Has anyone ever been his own worst enemy more than Trump?

[CitizenBBN]

I'm a supporter of much of his agenda, not all, and I can overlook his boorish and often just flat stupid behavior if we can get that agenda advanced. I don't have to like the person to like the results.

And we knew from the campaign he was like this, but I've never seen anyone do more to sabotage himself by simply not being able to disengage from childish pissing contests, nor someone more tempermental about being questioned. At least for someone with his kind of success and years in the tooth.

FWIW I think it's just not possible that he's a tool of Putin or anyone else. His ego is far too big to answer to anyone or anything. He says he wants to put America first, but the biggest problem he's having is whether he can put America in front of his own ego. No way he'd put Putin or Russia in front of it.

And I for one don't think he should stop tweeting. The problem isn't the tweeting, that does get his message out. The problem is he doesn't tweet intelligently about his message, he tweets like, as Doc said so well, a petulant child.

This was a hell of an election. IMO the Clinton's wont put America ahead of their own greed and thirst for power, and Trump won't put it ahead of his childish recess driven ego. Hopefully like in the election his immediate family can have an intervention and get him back on track. Lot of good could be done, but he seems intent on doing everything he can to stop it, and he doesn't even get he's doing it or can't control himself.

[UKHistory]

Running a business, especially a family business with no board of directors that would hold a CEO accountable, is very different from leading a government. It souns like a good idea to some folks. But the analogy of good government and good business can only go so far.

I like the idea of an outsider coming and "making things right" (albeit what is right is something we might disagree with in the nitty gritty). That outsider status, even if he was more diplomatic, makes it tough for him to succeed. Trump and Obama shared at least one thing in common when coming to office: no experience in working with the House and Senate.

Trump has never been accountable to anyone. He inherited his wealth and has built on his headstart on his own. Trump never had dealt with a board of directors so he could do what he thinks is right. Declaring bankruptcy would get you a golden parachute. Trump just kept going. Closest check on him has been a wife and he just upgrades to hotter, younger and more pliable models.

Good for him personally. But it is not a life that has been prepared to engage in high stakes diplomacy. The Qatar situation, which is a potential powder keg, is one that really stands out as where President Trump may have inadvertently green lit an aggressive action that would further de-stabilize the Persian Gulf Coast.

Deal making in business (specially real estate) is very different than navigating political parties and working with democratically elected heads of government from other nations. Politics and business can be full contact sports. But they are different sports.

Twitter is a wonderful tool that allows a person a global platform to speak his or her mind and share information. Trump has used it effectively running for office. Not so much for governing.

Personally I like the idea of a president communicating directly to the American people and the world. However, crafting a message that represents the interests of the nation and not the whims of a single man, is more important that unfettered access to the world.

Crafting a unifiied message that can be carried by those who serve at the president's pleasure is crucial for an agenda to be implemented. Theoretically that agenda should be designed to better America's position abroad and improve the lives of the nation's citizens at home.

I want President Trump to continue to tweet because we are seeing exactly what he thinks, how he governs and what his character looks like under duress.

[Darrell KSR]

I think the problem is worse than just this, but you're right, it isn't doing him any good. When you get Fox News firing back at you, that's your sign.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-...092915557.html

[KSRBEvans]

One of my favorite political quotes:

"The people have spoken, and they must be punished."
--Ed Koch

IMHO that's what we're living through now. Knowing what we knew about the man before he announced his candidacy, and what we saw during the campaign, none of this is unexpected.

[KeithKSR]

I think a lot of this stuff is overblown. Calling BS on London's mayor for proclaiming all is okay, when the whole world knows it isn't. Calling out Merkel and other Euro leaders for underfunding NATO, and condemning Qatar for its stance on terrorism aren't stances the average joe American is gonna have issues with.

[CitizenBBN]

I think a lot of this stuff is overblown. Calling BS on London's mayor for proclaiming all is okay, when the whole world knows it isn't. Calling out Merkel and other Euro leaders for underfunding NATO, and condemning Qatar for its stance on terrorism aren't stances the average joe American is gonna have issues with.

No doubt some is just nonsense. For example going nuts for him tweeting that these attacks justify his travel ban. Well every time there was a shooting Obama immediately said it justified gun control, same exact thing. Obama never got called out b/c they support Obama and believe in gun control.

But him tweeting back about Khan's comments, right or not, is just stupid. He did it b/c he and Khan have had a twitter war going since the election. KHan's comments weren't so over the top that it was an issue given the context. It just once again got him off message and topic and made him look petty.

He doesn't have to be polished, but criticizing his own Dept. of Justice that is trying to get him a win? Not being able to respect his own AG enough to support his decisions? Now he's just being egotistical instead of smart.

[CitizenBBN]

I think the problem is worse than just this, but you're right, it isn't doing him any good. When you get Fox News firing back at you, that's your sign.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-...092915557.html

Even his friends and supporters are now publicly begging him to stop firing before he aims.

He needs to keep an edge, be an outsider, but he just runs around spouting off nonsense that gets off message. Be edgy while being ON MESSAGE.

There's being edgy as part of a way of getting things done, then there's just being too immature to control your ego.