Hidden in the middle of this HuffPost article is a small but important point about Donald Trump.
Although he may have deluded himself into believing that he doesn’t need any allies, he’s wrong.
As John Cassidy writes in the New Yorker, in order to get anything done in Washington, a president has to wheel and deal with powerful people and interest groups, but “by dint of his pigheadedness, or prejudice, or both, he has made it virtually impossible for people of influence to stand by him.”
For widely discussed reasons including his position on LGTBQ members of the military and his response(s) to last weekend’s protest in Charlottesville, he has by all accounts lost domestic bankers, big business, the House, the Senate, his Arts council, non-profits planning fundraisers at his resort(s), top military leadership, White House staff, many of his cabinet, the MSM (including elements at Fox), most GOP voters except his extreme base and even some of this base due to Bannon’s exit. Did I miss any?
It is easy for those of us looking in from the outside to decry him as a fool, an idiot, a narcissist, a wannabe oligarch, a mentally unfit occupant of his position oar any number of other derisive labels — and he wears all of them well. Nonetheless, I would like to suggest that his behavioral tendencies are very much in line with his experience in building his business empire throughout his entire adult career.
You see, he has rarely had — or needed — strategic allies throughout his life. For him, everything is tactical and focused on addressing one key question. “What do I need to do to stay one step ahead of the pack that is hounding my every move?” His abrasive manner of dealing with any interests around him is a direct consequence of the shady nature of many of his business dealings. The apparent byzantine structure of the business enterprises he runs serves the primary interest of keeping the true nature of his dealings away from public and legal scrutiny or accountability. He does not play 3-card Monte — he rather plays 300-card Monte and must be ever tired keeping the house of cards standing upright. It is no wonder he comes off as such a gruff, manipulative, disrespectful person. One might wonder if he has any time and energy to allow himself the many blessings of personal friendships and relationships that transcend financial self-interest.
Throughout his adult life — and save for a very small trusted inner circle of family members, key staff and long-time legal aides — he has trusted no-one and no-one has trusted him. He has never allowed himself to learn and adopt the skills needed to manage a large, diverse network of skilled individuals needed to manage competing and equally valid interests.
It should have come to no ones surprise that his me-first approach to management would fail so miserably when given the responsibility an organization as vast and diverse as the government of the USA.
This does not excuse his behavior or his decision-making. In fact it helps to explain today’s revelations that his staff have worked diligently since his inauguration to tamp down his craziest tendencies that have been expressed within the bubble of White House insiders.
Where will this all lead to? There is only one answer that most of us can agree to. It cannot lead to anything good for America, or for him.
To understand him — to truly understand him — only gives cause to more forcefully despise his presence as POTUS.
