KEY WRITERS HAVE THE PERFECT DEFINITION OF TRUMP’S MANAGEMANT STYLE

…Our unprofessional President

Comment from Former Trump adviser: “When you use people like Kleenex, eventually the Kleenex gets thrown it out,”

There are two writers at the Washington Post that have finally come up with the proper description of Donald Trump’s management style.  Phil Rucker and Ashley Parker of The Post, have looked up the definition of “Kafkaesque”, and it is perfect for applying it to Donald J. Trump. 

Here is the dictionary definition of this word, which is pronounced: “käfkə-esk”.  It is an adjective that is characteristic, or reminiscent, of the oppressive nightmarish qualities of Franz Kafka's fictional world: "a Kafkaesque bureaucratic office"

That’s classic Trump!

Let’s face it, in President Trump’s total renegade orbit, there are unspoken rules he expects his advisers to follow.  He only tolerates a small amount of dissent, and only as long as it remains private.  He expects his advisers to fall in line and defend all of his decisions; and he demands absolute sworn loyalty at all times.  That’s totally, “Kafkaesque”.

This week, all the rules were broken by John Bolton, the now former national security adviser, who was required to leave the White House suddenly due to Trump’s razor-edged terms.  Was he fired, or did he resign?

Trump says he fired him, Bolton said he thought about it over night and he decided to resign the next morning.

I have never cared for Mr. Bolton, the “Hawk of Hawks”, but he is not known for lying, as is our president.  So, I am inclined to believe Mr. Bolton’s statements about his resigning.  Mr. Bolton has also stated that he will be answering in detail, any questions about his leaving the White House: “All in good time.”

For those advisers in Trump’s direct employ, he has an unusual set of demands for those individuals.

This “Kafkaesque” episode with Bolton is an excellent example of the forces that propel his advisers into the president’s inner circle, but that can often throw them out at the same velocity.   Just note the Mr. Anthony Scaramucci’s 11 day stint with Trump, and Sean Spicer, his first Press Secretary, that didn’t last too long.

But Trump on John Bolton: “He made 'some very big mistakes.”

President Trump said that John Bolton made, "some very big mistakes" as national security adviser, and Trump stated many (15) people are interested in the role of National Security Adviser.  Of course, there were no details given about Bolton’s leaving.

According to that same 11 day, Anthony Scaramucci, “You’re there more as an annoyance to him because he has to fill some of these jobs, but you’re not there to do anything other than be the backlighting.”  Scaramucci is today, very critical of the president.  “He wants, like, a catatonic loyalty, and he wants you to be behind the backlights. There’s one spotlight on the stage, & it’s shining on Trump, and you’re a prop in the back with very dim lights.”

It appears that Trump’s wants his advisers to range from the trivial, you know, someone who looks the part and someone willing to vigorously support him and defend his policies in media appearances.  But these demands can be grating, and at times terminal for members of his staff, especially for those who, like the national security adviser, may find themselves at odds with the president on critical issues.

“There is no person that is part of the daily Trump decision-making process that can survive long term,” said a former senior administration official who obviously, spoke on the condition of anonymity.  “The president doesn’t like people to get good press. He doesn’t like people to get bad press. Yet he expects everyone to be relevant and important and supportive at all times. Even if a person could do all those things, the president would grow tired of anyone in his immediate orbit.”

Leon Panetta, who served as a defense secretary, CIA director and White House Chief of Staff in past Democratic administrations, said Trump’s bazaar management style can be extremely dangerous.

“The presidency is an isolated position to begin with, and it is incredibly important to have people around you who will tell you when they think you’re wrong,” Panetta said. “Presidents need to appreciate that information and not then take it out on that individual.”

“This president,” Panetta added of Trump, “has a real blind spot in that he does not want anybody around him who is critical.”

Current and former White House officials stress that Trump brokers and sometimes even requests disagreement, but only to a certain point and only on his terms. The advisers needs to figure out where those limits are and when to back off.  The president enjoys those gladiator fights of pitting his aides against each other other like so many ancient Romans, but that’s only if he can play emperor, presiding over the melee and crowning the victor.

The point with Trump is that he really believes in what he said, when he “said he was the chosen one”, as he looked up to the heavens.

“He has become more convinced than ever that he is the ‘chosen one,’ ” said Tony Schwartz, who co-wrote Trump’s 1987 bestseller, “The Art of the Deal,” and he has also become critical of the president. “The blend of the megalomania and the insecurity make him ultimately dismissive of anybody’s opinion that doesn’t match his own.” 

One of Bolton’s sins was that he believed he could outmaneuver the president and promote the hawkish worldview he has advocated for decades.  This is according to Republicans familiar with the dynamic.

“Anybody who thinks they’re smart enough to manipulate Trump, they’re very foolish, and that’s what happens in this city,” said Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker and a true Trump ally. “People mistake a willingness to eat cheeseburgers and drink Coke with being a buffoon, and he’s not a buffoon.” 

Trump’s advisers can be arranged into four categories, or four buckets.

As one former senior White House official explained, in bucket one, are those aides whose demise,  often via tweet , is all but foregone and the result of the president’s coming to suspect that an adviser thinks he or she is smarter than he is.  Or they are trying to undermine him in some way.  Rex Tillerson, Trump’s first Secretary of State, is an example of this category.

In bucket two, there sits the adviser who simply doesn’t gel with the president, ultimately failing to build the personal rapport necessary to survive.  Trump may think this official is a good person who genuinely wants to help implement his policies, but for whatever reason, the adviser just irritates the president.  H.R. McMaster, who preceded Bolton as national security adviser, is an example of bucket two.

Then there is bucket three, which is the politically expedient adviser who brings Trump utility in the short term.  Stephen K. Bannon, a former White House Chief Strategist, was useful early in the administration in helping to channel the hard-right base that lifted Trump to victory. 

A final forth bucket is like a 5^th grade child with a “shiny new toy”.  This is an adviser Trump recently hires and he is excited about, maybe because of having a tough nickname like James “Mad Dog” Mattis.  He was Trump’s first secretary of defense, or someone because he or she has vigorously defended Trump on television. 

In some ways, Trump has a religious approach to advisers, by viewing top advisers less as a capable Cabinet member, and more as just one of many sources from which he can seek advice and glean information.  He is, for instance, nearly as likely to heed a Fox News host as to heed a senior administration official. 

This attitude was prevalent during the 2016 presidential campaign, and is showing up for the 2020 election.  This is when Trump pays far closer attention to what he consumes in media reports and the tips he received in phone calls from friends.  More attention than from formal presentations by his official policy advisers, most of whom had virtually no face time with the candidate in 2016. 

Tillerson, speaking to CBS News’s Bob Schieffer described the president as “pretty undisciplined” and someone who “doesn’t like to read.” Tillerson also described him as an imperious president who would sometimes suggest ideas that were illegal.

“So often, the president would say, ‘Here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it,’ and I would have to say to him, ‘Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law,’ ”Tillerson said.

After leaving the administration, John F. Kelly said serving as Trump’s second Chief of Staff was “the least enjoyable job I’ve ever had.”  Asked during an appearance at Duke University what advice he had given to his successor, Mick Mulvaney, Kelly joked, “Run from it.”

People who have known the president over the years stress that, for Trump, everyone is eventually expendable. 

“When you use people like Kleenex, eventually the Kleenex is filled with snot, and you throw it out,” said “Art of the Deal” co-author Schwartz. “That’s the way Trump treats everyone.”

It is also, so sad.

Copyright G. Ater  2019