TRUMP: ‘INEPT,’ ‘CLUMSY’ AND ABOVE ALL ‘INSECURE’
British ambassador Kim Darroch said the White House under President Donald Trump is “inept,” “clumsy,” “uniquely dysfunctional” and could collapse in “disgrace.”
So, what else is new? Sir Kim — “an extraordinarily effective” representative of British interests — decided to resign after these comments were made public, despite support from his government. A shame; he said nothing that much of the world doesn’t already know.
Darroch’s analysis is dead right. Just take stock: The truth is staring us in the face every single day — from Donald Trump’s constant lies and attacks on the rule of law and the press; to backward policies on everything from climate change to health care; to unprecedented corruption and many jail-bound cronies; to his reckless, erratic foreign policy, which has accomplished nothing except bringing us closer to a disastrous war.
We can’t say we were not warned. In 2016, 50 of the most respected Republican leaders on national security declared that Donald Trump, if elected, would be “the most reckless president in American history.”
The group included former CIA director Michael Hayden; Robert Zoellick, the deputy secretary of state for President Reagan; and two former directors of homeland security. Leading conservatives like George Will and Eliot Cohen have condemned President Trump as incompetent.
But Darroch’s assessment included one more description that has been a bit lost in the tumult: that Donald Trump is “insecure.”
Telltale evidence of this character flaw has been there from the very beginning. Within hours of his inauguration, the new president was on a warpath when news accounts reported that the crowds in attendance were significantly smaller than Barack Obama’s. Soon, Mr. Trump ranted about illegal voters and “immigrants” to suggest that his 3 million-vote defeat by Hillary Clinton in the popular vote was rigged (no rigging was found).
Overseeing the first full meeting of his new Cabinet, Mr. Trump rambled on about his many “accomplishments” in his first months in office. Despite achieving little, even with Republican control of Congress, the new president went around the room to seek reassurance from each Cabinet secretary.
One by one, they groveled, offering high praise for the president. Only Gen. James Mattis, then secretary of defense, had the courage to finesse Mr. Trump’s desperate search for flattery. Mattis paid tribute to the men and women of the armed forces.
Just this spring, Mr. Trump engaged in a re-run of this flattery show, calling on five aides to describe his “demeanor” after a White House collision with Democratic leaders. “Very calm,” “very calm,” they chirped.
Other signs of Mr. Trump’s insecurity abound. He fires senior officials by “tweet” rather than face them in person. He calls himself “a stable genius” but refuses to release his grades. He terms himself a billionaire but won’t release his tax returns. He spends as much as 60% of his day in “executive time” — largely watching television to see how he is being covered.
He is afraid to hold a real news conference — a serious encounter where he would have to think fast, prove he can react with something more than mono-syllabic attacks and insults. He prefers to meet reporters next to helicopters; with engines roaring, he can shout down or walk away from tough questions.
The timing of Ambassador Darroch’s analysis is propitious, coming a few days after the 45th president hijacked a non-partisan national holiday to try to bolster his flagging popularity.
And why? Because Donald J. Trump is, at bottom, terribly insecure.