Letter from America: Keeping the ‘bad ones the hell out of the US’

Trump’s approach of exclusivity now extends to the US media and obscures sinister revelations about his administration’s escalating authoritarianism

What a difference a year makes. At the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), this reporter was hard-pressed to find a single attendee who admitted to being a Trump supporter. The atmosphere swung between funereal and furious as the leading contenders for the Republican nomination were paraded before a distinctly underwhelmed audience.

Back then, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and even the highly improbable Rand Paul were considered the front-runners. ...