Stop Pretending Donald Trump Has Ideas

Please stop talking about the “Trump policies” or Donald Trump’s “ideas.” And this means you, Joe Scarborough — do not suggest that there is anything resembling a Trump “doctrine.”

Donald Trump does not have ideas. He does not have a doctrine. He has no theories, policies, no understanding of history, and no concept of the future. All he has are impulses, grudges, panics, meltdowns, and — his greatest strength and his greatest weakness — an almost-feral ability to focus on whatever will get him what he wants in this exact moment. Not a minute from now, not a minute ago. The past and future have no meaning. Neither do expertise or experience. What he said or did or will say or do or tweet never matter to him a minute later; he does not remember or care. He lives in the consequenceless world of the everlasting now, where any worry or slight can be tweeted at and then forgotten. Unfortunately, the rest of us plan to be around for the future.

Donald Trump is good at reading the room in a purely transactional mode. In person, he has the real estate developer’s horse-trading sense of his audience’s vulnerabilities, whether they are most likely to respond to flattery, braggadocio, threats, or some toxic mix of all three. We saw that in his debates and rallies during the campaign. But that is entirely unsuited to any elective office, much less the most powerful elective office of the world.

The recent trade scramble is a perfect (storm) example. To recap: President Trump has kicked out the immigrants…