Trump: Showman and Master of Deceit

Why do we continue to tolerate Donald Trump’s laughable Barnum and Bailey-like showmanship and deceitful shenanigans? Since his decision to run for president, the general public has learned a lot more about him as the media focused its spotlight more keenly on him because of his presidential run.

Trump has continually boasted of being a great businessman, but the record shows that he has had at least 6 business (Chapter 11) bankruptcies.  This does nothing to bolster the great businessman image that he wants us to believe. In 2005 Trump launched Trump University which supposedly specialized in providing training in real estate, entrepreneurship and other business related subjects. However, the university was unaccredited and didn’t deliver on its promises. Trump University functioned until 2010. However, the so-called university was not successful, and there were many complaints and lawsuits filed against the school by its students, and the New York Attorney General’s office claiming fraud. In November of 2016, three outstanding lawsuits against Trump University were settled for 25 million dollars, according to USA Today and other news outlets.  The news media also reported Trump’s history of “stiffing” various contractors and independent workers who had done work for him.

The record is full of accusations and lawsuits against the President, including the recent much talked about cases of Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress, and Karyn McDougal, a former Playboy “Playmate of the Year”. 

As a practicing showman, Trump is often seen on TV holding court for the nation and the world to see as he chairs meetings with congresspersons and high -ranking military officers on the critical issues of the day. When he chairs these meetings, his apparent goal is to demonstrate his ability to take charge and resolve issues. Many have criticized these meetings as being show meetings of the highest degree, initiated by a politician who sees success in terms of media ratings, rather than job understanding and job performance. Particularly interesting is his “DACA” meeting with members of congress seated all around him.  At the meeting (with cameras all around) he professed a genuine interest in getting a DACA deal done. Days later, when the cameras were gone, he reversed course, and did nothing. This is who Donald Trump really is as seen by those of us who are not his ardent supporters and enablers.

Following the recent raid on his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen’s home, office, and hotel quarters, Trump is said to be living in fear of what might happen next.  When Trump feels fenced in, he often lashes out at those around him and threatens to fire those he perceives as the enemy. His explosive temperament may well become a problem as he attempts to represent our national interests overseas.  Trump is known to vacillate on key issues and he downright lies on other issues. Can and will the international community trust him to negotiate international deals of critical importance, or will trusted subordinates be called upon to negotiate these deals?

If Trump has any ability at all, it is his expert ability to convince a considerable number of people that he is the real thing, an extremely competent, caring rich man who is foregoing making lots of money in his later years, to work for America for peanuts. However, we all know that he never really distanced himself from his business empire.  Some feel he is using his presidency to make more money or, at least, position himself to make more money.  He wants us to believe that he just wants to represent the forgotten Americans, and to make America great again out of the goodness of his heart.

Trump may be the only person who knows if he is actually innocent of any possible infractions that Mueller might discover under his broad mandate authorized by Deputy AG Rosenstein.  If he profesess innocence, why can’t he let the investigation continue to its conclusion?  If he is really innocent, Mueller won’t find a thing on Trump-right? However, if he is hiding something illegal, Mueller may well uncover a wealth of stuff! Perhaps this is why Trump continues to try so hard to derail the investigation.

The acts of firing person-after-person and getting stooges like Nunes and Hannity to try to manipulate public opinion on his behalf, suggests to a lot of folks, that Trump is trying to hide something.  What might he be trying to hide? He must fear something very serious being discovered, because he seems obsessed with halting the Mueller investigation-at almost any cost! It is good that despite the many attempts to derail it, the investigation is successfully moving on.  It looks like the investigation is slowly inching its way up towards the top of the pyramid.

Trump has made a series of public appearances, interviews, and tweets that reveal who he really is. He remains a master controller who manipulates people and compromises the integrity of his subordinates in order to reach his own selfish ends. Consider KellyAnn Conway, Sean Spicer, and Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, to name a few, who many say have surrendered their integrity for the Donald.

I have reviewed film, videos, and documentaries on Adolph Hitler. At first I was amazed at how similar Hitler’s manipulative style was compared to Mr. Trump’s.  I have said before that Trump “plays” the people and history, videotapes, and audiotapes will prove this to be true.

It remains surprising to me that people allow Mr. Trump to tell lie-after-lie while they continue to flock to him as if he has some kind of strange mesmerizing control over them. Trump’s new National Security Advisor, John Bolton, makes the joke, “How can you tell if a North Korean is telling the truth?” and the answer is, “His lips are moving”.   I don’t know how much this joke applies to Kim Jun Un, but it definitely applies to Mr. Trump. Go to the videotape! It’s right there!

I have seen excerpts of film where some former Trump “believers” came to the conclusion that Trump is a fraud.  When I heard this, I recalled how he defrauded those trusting students at that bogus Trump University, and didn’t pay contractors and other workers. In addition, I recalled the various lawsuits and accusations from many women concerning alleged sexual misconduct by Mr. Trump. In the final analysis, I had to agree that Trump is a deceitful fraud. You can’t dress it up!  Look at his history. Again, it  is right there! There’s the TV tape with Billy Bush, the interview with Matt Lauer, the interview with Lester Holt, the sham round table meeting when he pledged support for DACA and reneged, and so on.  Let’s go to those video tapes and resurrect who Trump really is. Let’s relive how he incited people in his rallies to violence!  Let’s relive his denunciation of the Hispanic judge. Let’s relive his Charlottesville remarks. Relive it all. There’s your truth! That’s who Trump really is! He is a Showman and a Master of Deceit! Sad!