The Problem With Trump

donald-trump-short-fingered-vulgarian-fingers-bruce-handy-ss13

Even people who dislike Trump are often confused about why.

Some people think he’s evil. He isn’t. Some people think he’s super corrupt. It doesn’t seem that way to me.

Trump is a pair of loud, gold-plated dice.

When he enters a situation, no matter what it is, he’s not quite sure how he’s going to react. He goes by his gut. But once he gets a feeling in one direction or another he leans in.

He goes all the way with it, no matter what it is.

It’s not based on his research, or his deep knowledge of the topic. It’s all based on feel.

This is why he’s held muliple opposing opinions on so many topics. He simply feels different ways at different times. It’s not necessarily that he’s lying all the time; he just feels differently.

Sometimes Mexicans are some of the most upstanding and respectable people he’s ever met. Sometimes they’re rapists and criminals.

Sometimes he’s pro-choice. Sometimes he’s religious. Sometimes he loves war. Sometimes he wants to tax the rich. Other times he wants to give them massive tax advantages.

I honestly believe that there are versions of Trump, at various moments, that are extremely kind, inclusive, and positive. I also think he genuinely wants to make America great again.

Unsupervised Learning — Security, Tech, and AI in 10 minutes…

Get a weekly breakdown of what's happening in security and tech—and why it matters.

The problem is not that he’s evil. The problem is that at any given moment, based on whoever is talking to him about whatever topic, he might see some logic and walk away supporting that position.

That could be the idea that some charity needs funding, or it could be that Putin is better for the world than Obama.

He’s a dangerous man, not because he’s consistent and evil, but because this is precisely the wrong type of person to be in charge of important things.

It’s fine to be a real-estate tycoon and act like this. It’s fine to be a reality star and act like this (it’s even a benefit in that case).

But when you’re dealing with world leaders, economies, and wars, an even temperament and consistency are paramount.

He is kind of the opposite of those, and that’s why he’s a problem. He temporarily becomes someone (and something) different after every significant conversation, and when you’re dealing with smart people trying to influence you at every turn, this is the worst possible trait to have.

There’s basically no way to know what he’s about to say, about anything, at any given time. He just makes it up as he goes along based on gut feelings.

Trump isn’t evil—he’s uninformed and unpredictable. And that might be worse.

Related posts: