General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump believes that being President requires very little participation
on his part. He entered into the office, fully expecting to show up at the White House a few days each week to sign some Executive Orders and then to repair to one of his other homes the rest of the time. He read part of the Constitution and didn't really find many duties for the President therein. So, he simply assumed that being President would be a part-time job that merely required him to make broad statements and give orders that would be quickly obeyed.
As he is discovering, the job is far more complex and time-consuming than he expected. This has him wondering what he got himself into, after all that campaigning. For the first time in his life, he finds himself under a microscope with the entire world hovering above the eyepiece, peering at his every move and listening to every word.
Long used to having all the work done by hired toadies who were in constant fear of being fired, he is puzzled when the declarations made by his unqualified sycophants are not automatically accepted as truth. He does not trust many people, if any, so cannot have a large staff, since he will not hire anyone he does not trust, and cannot find applicants who are willing to play the roles he demands them to play.
All in all, the job is far more tedious and troublesome than he expected. Unless the situation improves soon, he may well simply fly off to Mar-a-Lago and not return to the White House. He has been told that nobody can force him to actually live in that drafty, moldy old building, nor to actually do much of anything at all for the next four years.
Donald Trump will soon become our first non-resident President, it seems.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(119,273 posts)of the Constitution. Instead, I think he just assumed that because the federal government is a yuuge entity with a lot of money it was just like a big business and he would be its CEO. As such he expected to be able to direct and control this "company," which he now effectively owns (at least in his own tiny mind), and that whenever he said "shit," everyone who works for the government in any capacity (his employees, he thinks) would ask "what color?".
Having never read the Constitution, and apparently never having had anyone even tell him what's in it, he's furious that the judicial branch can tell him no, you can't do that, and that Congress can say, no, you can't have the money to do that. He thought he could just sign orders (drafted mostly by Steve Bannon in the furtherance of his ideology), make an occasional speech to adoring fans, and spend the rest of his time watching TV, tweeting tweets of outrage, and playing golf. Reports are leaking out that, having begun to discover that the job is not like that at all, he is angry and frustrated and hates his new job.
I hope he's miserable.
MineralMan
(147,030 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(119,273 posts)As the Watergate investigation progressed Nixon was said to have drunkenly wandered the halls of the White House talking to portraits of deceased presidents, and reportedly once drunk-dialed H.R. Haldeman. Nixon was an alcoholic, paranoid mess. Trump doesn't drink, or so he says; his drug of choice is rage. When his rage reaches critical mass it will be interesting, and possibly frightening, to see what he does.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)or tour of them, so he can relive his primary-race glory days to loud cheers.
He is, of course, pathologically jealous of his status and power. Sure, he'll turn most of his work over to others, who will be prone to being overriden and fired, both so everyone knows he is the most powerful man in the world. What is really scary is that in frustration and rage at an uncontrollable nation he may also look for ways to create fear and "respect" commensurate with what he thinks is his greatness. Support for destructive policies that would cause pain, already supported by the sort of extremists he's put in some positions, would be an obvious way. So would military action and illegal actions against citizens.
Perhaps persecuting large numbers of immigrants will generate enough cheers and feed his ego enough to carry him through for a while, but I'm also afraid that whatever contemptuous tolerance/indifference he had for the American people in general is probably changing into something very different as/if rejection builds. He is reportedly very vindictive, and we know he is emotionally unstable and irrational.
Squinch
(52,110 posts)despises or do you think his ego won't let him do that?
MineralMan
(147,030 posts)He could do anything, really. We'll just have to wait and see, I think.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)That he would just prance around with a crown on his head and shout orders?
What a fucking idiot!
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)It's gonna get worse when the crops are rotting in the fields thanks to his mistakes.
louis-t
(23,487 posts)Hey asshole, pay attention, you might learn something. Jeez.
NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)except when he's talking about his awesomeness, of course.
louis-t
(23,487 posts)Ask Richard Branson.
MFM008
(19,960 posts)Thought that before the election. AOL story on front page talks about his frustration with job.
He's going to try NOT to participate.
I'm beginning to think that may not be a bad thing
kimbutgar
(22,506 posts)and will scare off his pussy supporters. Sure there are some hardcore ones but they are probably embarrassed or don't want to admit they voted for him. The ones I know are starting to doubt and worry about his presidency.