The Epitome of Weakness
Donald J. Trump likes to represent himself as a strong person. He seems to hang around with so-called “strongmen,” such as Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, and Manuel Duterte. He may well think that he can also be a strongman by association, or perhaps he believes that some of it might rub off on him. He likes to brag — by which I mean lie — about his virility and physical stamina. He calls his opponents “low-energy” or something similar. His personal doctor says he’s the healthiest president ever, and he likes to parade that fact. Patent lies. He also likes to pretend that he would have been a good soldier or that he would have rushed into the gunfire at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. No one believes that. It’s all bluster. In point of fact, he received repeated deferrals to get out of the very possibility of military action. He likes to threaten physical violence at his campaign events — though it’s always committed by someone else. But the tough-guy will not stand for one word of dissent.
In fact, Trump is a weakling.
First of all, he surrounds himself with sycophants. He will only hire family members or proven loyalists. At the first sign of disloyalty, they are no longer employed by Trump (“you’re fired”) and he then, in a tried-and-true formula, distances himself from that person (“I barely knew him”). By contrast, Abraham Lincoln famously assembled a “Cabinet of Rivals.” In her book on Lincoln, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin quotes Lincoln as saying, “We need the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet. We needed to hold our own people together. I had looked the party over and concluded that these were the very strongest men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services.” A far cry from the current resident of the Oval Office.
Instead of surrounding himself with strong individuals, instead of hiring people who will challenge him and make him stronger, Trump employs a team of sycophants whose job it is to present Trump a binder of positive headlines and news stories. He cannot abide negative news coverage. He can only withstand positive news. Multiple reports in 2017 noted that the team prepared a binder twice a day to be presented to Trump. The binders include positive press coverage, favorable, tweets, screen shots of positive chyrons, and, sometimes, just pictures of Trump himself looking “powerful.” The negative news, negative, tweets, and unflattering pictures are all too much for his ego. Instead, Trump exists inside a gold lamé echo chamber.
Similarly, we have seen a revolving door for Trump appointees. According to a New York Times story from June 25, 2019, Trump now holds the record for the most departures from his administration. While the reasons are many for their departures — indictments, ethics investigations — but in a number of cases, Trump has tired of his employees’ unwillingness to buckle under, or, even worse, because they have presented unwanted news to Trump. He cannot handle hearing bad news; he cannot handle hearing that he cannot have his own way; he cannot stand hearing that he has to follow the law.
As part and parcel of his vanity and impetuousness, he has no self-control. He is a glutton. His reported dietary habits are though of someone who cannot control what he eats, nor how much of it. In Corey Lewandowski’s book on Trump, he writes that a typical dinner for Trump would include, “a full McDonald’s dinner of two Big Macs, two Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, and a small chocolate shake — a total of 2,430 calories.”
For another, he cannot control his libido. When he sees someone he finds attractive or sexy, he cannot control himself, regardless of whether or not he’s married or in a relationship, regardless of whether or not the woman consents, whether the object of his lust in under age or not.
For another still, he cannot control his mouth. He quite infamously goes on long-winded, tortuous screeds. In March 2019, the BBC reported on Trump’s speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC). The BBC noted that it was the “longest speech of his presidency” and, in classic British dry humor, noted that he “went a little off script.” Demonstrating a complete lack of self-discipline, he seems to say whatever comes into his mind, regardless of whether it is true, regardless of whether it contradicts something he has already said, and regardless of whether it would be politically expedient (for him, his party, or the country). Someone with some strength of character just might be able to stay on script, and not to say things that damage the country.
Finally, he cannot and will not admit he was ever wrong. Of course, this seems to contradict the previous statement. His unwillingness (or inability) to admit a mistake would seem to suggest that he does have self-control. Trump fashions this tendency as a sign of his strength. He is dead wrong. It is a sign of weakness. He does not have the strength of character to admit an error. The examples are too many to list, but prominent examples include the Central Park Five, the Charlottesville demonstrations, and Tim Apple. Despite DNA evidence that exonerated the five young men convicted in the Central Park incident Trump cannot admit that he was wrong, nor that he played any role in the vilification of the young men. After the clashes in Charlottesville, Trump characterized the event by saying “there were good people on both sides.” Even after Heather Heyer was killed, even after her killer was convicted, Trump will not alter his stance. Finally, Trump (almost certainly quite innocently) called Tim Cook of Apple, “Tim Apple.” When called out for his mistake, Trump fabricated an excuse. When that excuse was belittled, he fabricated another. Even in something as innocent as a slip of the tongue, he will not admit wrongdoing. He cannot own up to making a mistake. Instead, he goes on the attack, and doubles down on his claim. It is a classic script for Trump; he does not waver from he script. In March 2019, Ed Drayton at Patheos wrote, “Trump could have shown a moment of self-deprecating wit and no one would be talking about this anymore. But he isn’t capable of doing that, ever. He sees it as weakness. And that’s a very dangerous thing when wedded to power.”
Like a strongman, like a dictator, not Trump wants to wield power, unquestioned power. To do so, he cannot show any sign of — what he believes to be — weakness. The consequences for all of us are apparent, but the real danger is that this wanna-be dictator will not given up his power easily. It’s just not in his make-up.
