Trump Tags the Alamo to Strengthen His Own Myth
Of course, he doesn’t know the true story of the Texas battle
Donald Trump went to Alamo, Texas, on January 12. Not the Alamo in San Antonio, but a small town on the Rio Grande named Alamo.
He went there to inspect a little bit of border wall that his administration built. But, as his niece Mary Trump posits, he hopes people will associate Alamo, Texas, with the Alamo and then cross-associate the mythology and iconography of that battle site with his own “America First” political stance.
In truth, Trump was trying to deflect national attention away from the Trump Capitol insurrection of January 6 and a brewing second impeachment in the House of Representatives.
But he left Washington on a bad note, telling journalists before he boarded Air Force One that his speech to rioters before they stormed the capitol was perfectly legitimate.
“They’ve analyzed my speech, my words,” said Trump. “Everybody to a T thought it was appropriate.”
The 1836 Battle of the Alamo in San Antonio is the most recognizable of several battles in Texas’ war of independence against Mexico. Mexican troops under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna besieged an estimated 180–250 defenders for 13 days before annihilating them in…
