Trump's administration after 100 days: A second-rate salesman surrounded by con men and losers
FRIDAY, APR 28, 2017 04:30 PM EDT
Donald Trump’s administration after 100 days: A second-rate salesman surrounded by con men and losers
Trump has staffed the West Wing with low-grade hucksters, and his deal-making skills are just bad poker bluffs
GARY LEGUM
Saturday will mark the 100th year – sorry, the 100th day – of Donald Trump’s presidency. And what a white-knuckle ride it has been for the world.
The obsession with a president’s accomplishments in the first 100 days of a presidency is often maddening. But it can also be useful, in that the way a new administration handles all these challenges can set the tone for the next four to eight years and determine whether it will go down in history as a success or failure.
After 100 days, we can say this about Donald Trump and his team: History will not be kind.
At the rate Trump is going, the internet could run out of space cataloging all of his administration’s deficiencies as a functional entity, its destruction of governing norms and the hash it has made of both domestic and foreign policy, long before he leaves office. But two observations from the first 100 days stand out to me.
The first is the extent to which Trump’s struggles can be attributed to his pronounced tendency to staff his administration with mediocre, two-bit hustlers and con men whose careers indicate they have a lot more luck than smarts or talent.
Two profiles this week drive this point home. The first is a look at the Hollywood career of Steve Bannon, Trump’s “senior strategist,” whose nationalist policies, bungled initiatives and, most importantly to a president who loves to be the center of attention, increased media profile have quickly reduced his influence in the West Wing.
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http://www.salon.com/2017/04/28/donald-trumps-administration-after-100-days-a-second-rate-salesman-surrounded-by-con-men-and-losers/
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