no mistake, Trump’s stunning landslide win last night in the Iowa caucus vote, which kick-starts every US election year, was so overwhelming it makes him odds-on favourite to be the Republican nominee.
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And given the increasingly decrepit state of bumbling, stumbling 81-year-old President Joe Biden whose approval ratings just hit new lows, would anyone now bet against Trump winning back the White House in November?
What happened in Iowa cannot be overstated.
Charged with a staggering 91 crimes
Trump won 51% of the vote, the biggest win in Iowa caucus history.
The huge 30-point margin of his victory over nearest rival Ron DeSantis demolished the precious record for a contested Iowa Republican caucus, Bob Dole’s 13% victory in 1988.
And he won in 98 of the 99 counties in Iowa, only losing the 99th by a single vote to Nikki Haley and prevailing in almost every conceivable demographic, from urban communities to evangelical Christians and those with and without a college degree.
To put this into perspective, Trump lost in Iowa in 2016, to Ted Cruz, but still went onto win the GOP nomination and presidency.
And his victory this time comes despite a firestorm of negatives that would have ended the political careers of anyone else.
Since 2016, Trump’s proven himself to be the opposite of a Midas touch for Republicans, costing them the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives during his four years in office, and failing to deliver the red wave of victories he promised with his 2022 midterm election endorsements.
In fact, his record’s been so dismal he’s been dubbed The Biggest Loser by mocking Democrats – and by me!
He’s also been charged with a staggering 91 crimes in four separate cases in the past year, from paying off porn star Stormy Daniels to inspiring the January 6 riots at the Capitol.
Yet ironically, it’s been this constant barrage of legal attacks that’s fuelled Trump’s comeback; the more the times he’s been dragged into court, the more popular he’s become with even Trump-critical Republicans who believe it’s an unfair liberal witch-hunt designed to stop him becoming President again.
Trump has painted himself into an oppressed martyr, and his followers have bought into his victimhood status with extraordinary enthusiasm.
In Iowa, 71% of his supporters told pollsters they believe him fit to be president again even if he’s convicted of a crime.
Chris Rock nailed why he's Teflon Don
I was reminded of a conversation I had with comedian Chris Rock in New York the day after Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.
‘Everyone kept over-demonising him,’ Rock said. ‘If someone’s killed eight people, don’t keep saying they’ve killed nine. It just increased his support.’
The Democrats have fallen into the same trap again.
Of course, there’s still a long way to go before the election on November 5.
And nobody yet knows how the wider American public will vote, though many polls now show Trump beating Biden in a match-up between the two men.
But Trump’s victory in Iowa will have sent a chill down Democrat bones even colder than the eye-freezing -40 wind chills that swept the state last night.
The Teflon Don is not just back, he appears more popular than ever despite them throwing a gazillion kitchen sinks at him.
It’s also clear that unlike their own candidate, Trump exudes remarkable dynamism for a 78-year-old man.
As I always remind people, he’s never had a drink, drug, or cigarette in his life, so he’s a lot physically healthier than is generally appreciated.
Trump has also slimmed down recently, suggesting he’s keen to emphasise a clear physical and mental fitness advantage over Biden.
What Trump told me about surviving
There are two other factors that explain his comeback.
The first is his astonishing resilience. Trump has the thinnest skin of any public figure, reacting furiously to any criticism. but he also has the thickest skin, enabling him to soak up stress-inducing stuff that would bury anyone else, sometimes literally.
He once told me how he survived the financial crash in the early ‘90s.
"It all comes down to pressure", he said. "Business, sport, life, everything.
"You need brains, imagination, and a lot of other things. But you also have to be able to handle pressure. I nearly went under. Many of my friends went under. It was a very tough time.
"But I reacted positively. I went forward quite bravely. A lot couldn't. I knew tough guys, or people who I thought were tough but who crawled into a corner, put their thumbs in their mouths and cried, 'Mummy, I want to go home'. I didn't lose sleep, I never, ever gave up, and I fought hard to survive."
He's shown the same attitude to his political career.
Trump’s also very funny.
On the eve of the Iowa vote, he urged supporters to come off their death beds.
"If you’re sick as a dog, you say, 'Darling, I gotta make it,'" he declared. ‘Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it!"
I laughed out loud.
For better or worse, there’s nobody quite like Donald Trump – a uniquely polarising character who inspires equal amounts of love and hate.
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Whatever your view, he’s proved with this Iowa triumph that only a fool would underestimate his chances of becoming President again.
And if he does, he’ll have done it the way Sinatra did – ‘My way.’
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