Petty spat highlights lack of judgment

President Trump’s spat with Omarosa Manigault Newman, the White House adviser who was fired in December for ‘‘serious integrity issues’’, is another of those particularly Trumpian innovations in public life – the raging dumpster fire that continues to yield new trash.

In her juicy new tell-all, aptly titled Unhinged, Manigault Newman paints an unflattering portrait of the president. She characterises Trump as a racist, misogynistic narcissist with poor impulse control, severe attention-deficit issues and signs of creeping mental decline. Trump has dismissed Manigault Newman as ‘‘wacky’’; called her a ‘‘lowlife’’; and said she was ‘‘hated’’ by her colleagues for being ‘‘nasty’’, ‘‘vicious, but not smart’’ and ‘‘nothing but problems’’. The spat is vintage Trump: tawdry, cruel, and highly personal. But this is about more than a petty feud with a former aide who famously shares Trump’s love of chaos, confusion and high drama. It is also a glaring reminder of one of this president’s central failings: his disastrous judgment when choosing people with whom to surround himself, which, for a president with no relevant experience in, knowledge of or identifiable interest in what the job entails, is all the more vital. Unfortunately, Trump’s claim that he has a keen eye for talent, like so many of his other promises, turned out to be a mix of alternative facts and hot air.