The name for it is chaos
Natural disasters, the ongoing testing of nuclear weapons by North Korea - as well as the actions of a person intent on committing mass murder in Las Vegas - have contributed to the feeling that we live in a very unstable world. However, that sense of instability, or chaos, appears to be a perfect fit for Donald Trump.
In fact, newscasters have used the word chaotic to describe Trump’s presidency. It has gotten to the point that a Republican senator states that there are three individuals who must be credited with keeping the situation from total chaos.
The three cabinet members who are viewed as bringing some sense of order to Trump’s White House are Rex Tillerson, Gen. James Mattis, and Gen. John Kelly. Unfortunately, Trump is making their difficult jobs almost impossible with his rants via twitter... Perspectives and by his “off the cuff” remarks when sitting in front of cameras.
In his role as U.S. Defence Secretary, General Mattis is urging Trump to stay with the agreement Iran signed in 2015 which prevents that country from developing nuclear weapons. Trump keeps hinting that he will cancel the deal. If he does manage to get past the Armed Services Committee and make good with his threat, Iran will have nuclear weapons in short order. Donald Trump does not like people who disagree with him but he probably won’t fire Mattis. Instead he might use his weapon of choice – Twitter – to humiliate Gen. Mattis.
John Kelly, a 40-year veteran of the Marine Corps, moved from his role as secretary of Homeland Security to chief of staff. Regardless of whatever agreements might have been made related to Kelly’s having a certain amount of control within that administration... it would seem that Trump is not easily controlled. That point was made crystal clear when Kelly clasped his hand to his forehead as Trump referred to North Korea and the “Little Rocket Man” during his address to the United Nations.
Probably the toughest job under Trump is currently held by Rex Tillerson. Nearly two weeks ago Tillerson stated that the United States has “lines of communication” open to North Korea. Shortly after Trump tweeted that Tillerson was wasting his time in trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.
With that comment Trump totally subverted Tillerson’s efforts to deescalate a very tense and dangerous situation. The name-calling – directed at the North Korean leader by Trump is a school-yard bully’s tactic – and has no place in the adult world, let alone coming from a president.
The job of the leader of a country is to protect the lives and welfare of the citizens of that country – and to reassure those citizens that he has their back. Instead, Donald Trump plays mind games. He spoke of “the calm before the storm” as he addressed senior military staff, and when asked to clarify that statement he simply said, “You’ll see.” This is another school-yard bully tactic. The bully has a secret he will keep to himself...a control tactic. Unfortunately, a leader like Kim Jong-un might view those words as a threat.
If anyone wonders just how much Trump cares about his citizens we only have to take a look at his treatment of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. That territory is home to nearly four million citizens who were virtually ignored by Trump for days while he did battle with NFL players who knelt, rather than stood for their national anthem. Then he made the comment that the citizens of Puerto Rico who were without shelter, food, medicine, electricity and dealing with life-threatening issues wanted “everything done for them.” Lack of empathy can indicate Narcissism. Hmmm...just wondering?
