This is nothing people haven't been saying for a long time, But it's the only way I can think to explain what he's been doing. I think that Trump legitimately thought he would be able to do a good job at being the president. I think he's encountered difficulties with which he wasn't prepared to deal. I think the problem is that in many areas Trump was able to get the gist of school work, books, business reports and got by with taking that in and having enough gumption, understanding, and connections to have some amount of success with that process. So as he read about or saw documentaries about all the things presidents throughout history accomplished, he never bothered to look at the context of the times or the intricacies of how it was actually done. Trump looked back with his modern lenses on and said that he would make the exact same decisions as those presidents made. He thought less that these modern presidents weren't accomplishing things like the histories he's read. He heard and remembered presidents promising things like "No new taxes" and not following through. He was going to follow through. He was going to make all the best decisions. Why not? When presidents ended slavery, started the work projects during the great depression, those seemed like common sense decisions and of course, he would make those. What Trump didn't realize was that in order to do those things he had to work with congress to get them passed. Those bills would be checked by the judicial branch etc. He didn't understand that he couldn't just decide to do things and they would be done. He didn't understand that in order to do that, he'd actually have to develop relationships, make compromises, find out how proposals might actually affect different people with different jobs. Because of this misunderstanding going in, he now sucks at his job. He cries about it being harder than he realized going into the job. It doesn't explain the endless lies, horrible job appointments, etc.
I honestly think he entered the race as a publicity stunt. Hasn't he done that pretty much every election year? If not, he's at least flirted with the idea. Then, when he started winning primaries, he figured it would be a bad look for his brand to just drop out. As he got closer to winning the nomination, he just figured "what the hell" and went all in. Not because he really wanted to be President...just because he wanted to "win." He never looked beyond winning the election. Why should he? His supporters certainly didn't. And it's been 6 months and they still aren't. They're all still talking about Hillary for ****s sake. He could literally start opening holocaust centers all over the country and his supporters would still say "duh, well at least it ain't Hillary, duh......."
Trump on whether his WH is too combative (and of course, who else to blame). "I think it is. It could be my fault. I don’t want to necessarily blame but there’s a great meanness out there that I’m surprised at. I mean I’m surprised." http://time.com/4775040/donald-trump-time-interview-being-president/
Trump puts everything into perspective of his brand. During the campaign he had such a narrow tunnel vision of his brand because he had reinforcement every day as to who his loyal "customers" were. He thought he solved a market need, and had a customer base that would launch him to success in his next venture.... whether President or as a Media mogul in the vein of a Rupert Murdoch (after losing the election and launching a media company). Trump never realized that as President "Your brand is crisis". You don't have a base of people who follow you blindly. Even the people "on your team" are only acting in self interest. You have a system where everyone wants something from you all the time, and its nothing but scrutiny. Washington isn't a Trump rally. You are talking about a super entitled 70 year old whose never been challenged his entire life. He's also got major daddy issues where he feels like he has to constantly get attention to let everyone know that he deserves their respect because of his insecurities. The presidency is the most scrutinized job in the entire world with the most criticism. Donald J. Trump is literally the exact opposite personal profile to be able to handle the job mentally. Thanks America. Good job.
OP, I think you give Trump way too much credit. I don't think he bothered to look at history because he's too intellectually lazy. ima's post is more on point. Trump didn't plan on winning but when enough people were stupid enough to vote for him, the unthinkable happened. Once elected, his complete cluelessness about how to govern has created amateur hour in the White House. This is almost like a movie except it's real. America actually elected Donald Trump as president. Just wow!
My preschooler thinks he's gonna play for either the Rockets or FC Barcelona. For him there is still time.
I think something like that is right. I imagine Trump for the last 20 years sitting on his couch in his boxers yelling at the TV news because presidents keep making choices he thinks are obviously stupid. But it was just a Dunning-Kruger effect because Trump didn't have any appreciation for all the sausage-making involved. But I also think you're too nice to Trump for this other reason -- he might ultimately be trying to be a "good president" but he's also a guy who thinks anything goes as long as you don't get caught. So on the campaign trail he'd promise whatever without concern for the implications. And he was happy to benefit from and praise dirty tricks from others when they went his way, such as him praising Comey and then firing him for the same thing, or praising the Russian hacking. And not many people feel sorry for him after the gloves-come-off campaigning he did in the primary. He's been digging his own grave in a lot of ways because of his low moral character.
This is the only part of your post I take issue with.... Most of his supporters could care less about anything he does or doesn't do. There is a YUGE block of people/voters who actually view it as a positive that he's pissing so many people off - even if it goes against their own self-interest. They're either too ignorant to know or just don't care. They accept anything and everything he does without question because....well, TRUMP!!!!! Killary!!!!!!!! LOCK HER UP!!!!!!!!111111 NOBAMA!!!!!!1111 Sounds a little bit like Germany in the 30's.....
Trump Theory is already a thing... Spoiler Chaos theory is a branch of mathematics focused on the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
I blame stupid people in this country rarely to elect a good president for a long time. This guy is clueless, but who cares? Demo party voted Hillary Clinton, who is equal bad too. Your people are going to be suffered by your action on the election day. Some people get something by electing his or her people for a short term, but in the long term, no one is a winner. America is not going to be great again by electing any low IQ person. You will see more shooting everywhere in each day.
Michael Moore says he has well connected sources at NBC who say he said he would run for president for leverage to get more money to do the Apprentice. I'm sure everyone here already has preconfigured opinion of Michael Moore so I don't think it's worth debating his credibility. No one would change their opinion. He actually predicted a Trump win along with many of the states he won and nailed the reasoning. It's a crazy read. http://michaelmoore.com/trumpwillwin/ I wonder if his Trump movie will have a huge effect on things.
I meant with his Washington counter parts. Yes he has sycophants, but everyone has motives and he needs them to get things done. With his voter base, he just needs their blind support and vote. That's why he's obsessed with still campaigning and having rallies. Its where he's validating his brand success.
I assign Moore no credibility at all, but I don't really see his credibility as the main problem with the story. I'm skeptical because his inside source was the counterparty in negotiations with Trump who is himself taking guesses at Trump's motivations for running. I'd have to trust an anonymous' sources good judgement of character and honest intentions in communicating them, before we even get to Moore. That's a lot of hurdles to jump.
I like your theory. I believe Trump is neither stupid, nor evil like his caricature in the media. He's terribly misguided like most men in power. He wants to do good in his own sense of good, but has no sense of a greater moral compass. Through historical hindsight, Trump believes he can be a great president. Yet, he fails to understand what makes a president great. The Lincolns and the FDRs were great because they took on the enormous challenges of their times like Slavery and the Great Depression. Like you said, today those positions and decisions look like common sense through historical hindsight. However, at the time they were immensely opposed and unpopular positions. That is where I think Trump's lack of a greater moral compass is his biggest flaw. The truly great presidents had an understanding of the greater good of the country and society. Trump lacks any understanding of the greatest challenges facing our nation today; income inequality, massive job loss due to automation, climate change. Trump has no answers to these questions. Instead, he wants to pull old levers like tax cuts for instant rewards. Just look at how much political capital he has already squandered to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump was cajoled by Republicans into pursuing their number one priority, and not his. That was not the focal point of his campaign. "It's the economy, stupid!" Trump as president is akin to an armchair quarterback.
i subscribe to the theory that history repeats itself. Trump's " I am not under investigation" moment is a repeat of Nixon's " I am not a crook" moment !
