It’s easy for folks like me to believe the ugliest rumors we encounter about the current president of the United States. He is a known racist and an unreformed, narcissistic, xenophobic sexual predator and schoolyard bully, and this is just from the public record.
He shoves other presidents out of his way. He refers to other world leaders in the lowest, almost vulgar terms. He constantly bluffs, threatens and exaggerates, and at least one-third of the U.S. population would follow him into a bear cave.
He berates and undermines those who work for him. He quickly leaves former helpers out on a limb, and in return he is constantly betrayed and exposed by those who just cannot maintain loyalty to one so vile. The ordinary rules of decorum are simply ignored when it comes to folks when it comes to shaming Trump, and Trump’s tongue and his Twitter feed are the best allies for the forces aligned against him.
For example, Trump reportedly told Bloomberg — in off-the-record remarks — that publicly admitting his contempt for the Canadians trying to renegotiate the NAFTA trade deal with him would be “so insulting” that “they’re not going to be able to make a deal. … I can’t kill these people.” The Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale reported the boast, which the White House did not deny. Instead, in a Friday afternoon tweet, The Donald acknowledged that he issued an off-the-record comment to Bloomberg.
Via Twitter, Trump said: “Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED. Oh well, just more dishonest reporting. I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand!”
True. Bloomberg leaked an off-the-record comment. Bad Bloomberg. But Trump said it! Well, at least Canada knows where he stands, which implies that the rest of us don’t know him.
He’s a bully. He fashions himself as a “Bad Dude.” And he knows how to Get Things Done. He is the master of the Art of the Deal. Watch out. Hear Trump roar.
A boxing promoter posted a rumor about Trump I find very easy to believe. He said when he met the guy 30 years ago, working on a “deal,” he was brought into the circle of Trump associates, business partners and senior staff. Some of the staff members confessed to him that Trump would seduce the wives of his business associates in order to have an advantage over them. He would secretly record the men boasting of their extramarital sexual conquests, then play the recordings for their wives in order to gain their confidence for his own conquest.
Why don’t I find such a rumor hard to believe? It must have something to do with Trump being such a disreputable person. Sadly, too many greedy hacks in the public arena, anxious for the spoils of political victory, cosign on with The Donald and soon, if they didn’t already believe that bile, internalize his vile ideology and his lowball tactics.
Donald J. Trump (and there’s plenty who think like him) doesn’t care if the United States of America ever again fits into the civilized world community. Heck no. The world community better learn to get along with Trump’s America, made great again like in some John Wayne movie.
All of that would be fine — civilized folks could just go about their business and avoid the schoolyard bully — except the country he leads has a tremendous nuclear arsenal, a huge standing military force with the boasted ability to fight two wars at the same time, a military budget larger than all the other countries combined, the world’s largest economy with the proven determination to even withhold humanitarian aid just to punish, sanction and embargo other countries in order to impose this country’s will. Mean spirited, racist.
To Trump, this world leadership game is just like pushing around a bunch of greed-motivated real estate shysters like himself in order to build a Trump Tower in Moscow or beach resorts in North Korea.
And all he cares about is his own, glowing self-image.
The sad part is that there are people in this country who would follow Trump into what would be clearly their doom. Not me.
