Trump's Club USA membership rules

Donald Trump's call-out for a 'permanent pause' on migration 'from all Third World countries' has a seductive simplicity. Shut the gates, and the United States will return to its prelapsarian glory. Which in the 79-yr-old president's personal-is-political timeline would be his halcyon boyhood days of 1950s America. Fewer undocumented workers, less strain on housing, schools and hospitals, and - coming as Trump's announcement does after a CIA-linked Afghan evacuee emerged as the prime suspect of shooting two members of the National Guard on Wednesday - less transplanted 'enemies of the state'. Order, according to this RWA logic, is as obvious as it is appealing: No trespassers.

Migration, particularly unmanaged migration, unsettles electorates. A permanent pause promises clarity: no more dithering, no more 'boats'. But such a fix also means straining an economy that heavily relies on a migrant workforce that largely does not come from countries rich and stable enough for America's liking. Trump is unclear about whether he will be differentiating between legal and illegal migrants, even as 'Third World countries' can be a mutable list depending on threat perception. But seeking to deport 'any foreign national who is a public charge, security risk, or' - most tellingly - 'non-compatible with Western Civilisation' is essentially commissioning Fortress America. This should sell well with many of today's descendants of America's 'original migrants' from Europe - even while the MAGA jury is still out on what to make of later migrants, the country's most successful migrant community, Indians, included.

Diplomatically, the Trump regime can weather the costs of tightening club rules for exclusive entry. Coming across as insular, xenophobic, even racist, plays well with Trump's 'America First' base that has, of late, been disappointed by some of his positions on Israel and the need to import talent. A 'permanent pause' may temporarily soothe anxieties. But, then, Trump can change Mar-a-Lago Club rules according to what politically suits him.