Newly minted president bullied his way into the White House, and now he is a lost adult trying to play Washington-style politics on his terms

U.S. President Donald Trump

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

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Out of 250 million registered voters, 63 million voted for Donald Trump for president. To this day he cannot reconcile losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. Trump devotees were convinced that he could and would save them. At campaign rallies Trump’s exuberant flock cheered his every word. Their enthusiasm suggested that Trump would heal their broken spirit, making them whole. They wanted to feel like they are a large patch of America's quilt again after eight years of isolation and abandonment. The main characters in Trump’s off Broadway show was the famous character actors named “Fear and Victim.”

White folks in interviews said their lives got away from them, but that was not their fault. The forlorn feeling is because President Barack Obama deserted them. White folks said for eight years Obama did not care about them; he only cared about Black folks. The media considered White folks America’s true working class. It says Whites feel "frustrated" and "marginalized."  That was the repeated meme in 2016. With the election of  realtor Donald Trump the same voters immediately proclaimed: “We got our country back!” When Obama was president they wept, whimpered and whinnied that they had “lost” their country. President Obama destroyed America, civility and their way of life. The speedy recovery and return of “their America” was magic.

In the New Yorker magazine writer David Remnick wrote an article titled “Obama Reckons with Trump’s Presidency”. Reading the article my eyes locked on a paragraph written by author Richard Porty, and quoted in Remnick’s article. The paragraph rang as true today as it did in 1998.

To his supporters Trump projected himself as their strong man. His negotiating prowess was akin to a gun welding gangster making an offer that could not be refused. Trump affirmed while campaigning: “I am your voice. I can fix it. I will restore law and order”. Talking to an all-White audience Trump scolded nonpresent African Americans, telling them they had nothing to lose by voting for him. The rallying White folks enjoyed the thrill of his words. For a minute they forgot they were the true victims. I write this last sentence with sarcasm.

“The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking for a strong man to vote for—someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the snug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, over paid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots. One thing is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past forty years by Black and Brown Americans and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back in fashion. … All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet”.

Trump put more bait on his hook with the promise: He's going to show voters how to get rich. As president he is going to be such a winner, voters will get tired of him winning. Supporters believed Trump because he is a successful businessman, who knows how to make money. These rebel rouser ralliers believed that Trump was the answer to their prayers.  God could take a vacation. Trump was their blessing. 

Had these mainly Red State folks committed to researching Donald J. Trump’s past they would have discovered some useful information. Early interviews with magazines, newspapers and on radio disclosed that  in 1999 Trump thought about running for president on the Reform Party ticket. Once upon a time Trump was a Democrat, but he flipped to Republican to run for president of the United States, a tasty morsel he has been dining on since the 1980s. That's 18 years of  contemplating.  

Trump chased after and barked at the car, caught with it, and had no idea how to drive it.  Ernest Benn, writer, publisher and publicist said, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy".  No, he did not know Donald Trump, who wanted President Ronald Reagan to appoint him ambassador to the USSR. His ego told him that he could resolve the Cold War  in a day. Reagan took care of the dilemma himself.

Trump intended to run in 2008 against Hillary Clinton, but Barack Obama blocked him. Trump knew that he could not buck or bully Obama, nor could he beat him. Trump considered a run in 2010, but again, Obama was his firewall. He was certain that with the birther brouhaha, media focus, and White folks hating Obama, he could sprint towards a presidential home run.

When Trump said that he could teach his followers how to get rich, I laughed. It did not occur to them

Donald Trump

that Donald J. Trump was born to millionaire parents, and a father that supported his projects by loaning him millions of dollars to start his own business. Never mind the bankruptcies, and his inability to acquire loans from banks in America, due to his habit of not repaying loans in full. When his businesses drowned, Trump renegotiated the loans. Rather than chance not getting any of their money back, the banks compromised and caved. 

Trump’s cultish followers did not want to know about his failed business record because they would learn that he is not a good businessman. They did not want to learn that he does not own the businesses bearing his name. For a huge fee he licenses his name. None of his Trump labeled merchandise is manufactured in America. The same rule of thumb applies to Ivanka Trump and his wife Melina. He and his adult children are using the presidency to fatten their pocket books.

Trump told his followers that he understood their plight. He promised to stop jobs from leaving this country. He promised to revive the coal industry in Red Sates. Every American is going to get “beautiful” health care insurance that they can afford. Trump is hell bent on building a “big beautiful wall” to stop illegal Mexican immigrants from crossing the Southern border, bringing crime with them. “Mexico is going to pay for it!” he announced confidently. “Believe me!” No American money will help defray the cost. The “big beautiful” wall will have a “big beautiful door” for immigrants to re-enter America legally.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump talked Mafia tough all the time. He was the Godfather of campaigning. He regularly dogged and bad-mouthed his opponents. They did not retaliate. The media and pundits helped him throw rocks at Hillary Clinton. The media have been trying  to knock down Bill and Hillary Clinton for decades. 

With the help of the media that gave Trump millions of dollars of free advertising, the one note candidate slimmed his way into the presidency. When he won he did not alter his belligerent tone. Trump's skin did not thicken, making him immune from criticism. His early morning tweeting is nonstop. His lying is consistent. He does not have a relationship with facts or history, and he demands constant flattery, positive press and loyalty.

All-in-all Donald J. Trump has been in office for six months but it seems like six years. His term begin with a scandal involving Russia hacking the DNC’s computers. Wikileaks released the emails to mud smear Hillary Clinton, and to help Trump get elected. The Russia/Trump scandal is breaking with new information every day. However, Trump is in deep denial and attack mode. He will not deny his male crush on Russia's President Vladimir Putin, who he refuses to attack.

A businessman without a company, or board or headquarters or hundreds of employees, Trump does not answer to anyone but himself. He thinks that being president allows him the right to break whatever laws he wants to, and not be punished. He thinks he can run America’s government like it’s his personal business. A Republican controlled Congress and Senate are standing on the sideline with their arms folded, allowing Trump to be the loose elephant in a fine china shop. 

Donald Trump is filling top positions with novice millionaire and billionaire bankers, lobbyists, family members and other people who have vowed loyalty to him. With the exception of his family, Trump campaigned against these hires and swore that none of them would be a part of his administration. He said would clean the swamp when he arrived in Washington. He lied. The swamp is bigger and deeper than ever, and Trump takes a swim in it every day.