Provided by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
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What Trump is Not
Character
The very first test for the presidency should be a person's character. The president should be a moral person, a person who is honest and truthful, a person who is fair, just, and has empathy for others, a person who will try to bring the people of our diversified country together. Nothing is more important than character, not a person's understanding of the job, their understanding of the issues facing this country, their understanding of the law, their political views, their experience in public office, their knowledge of foreign policy, their ability to communicate, their education, or anything else. Donald Trump simply does not pass the very first test of what a president should be, and on this issue he is a complete failure. Donald Trump is not a person with good character.1
Law and Order
Trump recently declared himself our
president of law and order stating that he was committed to upholding the
laws. Law and order is an important conservative principle and of course a
president should uphold the rule of law. But throughout his administration
Trump has demonstrated contempt for the law. For example, he violated
campaign finance laws by paying off a porn star, obstructed Congress by
flouting legal subpoenas from Congress, tried to bribe the Ukrainian
President, unlawfully diverted Defense Department funds to build a border
wall, probably violated the Emoluments clause of the Constitution on
numerous occasions, used his Trump Foundation charitable funds for his
own benefit causing it to be shut down for misconduct, wrongly fired
numerous inspectors general, and encouraged police to rough up people who
were arrested. Donald Trump is clearly not a law and order President.2
Truth
Trump has also made war on the concept of truth by lying about nearly everything he talks or tweets about (15,000+ lies), and promoting conspiracy theories that are obviously nonsense, e.g., that Obama wasn’t born in the U.S., that the concept of global warming was created by the Chinese, that vaccines cause autism, and that the corona virus was a hoax created by the Democrats to make him look bad. Donald Trump is a pathological liar and in their attempts to defend him, his aides create new lies about the president's old lies to spin them closer to the truth. The president has taken us down a dark rabbit hole where if people believe something is true, that to the president makes it true. Kellyanne Conway and others who attempt to defend or spin the president's lies have become reality contortionist, or in Kellyanne's words purveyors of "alternative facts." They compromise their own integrity in order to serve him. Our greatest threat to law, order and truth is Donald Trump.
What Trump Is
Political Strategy
Trump's behavior is not consistent with any Republican or Democratic political principles. Donald Trump is a right-wing populist demagogue. He exploits anti-black prejudice and white ethnic grievances. By “Make America Great Again” Trump means reviving conservative positions and social values that have been discarded, but were common 80 years ago. Donald Trump is dishonest, immoral, a bigot, a racist, a male chauvinist, an Islamophobe and a xenophobe. He promotes hatred and stigmatization of traditionally oppressed groups in American society. Trump is a threat to our values of equality, fair treatment, and the rule of law, and he is a serious threat to the groups he is targeting and demonizing.3
Personality
Trump’s behavior indicates that he suffers from a personality disorder referred to as psychopathy including an inclination to lie, lack remorse, exhibit callousness, and to be manipulative. In addition, psychopathy includes being impulsive, intolerant of frustration, being quick-tempered, and oriented towards short-term goals. Trump also shows the characteristics of narcissism exhibiting behavior associated with grandiosity, entitlement, dominance, and superiority. Trump’s narcissism may have reached the stage of malignant narcissism in that it appears to be growing much like a malignant cancer. This extreme stage of narcissism includes paranoia, sociopathy, and sadism. These characteristics seem to fit Donald Trump. For example, according to Trump, he is a stable genius and knows more about everything than anyone. He has empathy for no one but himself. He demonizes the press, minorities, immigrants and anyone who disagrees with him, and he takes pleasure in harming and humiliating other people. According to an analysis of the first 30,000 words each of the last 15 presidents spoke in office, and then ranking them based on more than two dozen English-language tests, Trump was rated at a fourth grade level of communication. Based on these tests, Trump has the worst vocabulary of any modern president. Trump does not appear to be either stable or a genius.4
Trump’s Russian Connections
The following notes are based on Unger,
C. 2018. House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump
and the Russian Mafia. Dutton.
The purpose of Unger’s book is to
report on a comprehensive investigation into the four-decade-long
relationship between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the Russian Mafia.
According to Craig Unger the book reveals a number of relationships and
connections that help answer questions such as: Is Donald Trump a traitor, a
Russian agent, or merely a useful idiot who somehow does not even know he
has been compromised by Russia?
Unger tells us in the first chapter
that the book shows the following: Over the past 40 years Donald Trump and
his associates have had ties to at least fifty-nine people who facilitated
business between Trump and various Russians, dozens with alleged ties to the
Russian Mafia. These 59 connections are listed, with explanations on pages
265-279. Trump allowed his real estate business to be used in a way that
probably involved laundering significant amounts of money (perhaps billions)
for the Russian Mafia. Trump provided a home for the Russian Mafia in Trump
Tower. Many people connected to Trump have had strong ties to the Russian
state security service (FSB), the successor to the KGB.
