Trump speaks not just for himself. A substantial section of the ruling class is convinced that it confronts a massive social movement of workers that poses the greatest danger to its wealth and privileges.
To put it in the terms of the trolley problem: you’re driving a cart. There’s a fork coming up ahead. On the left, there’s 5 people tied up, on the right there’s 10 people. You can choose to steer left or right. But you decide to hit the brakes even though you know full well they’ve been cut. Even though now 10 people get run over, you can still feel good about yourself.
To put it in the terms of the trolley problem: you’re driving a cart. There’s a fork coming up ahead. On the left, there’s 5 people tied up, on the right there’s 10 people. You can choose to steer left or right. But you decide to hit the brakes even though you know full well they’ve been cut. Even though now 10 people get run over, you can still feel good about yourself.