People give him way too much credit. He is not clever enough for ulterior motives or creating distractions. He is a toddler. He wakes up every morning and does the thing he wants to do, based on his mood (which is usually foul). He gets away with it or throws a tantrum. Then he wakes up the next day and does it all again. There is no bigger plan. He runs on impulse, reaction, and revenge.
When one scandal is pushed out of the headlines by the next, that is not by his design. It is not meant to be a distraction. It is simply that the next bright, shiny object got his attention, and he reacted. He is not intentionally crashing the markets in a grand scheme to benefit his friends. He doesn’t know enough about the market or economy to do this. If it is not something that directly benefits/hurts him, or that he doesn’t understand how it will affect him personally, then he is simply disinterested and does what he is told. He spends most of his waking hours focused on hurting anyone who has ever crossed him. The vast majority of his governing is centered around this. He loved being a tv star more than anything. He is trying to re-create this era by turning the country into a giant episode of The Apprentice. He felt like he was good in that role. He knew that the chaotic episodes got the best ratings. So he constantly creates chaos to up his ratings. He sees himself as America’s host. His staff and cabinet members are his contestants, always having to prove themselves worthy for a role they are not technically qualified for. Like on the show, they are given tasks, and he advances them or eliminates them based on how they did, how much he likes them, and/or how much they praise and flatter him. His other motivation is fitting in with the (perceived) cool kids, who are actually the schoolyard bullies, and they are just using him to get what they want. He is their useful idiot. He will do what they say because he wants to be in their clique. All that said, the people around him ARE clever enough for ulterior motives and creating distractions. So there is definitely a lot of this happening. But please stop giving Trump credit for this. He’s too simple-minded. |
Yes, he is not smart.
However, the people around him (who really run things) want to force us all to be poor and want to create a white supremacist society. Trump is happy to go along with all of this if it keeps him out of jail and/or in Putin's good graces, which is what I think is his main motivation. |
You sure seem to know a lot about Trump, OP. Impressive. Now do Elon. This could become a full time gig for you. |
And then please do the rest of Washington. |
You are absolutely correct, OP. He's incredibly embarrassing and cringe-worthy and has no idea. He simply cannot imagine life outside of himself and is incapable of even noticing all of the hypocrisy in his words and actions. We already know from his first term that he can't handle reading briefs or pay attention during long explanations. Everything is a sound bite to him. His mind is incapable of critical thinking skills about complex topics.
But, like you said, those around him are not nearly so limited. Musk in particular is a combination of very bright but lacking empathy. Most of the others are just immoral in their quest for power but smart and using Trump to their own advantage. |
If by “great” you mean poorer, sicker, more ignorant, more hateful, more cruel, more selfish, more incompetent, and more of a global pariah, then mission accomplished, I guess. Orwell would be proud of you. |
lol. You know this person has to hide their love for Donnie most of the time lest they be publicly shamed as a village idiot. It’s ok, let the hurt out ![]() |
Hey Chad, Your pizza pocket is ready! Love, Mom |
This is bottom line. Does anyone really think Trump cares about the Kennedy Center or the Smithsonian? No, these are the targets of his dominionist Project2025 buddies, the Christian Nationalists who have his ear and want to take over another of their seven “mountains”. Education is another of their “mountains”, and abolishing ED is part of this strategy. Trump doesn’t care about any of this stuff, but the dominionists who voted for him do. Trump is just their useful idiot. |
How do Democrats lose to someone who is not smart? |
Trump built a coalition of grievance: Evangelical Christians (and two important subsets: Christian Nationalists and Christian Domionists), blue collar workers (who believe “globalism” has cheated them out of the American dream), white supremecists, anti-vaxxers, incels, and suburban women who are tired of “wokeism”, particularly in public schools. |
Maybe liberals instead of attacking him should have praised him, and they could have won everything. |
I forgot one important segment: wealthy libertarian/Randian tech bros, who are funding a large part of his movement. |
Indeed, here's the oil execs take on Trump's economic policies.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/us-oil-executives-see-disaster-192149353.html
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Sounds like something a smart, dare I say clever, person would do to win elections. |