Watch Donald Trump for any length of time and you’ll see someone who exhibits traits consistent with a juvenile ego. He is obsessed with himself and his own appearances. He cannot tolerate criticism. When challenged he lashes out with insults generally favored by eight year olds. So a column by Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post that reveals White House insiders characterizing Trump as a “clueless child” may not come as a surprise. But it’s still a troubling revelation that an American president behaves this way.
Cillizza writes that:
“I’ve never seen so much leaking so quickly — and with such disdain for the president — as I have in the first six days of Donald Trump’s presidency.”
Cillizza cites recent reporting that portrays Trump as lacking maturity and requiring special handling. One of the reports was from the New York Times and described Trump’s staff saying they:
“…privately worry about his penchant for picking unnecessary fights and drifting off message. They talk about taking away his telephone or canceling his Twitter account.”
Another report was in the Washington Post. It noted how easily Trump falls into tantrums during which he cannot be reasoned with:
“Over the objections of his aides and advisers — who urged him to focus on policy and the broader goals of his presidency — the new president issued a decree: He wanted a fiery public response, and he wanted it to come from his press secretary.”
This is not the sort of measured, thoughtful behavior that is expected from a responsible leader. As Cillizza said, it reflects the temperament of “a clueless child – someone who acts on impulse. […and…] needs to be managed or else he will say and do stupid things.” Clearly that assessment is on the nose.
Trump himself, though, affirmed Cillizza’s analysis. Saturday morning he took to Twitter (again) and chewed out both the New York Times and the Washington Post. The infantile invective was pure Trump:
The failing @nytimes has been wrong about me from the very beginning. Said I would lose the primaries, then the general election. FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2017
Thr coverage about me in the @nytimes and the @washingtonpost gas been so false and angry that the times actually apologized to its…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2017
…dwindling subscribers and readers.They got me wrong right from the beginning and still have not changed course, and never will. DISHONEST
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2017
Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017
Notice that Trump never says what he’s so angry about. He just unloads his wrath in a blind rant and expects his glassy-eyed followers to sing along. It wasn’t clear what he was referring to until Cillizza’s column pointed out the leakers’ remarks in both newspapers. And needless to say, his comments contained several outright lies (i.e. the Times subscriptions are at an all-time high).Trump’s dishonest attacks on the media are reminiscent of historical regimes that ruled with tyranny and sought to crush a free and independent press and replace it with its own propaganda mouthpiece (i.e. Fox News, Breitbart, Infowars).
Sadly, we can expect to see much more of this going forward. During the campaign Trump insisted that he could start “acting presidential” any time he wanted. Apparently he still doesn’t want to. This leads most people to conclude that he simply isn’t able to. Trump is an emotionally stunted narcissist whose ego is an existential threat to the nation. And if you need a more visual representation of Trump’s personality disorder, News Corpse has uncovered an exclusive video of Trump in his natural element and, perhaps, a clue as to how he should be dealt with:
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
If we can make it to 2021 this presidency will be forever known as The Presidential Clown Show.
The office carries dignity which Trump is doing his best cover up. Having been in office for only a week, Trump has created material for generations of comedians.
Trump is a clear and present danger to the United States. He must be impeached before his tantrums and childish behavior cost peoples’ lives. He is the most hated man in this country and possibly the industrialized world. And Putin thinks he is a stupid buffoon easily lead around.
Impeach Trump and get Pence. He is much more of a long term danger.
Fight Trump and elect a real progressive Congress in 2 years.