TRUMP CONTINUES TO RECEIVE THE BITTER TASTE OF REJECTION

…Trump owns the prize for losing 2.8 million popular votes, 4 times more than any former US president.

Trump as president is more tolerated, than respected.

If you are familiar with the New York Times Op-Ed journalist, Frank A. Bruni, you probably already know why he is so renowned for his articles.

What Bruni has recently made me aware of is an answer to a serious group of questions I have about Donald J. Trump, that Mr. Bruni has made so very clear.

My questions are, why does Trump lie so much and why doesn’t his children try to make him understand how that is so against the basics of a democratically elected US President?  Why doesn’t Trump understand that his attacking the free press is attacking the basics required for maintaining a free democratic union?  Why doesn’t Trump understand that all those autocratic dictators that he respects so much, his desire to have that same kid of power would be the first step for the United States to become an autocracy.

Well, Frank Bruni made me understand the following about how the real people of the world feel about Donald J. Trump:

Trump has become the most unwanted president in US history, and Trump has learned that all he can do is fight back until the system eventually rejects him

As Bruni explains it, Trump is not wanted by the majority of the world's average citizens.

Trump’s not wanted at state funerals, he’s not wanted by the people of England, or France or Germany or Japan.  In England, they actually made the huge ugly Trump baby blimp that has also shown up in other countries and replicas have flown in the America.

He’s not wanted by moderate Republicans and he is seriously hated by probably all liberals and most Democrats.

The midterm elections showed how many Americans have pushed him away as they reclaimed their self-respect.

Trump has turned what was one of the most cherished political roles in DC, as a US president’s Chief of Staff, into a role that the best choices of individuals for that position are today saying, “No thanks”.

In fact, a 36-year-old Republican operative, who is by most accounts, is the definition of ability and ambition, Mr. Nick Ayers.  He has turned down one of the most powerful roles in any presidential administration.  A job that welds the chosen individual to the president’s side and gives them unrivaled access to the president and his views.

Mr. Ayres obviously didn’t see enough upside to being welded to this president.  He said no to becoming Trump’s next Chief of Staff, and most of those around Ayers have agreed that he made a good decision.

Mr. Ayers must have understood that this is a person that burns quickly through whatever good will he has, and he obviously represents to those around him much more personal peril than any real promise.  This president has a shockingly small, and shrinking number of those in the capital that feel any real affection for him.

It has become obvious to anyone close to the president that he is more being tolerated in Washington, than he is respected.

For this reason, to boost his ego, Trump is more and more fixated on his personal ratings and on the yelling MAGA crowds at his campaign style rallies.

What Bruni has realized is that, how he behaves and the nastiness he displays, is the basis of his total being. 

Other presidents have spent their time honing their art of persuasion, while Trump revels in his talent for being repulsive.  He seems more delighted when he is attacking people by giving them a negative nickname, and he seems to delight in offending as many people as he possibly can.

As one former White House official has said, “Trump’s administration doesn’t have an alumni, it has Trump refugees.”  Former Trump administrators such as H.R. McMaster, Gary Cohn, Reince Priebus, and Rex Tillerson, they are examples of, disposed of Trump refugees, not respectful alumni.

What has happened with Nick Ayers, who is finishing his stint as Vice President Pence’s Chief of Staff, it speaks pointedly to the president’s diminished state.  Bear in mind that Trump had already started telling people that Ayers would succeed General John Kelly as his Chief of Staff, therefore Ayers’ decision was doubly humiliating to the president.

Most people didn’t know that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner and daughter, Ivanka Trump had counted on Ayers’ interest in the position.  They had also worked on getting General Kelly out, to be replaced by Mr. Ayers.  Kelly will now be leaving by years-end.  So, they obviously counted totally wrong.  These young Trump advisers are ever so clueless, and they never adequately factor in Trump’s potential toxicity to any and all potential supporters.  

The president today, is now every bit as isolated as he has ever been..

“Trump was left at the altar,” wrote The Washington Post’s White House team about Ayres’ rejection of the position.  The White House is now in search for any takers, and there aren’t many to choose from.

Administration officials like Steven Mnuchin and Mick Mulvaney immediately put out news releases that Trump should not ask them to be his Chief of Staff.

Trump has no “Plan B”, but he does have a B-list of options to choose from such as the B-minus individual, Matt Whitaker, the current acting AG.

Trump has been called the "Czar of Branding", and at one time, Trump declared that as to his level of wealth, Trump declared that his name was worth “Three billion dollars”.  

Trump had previously licensed his name over 50 times to various commercial products and buildings.  Today, excluding his Trump Golf Courses and Trump Hotels, the Trump name is only on two products that aren’t his buildings.

In fact, a number of former Trump labeled buildings have had the Trump name removed from the facades of their buildings.

As to the affect of the Trump name today, an 11-year-old Delaware boy, Joshua Trump was forced to drop out of school because he was being bullied.  The bullying was all just due to his last name.  Joshua’s mother, Megan Trump, has said that the bullying began when Trump launched his campaign in 2016.  The boy had taken his mother’s name, but when the bullying reached its worst level, his father Robert Berto took Joshua out of school.  He has since taken his father’s name and the school has changed Joshua’s database name to Berto.

It is also important to understand that only 5, US Presidents have won the Electoral College vote, but lost the nation’s popular vote.  However, Trump does own one record that’s all his own.  Trump is the only US president to lose the popular vote by 2.8 million votes.  The closest president to win the Electoral College, but lose the popular vote, was George W. Bush who won the office, but lost the popular vote by 544,000.  Therefore, Trump lost that popular vote by more than 4 times George W. Bush’s popular vote  loss.

When Trump filled his DC Cabinet, he hardly had the pick of the litter.  Many top Republicans wanted no part of him, and they still don’t.  Some, who did enter the administration, seriously debated their decision beforehand: They asked themselves, “Am I helping the country or am I indulging someone who doesn’t deserve it?”

Just think about this: What other president would have said after Barbara Bush died, that it was clear to the president that he shouldn’t travel to Texas to pay his respects?  In addition, when the war hero, Senator John McCain died, Trump was told by his advisers, and he agreed to skip the funeral.

Mr. Bruni has commented that the heads of countries that share America’s purported values, they recoil from him.  Prominent corporate leaders rebuke him, despite his administration’s business-friendly policies.

And what about the American voters? While many are on his side, many, millions more aren’t.

By the analysis of the latest midterm elections, the overall vote count for Democratic candidates for the House was 8.6 points higher than for any of the Republican candidates. That was the largest advantage for a minority political party since such records began have been kept back in the 1940s.

Today, Trump’s old friends continue to tattle to the the federal and state prosecutors, while new real friends don’t seem to exist.

And finally, Trump had gone after the presidency, as so many others have, because to win the most powerful position in the world is usually the ultimate validation.

But this Trump presidency has given him the bitterest taste of personal rejection.

This is what Mr. Frank Bruni has made so clear to everyone.

Copyright G. Ater 2018