Trump has
been of interest to the Russians for forty years and was likely the subject
of one or more operations that produced compromising materials on his sexual
activities. Russian operatives hired lawyers, lobbyists, accountants and
real estate developers in an effort to compromise America's electoral
system, legal process, and financial institutions. Trump was only one of
dozens of politicians (mostly Republicans, but some Democrats) and
businessmen who became indebted to Russia, including Senate majority leader
Mitch McConnell. Two FBI directors (William Sessions and Louis Freeh), and
others involved in America's national security worked for Russians who had
been threats to the United States. Trump was $4 billion in debt when Russian
money bailed him out, and he remains deeply indebted to the Russians for
that, and for launching his life in politics. President Trump is, in effect,
an intelligence asset for Russia and Vladimir Putin. There is a photo of
Putin and Trump together and description in the book that tells the story.
After Trump won the election, the Russian state media stated "Trump is
ours."
Because of Trump's cavalier attitude towards the Russian security threat Moscow has not been deterred from attacking American interest. In January 2019 Dan Coats testified that Russia was still involved in sowing social, racial, and political discord in the United States. Robert Mueller testified to Congress that "It wasn't a single attempt. They're are doing it as we sit here. And they expect to do it during the next Campaign." Although this should be a national scandal, it is being ignored by the president. The best way to describe the president's attitude towards our enemies is "willful ignorance."
Trump's Reversal of U.S. Foreign Policy
After World War I the idea of shaping a more democratic world became a unifying theme for both parties. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) and Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) promoted the principles of liberty and freedom. This emphasis on supporting democracy around the world continued until Donald Trump was elected. Trump is an outlier who complains that we have subsidized other countries while neglecting our own infrastructure and allowed our wealth, strength, and the confidence in our country to decline. However, these are false claims based on a myopic and short-sighted view of history. What has actually happened is that we have played an active role in changing the world from one of almost entirely dictatorships and monarchies to a world of mainly democratic nations. America's efforts have opened markets for our goods, facilitated the spread of freedom and knowledge and helped us develop partners who have our back in times of trouble. America would be far worse off if isolationism had been our theme rather than advancing freedom and democracy.
After three years of a Trump presidency the world is not sure whether we are still on the side of freedom, have become a spectator, or are in the process of joining a small club of thugs. Surveys show that America's international image has plummeted under Trump with favorable views of the United States at record lows in many countries. Trump's leadership makes it appear that the United States has switched sides in global politics. If we are going to maintain the goals of America's past (peace, stability, progress, and freedom of mankind), our leaders must be very clear about who is a friend and who is a foe. This is perhaps the most important job of the president, but on this President Trump has failed us badly.5
Summary
The verdict is in on Donald Trump:
He is guilty of behaving immorally,
He is guilty of undermining our democratic institutions,
He is guilty of dividing Americans with hateful rhetoric and habitual dishonesty,
He is guilty of abandoning some of our crucial U.S. alliances,
He is guilty of supporting our adversaries, and
He is guilty of surrounding himself with people who only reinforce his fundamental flaws.
Donald Trump deserved to be fired!6
__________________________
Notes:
1 For more on Donald Trump's lack of character, see Chapter 2 of my summary of A Warning.
2 For more on Donald Trump's behavior related to law and order, see Chapter 4 of my summary of A Warning.
3 For a discussion of Donald Trump's lack of political principles, see Chapter 3 of my summary of A Warning.
4 For more on Donald Trump's personality, see Chapter 6 of my summary of A Warning.
5 For a discussion of Donald Trump's reversal of U.S. foreign policy and global politics, see Chapter 5 of my summary of A Warning.
6 From Chapter 8 of my summary of A Warning.
Related summaries:
Anonymous. 2019. A Warning: A Senior Trump Administration Official. Twelve: Hachette Book Group. (Summary).
Crossan, M., W. Furlong and R. D. Austin. 2022. Make leader character your competitive edge. MIT Sloan Management Review (Fall): 1-12. This article includes a leader character framework. (Summary).
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Policies of a Second Trump Presidency.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Shepard Fairey Political Posters.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Summary of Trump's Seven Part Plan to Overturn the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
Martin, J. R. Not dated. Why I vote for Democrats.
Rosenfeld, G. D. (Editor) and J. Ward (Editor). 2023. Fascism in America: Past and Present. Cambridge University Press. (Summary).
Stanley, J. 2018. How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. Random House. (Summary).