The Trump Presidency: Week One, Possibly a Win-Win for Trump and the Nation
A win-win? Give me a break.
Let me explain. God knows there is much to explain, so let me set the terms of the discussion from my point of view. I have begun to feel, more and more intensely that Donald Trump is far more interested in being Donald Trump than President of the United States. Week one is the cornerstone of both his hidden goal and my shaky but hopeful point of view.
First of all, I don’t believe for a moment he thought he was going to win and, much like the dog that has unexpectedly caught a rabbit, now he must decide what to do with it. He’s decided. Catching the rabbit was more important than the rabbit. His first week sets the scene for abdicating the presidency and returning to the life he has always enjoyed and promoted—being Donald Trump.
As a brand, he has always shown little interest in either running businesses or settling into the hard work of making them successful. The next deal and next headline was always the goal and the Devil take the hindmost.
The Presidency of the United States is the most difficult, critical and criticized job in the world. Trump quickly loses interest in the difficult, hasn’t the will, intellect, patience or interest to face the critical issues and goes berserk when criticized. Flummoxed by actually finding himself in the Oval Office, he’ll turn to his reflexes and his reflexes are to deny, blame and point to others for failures. So this first week has been the set-up for that scenario.
The win for Trump is to blame the press, the Democrats, Republicans, international outrage and America itself for letting him down in the really tough days that are bound to come. But he’s got a Trumpian strategy—shake his head, then his fist and walk away to the next deal.
In this first week, he’s alienated the FBI, CIA, Pentagon, EPA, Department of Homeland Security and nearly all Agencies responsible for the care of the nation and its resources. The entire second level of the Department of State has resigned in protest. He’s selected the most biased and retro Cabinet candidates in memory and denigrated NATO and the United Nations.
He’s essentially closed the American borders to visas and immigration and turned away from allies and enemies alike, frightening Europe and leaving forty years of American diplomacy in shambles. Chaos is in the air and its first iteration is the thousands stranded at airports.
Considering this first week, the ‘one hundred days’ normally allotted to incoming presidents is impossible to contemplate. But there will be push-back and The Donald doesn’t do well with push-back. His history is not that of one who bears down in tough times. He simply does not have the stomach for it.
So, my bet is that he will resign and I have a dreamlike vision of the scene.
It won’t be a press-conference. That’s not his venue, as has been well proven. It will be a Presidential Address to the Nation, covered by all the networks. Trump loves coverage above all else. There will be no leak and his intention may even be withheld from those closest to him. He’ll love the shock value and the worldwide headlines.
Looking directly at the cameras in the best iteration of Trump he can conjure up, it’ll be classic Trump: bluster, name-calling, alternative facts, a long drawn-out excoriation of the press, a shrug of the shoulders and then “I’m outta here. Good luck to Mike Pence.”
So, The Donald will immediately become a ‘past president,’ a fitting title for his ego and a tailor-made platform from which to continue to build his personal and business brand. Denigrating the press can now be a lifetime job. A win for him, as he never expected to actually be president so much as a presidential candidate, screwed out of that chance by a lying press and fixed election. Now he can bail out, just as he bailed from all his failed business ventures, head high and blaming others.
The win for America is that we have finally witnessed how far the country has wandered from its roots and responsibilities over the past forty years by both parties. Terror is in their hearts. Trump gave them a close-up of what Armageddon actually looks and feels like. Politics may (we hope) never be the same again. Trump brought government to the edge of the abyss and let Democrats and Republicans alike take a long look into darkness. It wasn’t pretty
We looked as well, the 130 million Americans who voted and the 90 million who stayed home, hands in their pockets. Those figures show just how deep the distrust of government in America remains. Growing distrust in government leads to chaos and Donald Trump showed us what chaos looks like in the starkest of terms. If he actually resigns, The Donald will have given us all a second chance and time to breathe.
What are the odds?