‘Trump has yet again shown disastrous judgement when it comes to choosing the people with whom to surround himself...’
BEFORE he swapped the boardroom for the Cabinet Room, Donald Trump loved to boast that if elected, he’d “surround myself only with the best and most serious people”.
Then, after entering the White House, he referred to potential members of his administration as “the finalists”.
It was, of course, all straight out of The Apprentice reality TV series which he had hosted for 14 years.
In the show’s boardroom, the stakes seemed high. A quick decision from Trump could lead to winning, losing and/or embarrassment for some fame-hungry contestant.
But in the Cabinet Room at the White House, people’s real lives and livelihoods are in Trump’s hands.
Yet the line between reality TV and his presidency becomes ever more blurred each time he makes a calamitous political decision.
While on The Apprentice scenes could be re-shot, unfortunately in the real world, where he acts as the most powerful man on the planet, there are can be no second takes.
Trump’s ineptitude has been a box office smash despite his boasts about picking the very best America has to offer.
Already there have been 37 major departures from his staff but none quite so spectacular as Omarosa Manigault-Newman, a former Apprentice star who became the most high-profile black woman employed at the White House.
On Tuesday, the former presidential aide’s book, aptly titled Unhinged, was released.
In it, she characterises Trump as a racist, misogynistic narcissist with feeble knee-jerk control, severe attention-deficit issues and signs of creeping mental decline, who “loves the hate”, “thrives on criticism and insults” and “delights in chaos and confusion”.
Her biggest bombshell, however, was the claim that Trump was a fervent “racist” who repeatedly used the “N-word” while on The Apprentice.
She claimed that tapes existed to prove her allegations.
The book’s release prompted three days of denials from Trump forcing Omarosa to release a secretly recorded tape of a 2016 conference call between his high-level campaign aides that appeared to back up her allegations.
Nothing in the recording established that an ‘N-word’ tape exists.
It did, however, feature Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson telling colleagues she thinks one did and discussing how best to “spin it”.
True to form, Trump could not hold his tongue over Omarosa.
“When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog,” he tweeted.
Quite rightly accusations followed that his tirade was racially charged and sexist.
The words were vintage Trump. Sleazy, spiteful, vengeful 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 a piercing reminder of one of this president’s principal failings as a leader: His disastrous judgment when it comes to choosing the people with whom to surround himself.
Trump’s administration has had a higher turnover than The Apprentice. Quite literally, in fact.
His television show lost 15 people a season, Trump’s administration has lost more than double that since he took office in January 2017. Two-and-a-half seasons of drama, packed into just over 18 months.
Surrounding oneself with intelligent, responsible, preferably non-corrupt people is crucial for any president.
The job is too big for even the most skilled politician to handle alone.
But for an individual with no relevant background in, understanding of or identifiable interest in what the job entails, it is all the more important.
Unfortunately, Trump’s boast he has a keen eye for talent, like so many of his other promises, has turned out to be nothing more than alternative facts.