(PCC)The rioters are still throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails, burning, looting, harming innocent civilians, and filling the city with mayhem, but no matter how long their temper tantrum lasts, a true winner is emerging. A winner that frightens the neo-Confederates to the bone. A winner, the Democrats convulse upon seeing the winner’s photo, and the progressives beg for psychological therapy after learning the genuine winner’s name.

Who is emerging as the big winner?

Look at it this way. While Los Angeles reels from the recent anti-ICE riots and national media focuses squarely on shattered glass, clashing ideologies, and the deployment of U.S. Marines to American streets, a deeper political shift quietly unfolds.

Despite appearances, and contrary to the outrage from both progressives and conservatives, the true political beneficiary of the chaos may not be a protest movement, a local leader, or even the Democrat Party; it is…(wait for it)…Donald Trump.

Yup! You heard me right! It isn’t just conservative spin. It’s a conclusion echoed by Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, who warned this week that the current unrest in Los Angeles is “playing right into Donald Trump’s hands.” Rocha, a seasoned political operator and frequent CNN guest, is hardly a fan of Trump. But his message is a sobering one for Democrats: the optics of burning cars, attacks on federal officers, and calls to “abolish ICE” are reinforcing the very narrative Trump thrives on.

A chapter in a familiar playbook is unfolding. Trump’s political rise has always been fueled by moments like these. Immigration crackdowns, disorder in liberal cities, and harsh criticism from Democrat governors, all of it fits neatly into his established “law and order” brand. When ICE raids prompted furious protests across Los Angeles, and when some escalated into riots that saw vandalism and physical attacks on law enforcement, the Trump team didn’t need to manufacture a message. The message was handed to them.

In Rocha’s own words: “They [Republicans] made it the central theme of their campaign. This checks all the boxes of what Donald Trump wants to be talking about.” Immigration. Violence. Democrats are out of touch. He added, “We’re talking about the sweetest spot of all of his issue sets.”

And that’s the point. The more chaotic the scene in Los Angeles, the less attention is paid to Trump’s policies. The story dominating headlines now is one that serves his agenda.

Democrats were caught flat-footed and can’t seem to find their backside with two hands. The problem for Democrats isn’t just the violence itself; it’s the narrative vacuum around it. Without a strong, coherent alternative message on immigration reform or a forceful condemnation of the riots from major party figures, Trump’s framing goes unchallenged. Instead of talking about humane border solutions or rethinking the role of ICE, the conversation now centers on National Guard deployments, property damage, and whether it was appropriate to send in U.S. Marines.

California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom’s furious response, calling the troop deployment a “deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president,” may energize progressives, but it risks alienating moderates and independents who are simply watching their city burn.

It’s not new for Trump to seize on immigration as a wedge issue. But what makes this moment especially potent is that it’s unfolding in real time, on live television, with imagery that reinforces the worst fears of his base: lawlessness, unchecked immigration, and a Democrat leadership unwilling or unable to maintain control and even condemning law and order while congratulating the rioters.

The political cost could be steep for Democrats. As Rocha warned, “If this was about immigration… this protest would be warranted. But this plays into Donald Trump’s hands.”

In short, the progressive movement may have intended these protests to highlight injustice. But the violence, rightly or wrongly, is now being seen by many Americans not as righteous anger but as chaos, and Trump is standing by, ready to offer his solution: force, borders, and order.

The lesson here is not that protest is wrong or that immigration shouldn’t be challenged. It’s that optics and narrative still rule American politics. And in that arena, Donald Trump has once again turned a national crisis into a campaign commercial.

Final Word: The secret winner isn’t the protesters or the progressives; it’s President Trump, watching from afar, waiting to say, “I told you so.”