A year on and the President is still a playground bully
AS weeks go, it’s been a fairly usual one by Donald Trump’s chaotic standards. The government was once again in chaos due to a federal shutdown, more than a million women marched in protest at his presidency and his ex-pals are being quizzed about Russian collusion.
On top of this, his fake news awards proved to be the real phonies, a porn star told how he likes to be spanked with a magazine bearing his face and, according to one US author, he may be cheating on his wife.
All in all, it was pretty standard for the president who this week celebrates his first 12 months in office.
There is no doubt Trump-watching is compulsive.
Who hasn’t waited guiltily for his next tweet to see what new calamity he can create?
Given how much rests on his shoulders and how ill-suited he is to the presidency, the focus on his character since entering the White House has been both reasonable and necessary.
At the time of his inauguration, I expressed disappointment in the bleak and narrow vision he painted not just for the States but for the rest of the world.
As he revealed his plans he vowed his administration’s decisions would be governed by interests at home, delivering a new declaration of American Independence.
He went on: “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
“From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first – America first.”
At the time, the billionaire property speculator sounded like a candidate stuck on the campaign trail rather than a man about to enter the Oval Office.
But a year in, as he celebrates – and most of the world commiserates – his first anniversary in charge, there is no question Trump’s isolationist agenda has set the world back.
Wherever or whenever he steps on to the global stage, he leaves a trail of insults to friends and foes alike.
It could be something as petty as
refusing to shake the hand of German Chancellor Angela Merkel or as reckless as bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war with North Korea.
Add to this decisions such as withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, and Trump is increasingly bringing America’s historic role as the leader of the free world into question.
His lack of leadership in the White House is only matched in scale by his use of Twitter and his lack of presidential grace.
To think any western leader could have asked, “Why are we having all these people from sh**hole countries come here?” – referring to Africa, Central America and Haiti – should cause the US to hang its head in shame.
When he uses such words, Trump not only demonstrates his racism but also undermines the presidency.
There is little wonder so many not only disagree with his politics but question his fitness for office, as his approval rating shows.
At 38%, his is by far the lowest after a year in office of any US president elected since World War II.
Trump also seems to have no relationship with the truth.
His flagrant disregard of reality, petulance over any hint of criticism and his constant attack on facts that don’t fit his narrative is behaviour you would expect in the playground, not the White House.
A year ago, the newly sworn-in president said: “January 20, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation once again.”
What transpired on January 20, 2018, was the realisation the world has a man still woefully unprepared for the presidency and unfit to maintain America’s standing as a beacon of freedom and liberty.
Give him another three years and by then he may just have the hang of it.
If he lasts that long.
Wherever he steps on the global stage he leaves a trail of insults