Trump is a manipulator, an exploiter. He’s always looking for opportunities to advance his plan, which many of his critics say has nothing to do with making America great again. 

When he announced back in November 2022 he was in the running for a non-consecutive second term as president, he knew even then he was stepping into a leadership vacuum.

Since then, that vacuum has grown. His main contender, who will no doubt be Joe Biden, is unravelling. It’s both painful and embarrassing to watch — but not for most Republicans, some of whom would sell their kids to see Trump back as president.

No one doubts he has a stage charisma that for his supporters borders on mesmerising. He commands a rally with all the gusto of a bible-thumping preacher — or a snake-oil salesman, depending on what side you’re on.

One week after Trump addressed his NRA supporters, America was shocked by yet another mass shooting, as the Kansas City Chiefs were celebrating their Super Bowl victory in their native city. Lisa Lopez Galvan, a popular local radio host was the 80th fatal victim to be shot dead since the start of January.

In December 2012, Barack Obama held a White House news conference to announce his vice-president, Joe Biden, would lead an interagency effort to craft new gun policies, with a view to a reinstatement of a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons, which most Americans supported.

He was speaking days after the killing of 20 young children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, the fourth shooting frenzy to claim multiple lives in the US that year. 

He also suggested that without background checks, the sales of weapons at gun shows could be stopped. Dyed-in-the-wool gun owners got angry. Gun shows in America are as traditional for millions as Super Bowl Sunday and Mother’s Day.

So why now is Trump giving a nod to the 42% of householders who own guns, when back in March 2018 he publicly demanded stricter control? Simple answer: In the run-up to a presidential election, gun owners feel nervous a candidate will threaten to take away their weapons. For Trump, it’s a golden opportunity.

I held a gun that fired real rounds only once in my life, and that was during a day-long visit to a gun fair in West Virginia. Why was I there? I was curious. It took us an hour to walk in the blistering 30C heat from where we had parked to the main exhibition area, which looked like a car boot sale multiplied by a thousand.

Except these stalls, trailers, campervans with drop-down platforms, and marquees were all displaying rifles, revolvers, machine guns, and ammunition.

Testosterone filled the air, along with the smell of hotdogs and burritos, and the sound of Charlie Daniels singing ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’. Visitors, mostly male, numbered thousands by late morning. Many of them were dressed in combat shirts, cargo pants, and more camouflage clothing than I’ve ever seen.

In the family sense, it was a day out, but I couldn’t see many families. The men took the artillery very seriously, feeling the weight of the weapons they cradled as though they were holding a newborn baby. Queues for the firing ranges were up to an hour long. This was a parallel universe for me, and judging by the posters of him dotted everywhere, this was Trump country.

These people take pride in their guns, in the same way we love our golf clubs.

Guns in America are not just exhibits, they’re part of your car kit, just like a wheel brace, or a spray can of anti-freeze. They are an entitlement protected by law. Under the Second Amendment of the US constitution, it’s the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

In America’s rural heartlands, glove compartments aren’t just for storing driving licences and sunglasses, they’re also for a loaded Glock 19, or a .375 Magnum revolver. 

Guns protect lives, as a man in Chinos wearing a Trump baseball cap told me when I mentioned I was from Ireland where guns are banned. He thought I was joking. That was when he handed me his unloaded gun.

In a place where poverty equals vulnerability, if Trump says he’ll protect their guns, isn’t he telling them they’re entitled to protect themselves? His rhetoric, if nothing else, makes him sound like he cares. 

He’s not promising he can fix the hardship in one of the poorest dustbowls in America, but he is promising them that as president he won’t take away their guns. That promise will no doubt come back to haunt him, but a man who’s desperate to get a job will clutch at any endearment.

Why are so many people drawn to Trump politics? For a start, it’s all about him.

He’s a one-man show. The current government seems like a slow-moving freight train, full of advisers, secretaries, and spokespeople, whereas Trump seems to do it alone. He is loathe to take advice. He makes his own decisions, and for those who are tired of politics, that’s refreshing.

Trump’s support is unwavering, despite criminal charges and accusations against him. He’s an extrinsic operator, as distinct from intrinsic. “Intrinsic” people are more inclined towards empathy, and more interested in class equality, in the health and welfare of ethnic groups.

Extrinsics tend to be aggressive. They’re easily frustrated, although they thrive under pressure. Fame, image, success, and wealth are mostly what they focus on.

They are high achievers, driven by taking risks. Environmental matters bore them. They tend to adopt a self-proclaimed agenda, operating best on their own.

They tend to be misogynistic and racist.

Trump supporters are hungry for Trumpian rhetoric. His extrinsic mindset is like a drug for many who see him as their salvation, and no one else will do — as his opponent Nikki Haley found out in recent weeks.

However, 65% of Americans have little time for Trump, the same number of people who support stricter gun control laws. No doubt they’ll be hoping that by giving his blessing to those who own guns, he might just shoot his presidential hopes in both feet. But Donald Trump is an opportunist, and he’s definitely no fool.