Donald Trump, a president unequal to the task

DONALD TRUMP, A PRESIDENT UNEQUAL TO THE TASK

Note: I apologize in advance to those of my dear friends who see President Donald Trump in a favorable light.  

 In a world afflicted by global warming, multiple political conflicts and massive flows of human migration from poorer to richer countries, political leaders in influential countries have to be uniquely sensitive and competent in order to navigate these dangers. When these leaders are not up to the task or, even worse, when they behave in such a way that they become part of the problem instead of being part of the solution, the world runs the risk of a major cataclysm.  I believe this is the case of U.S. President Donald Trump.

I have lived in the U.S., off and on, for about 31 years, during the presidencies of Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, G.W. Busch, George Busch Jr. and Barack Obama but I never witnessed so much political and social tensions as I do today.

I recognize that the national economy is performing well during his presidency and this explains much of the support he enjoys. However, not all economic trends are positive, see: https://www.factcheck.org/2019/07/trumps-numbers-july-2019-update/.  He has pleased many by deviating from the extreme political correctness that had characterized previous administrations, although he has gone to the other extreme. He has built a loyal following that sees no fault in his style and has become a significant political force.  

A significant portion of Americans have found multiple areas for concern in the way he governs. What are some of these areas? :

1.    He lacks transparency.  His refusal to make public his tax returns has been one of the strongest reasons people has found to distrust him. He has imported his aggressive, opaque business  style  into his role as president of the United States

2.    He lies. Observers, see: https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/  have documented multiple cases of untrue statements. He cannot be trusted to tell the truth and this is a cardinal sin in a president of the United States, as it was the case with Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton;

3.    He is a “machista”, in the habit of disparaging women and using “locker-room language” when discussing them. He has engaged in multiple extra-marital affairs, often covered up by giving money to his occasional partners, see: https://www.newsweek.com/how-many-times-trump-cheated-wives-780550 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Daniels%E2%80%93Donald_Trump_scandal. Other presidents have had extra marital affairs, from Roosevelt to Kennedy to  Clinton, but Trump seems to have made of this a habit, leading  to chronic deceit;

4.    He is often petty and vindictive. He cannot tolerate the slightest criticism and his response is often disproportionate to the cause.  He will praise and elevate members of his team to stratospheric proportions, as he did with Rex Tillerson, only to call him or her stupid and incompetent when they no longer please him, see: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/trump-attacks-dumb-as-a-rock-rex-tillerson-whom-he-once-praised-for-his-vast-experience/. Either they were incompetent to start with, in which case his choice demonstrated lack of judgment or he is simply mean ;  

5.    He acts as a bully, systematically using a vulgar and inappropriate language to chastise people he dislikes, demeaning and ridiculing them.  He reprimands his staff in public and tweets about government institutions such as the FBI or the Federal Reserve with contempt, see: https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-mick-mulvaney-government-shutdown-meeting-7d84ea72-5aaf-45e0-a707-5f955836070e.html. This is an aspect of his personality which strongly reminds me of the way Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez treated his political or personal adversaries. Chavez’s opponents became the “squalid”, political rivals were given pejorative names, a dissenting judge became a “turd”. Trump uses the same “bedside manners”, which is below the dignity of a president of the United States.  Psychologist Daniel Benveniste has put this perception in stronger terms. He says: “My main point was that Chávez (who died in 2013) and Trump are two of a kind, bullies, thugocrats, demagogues, and authoritarians with dictatorial ambitions. They speak in violent metaphors and incite violence, prejudice, and hatred. They prop themselves up as strong men… They are both crude in their language, disrespectful of women, and hostile toward differences of opinion. They are showy, entertaining, and lie with the greatest of ease. They have eroded the institutions of government and the separation of powers and unleashed corruption in broad daylight. They appeal to the lowest instincts of human nature: vengeance, resentment, greed, tribalism, fear, hatred, intolerance”. See: https://internationalpsychoanalysis.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Diving-into-the-StreamBenveniste.pdf.

6.    He clearly appears to be a pathological narcissist, see: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-narcissist-empty-chair-mother-bush-adviser-larry-lindsey-a8916676.html. After his visit to England he stated that Queen Elizabeth had never had as great a time as when she was with him. He defines himself as the expert and the final word in almost every subject, although his statements often run contrary to reality. He is  insecure and while he is often arrogant in his dealings with allied leaders like the president of France and the Prime ministers of England and Germany, he appears submissive or solicitous with the strongmen of North Korea, Russia or Saudi Arabia. His tendency to antagonize allies and cultivate despots has created significant geopolitical tension and hostility against the United States.    

7.    He practices Nepotism, see: https://merryjane.com/culture/a-brief-history-of-presidential-nepotism  and has inserted his daughter Ivanka and his sons into the high levels of government, requesting special privileges for them, while keeping them in charge of his numerous business enterprises, creating both real and potential conflicts of interest. In particular Ivanka’s role as a kind of presidential surrogate has led to loss of prestige for the U.S. abroad, where her attempts at statesmanship cause hilarity and/or contempt.    

One of the results of President Trump’s attitude as president has been the deepening of political polarization in the country. He did not invent polarization but has aggravated it. Most political institutions are now highly contaminated with ideology and this is having a harmful effect on governance. Congress no longer practices much bipartisanship, the Supreme Court decisions are becoming predictable along ideological lines, the military is being used politically and the media are dramatically biased, depending on what side they are on. This has led to an acute lack of equanimity in the political discourse and in everyday political life. Depending on what side you are on, Trump is either perceived as a narcissist or as a supremely self-confident leader; he practices nepotism or he is simply staffing government with the people he can trust; he either lacks transparency or just being secretive, a necessary component for the success of the “deal”.  

However, there must be an absolute truth, which can be observed by getting rid of the veil of bias.

 I believe that the presidency of the United States calls for a person with greatness of spirit, dignified manners and the capability to be a unifying leader, qualities that I do not see in Donald Trump, see also:    https://www.history.com/topics/doris-kearns-goodwin-on-presidential-leadership .