Trump's Two Biggest Mistakes

[mark46]

Andrew or Chris?

CNN Chris

 

[mark46]

Can it be both?​

that was my thought also

 

[mark46]

hmm

On appointments, Trump knew that he needed advice. Right after the election, everything was set up well. There was a large Transition Team being head up by Christie, with recommendations. There was a conservative group that gave him a list of capable and acceptable candidates to choose from.

Trump promptly fired Christie, and basically used Kirchner and Ivanca as the transition team. Chris was sure to make very clear the dangers of hiring Flynn. When Flynn came in for his initial interview, Ivanca simply offered him his choice of jobs. Kirchner made many of the recommendations. Also, Yates from the AG's office did something extraordinary. She cam over the the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] team and warned them about Flynn.

With regard to the judicial appointments, Trump personally had Kavanaugh added, with McConnell indicated that this was a bad idea, and that Kavanaugh had considerable baggage and would be a problem.

Trump has gone on his own, He has sought out advice. he just takes the wrong advice.

And yes, almost everyone told him NOT to fire Comey. Kushner told Trump that firing Comey would solve all the problems of the Russia investigations.

Trump also took bad advice on the repeated lies about Jr's meeting with the Russians.
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I really think that this qualifies as gross incompetence in the choosing of employees, and in choosing whose advice to take.

I think the better phrase than incompetent would be willfully obtuse to the political consequences of anything.
He is like Milie Cyrus on her wrecking ball banging into the wall of power of Washington. Hollywood hated her first, btw.

 

[jayem]

Donald Trump made a serious mistake at the very beginning of his campaign by his asinine disrespect of John McCain. Trump decided to seek the affections of the working class/nativist/anti-globalist/Tea Party faction of the party. These folks were always suspicious of the McCain/Romney/Wall Street/"Establishment" Republicans, and Trump's derogatory rhetoric was just what they wanted to hear. A Republican was finally standing up for the average guy. Donald Trump had sealed the deal with his "base." It was undoubtedly a major factor in his win. But John McCain--despite his faults--was an icon among Establishment Republicans. Who comprise a large portion of the donors and corporate sponsors. And are still a force in Congress, which he needs to get his agenda enacted. Trump has accomplished nothing by antagonizing this group. I've believed from the beginning that if Donald Trump goes down, it won't be the doing of the Democrats or the media. It'll be the establishment wing of his own party.

 

[cow451]

FIRING COMEY
Trump was warned. But he was assured him that the Flynn investigation and others would all be over if Trump fired Cuomo. He thought that the firing of Cuomo would stop the Russian thing. He told that to the press. He told that to the Russians in person.

NOT FIRING SESSIONS AND ACCEPTING A SPECIAL COUNSEL
The current AG should have been appointed as soon as Sessions recused himself. It had to be the AG's job to run the investigations of Flynn, Manafort and others. The alternative was a Special Counsel.

So Trump had two opportunities to avoid the investigations. He failed twice. And let's be clear. Everyone involved in the investigations are Republicans appointed by Trump. If anyone in Justice or the FBI was doing anything wrong, Trump's appointees could have fired them or re-assigned them to the district that covers Montana. Certainly, many were fired.

Trumps two biggest mistakes were running for office and winning.

 

[dgiharris]

His biggest mistake of all is assuming that years cosplaying as a successful businessman means that he had the competence, intelligence and expertise to be president. All the "reality" TV makeup in the world can't cover up an incompetent part-time president.

Once upon a time I heard a theory that we are living in a computer generated simulation... And i have to say, Donald Trump as president confirms that hypothesis...

I've worked a wide range of jobs, being former military, working in R&D, being a staffer for a 2-star General, then leaving the government and becoming a Program Manager for a major company...

Throughout my trials and tribulation I've come across many "pretenders"-- people who have mastered the art of "appearing" as though they are competent. They can talk for 5 minutes straight without saying one thing of substance. They have the ability to answer a question by repeating the question and regurgitating the problem as if they are offering a solution. Some are really really good at it, some are black belt Super Saiyan Jedi Masters at their ability to blow smoke.

Then there are those who are horrible at it, who are obvious, who are 10 times worse than a drunk used car salesman on a bad day...

Listening to Trump is akin to taking a sledgehammer to the head... It hits me so hard and it is so obvious and I want to scream ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!

IMHO He is simply not competent. I don't mean that as a troll, I'm being sincere. I do not believe he has anywhere near the aptitude to do the job. Worse though, is that he surrounded himself with people who likewise are incompetent. And the Nepotism??? Seriously???

This is sheer insanity.

 

[KCfromNC]

Hmm, I would have gone with "poor impulse control" and "a seeming lack of desire to have what he says correlate with reality in any consistent way". If I had to just limit it to two things, of course.

 

[KCfromNC]

FIRING COMEY
Trump was warned. But he was assured him that the Flynn investigation and others would all be over if Trump fired Cuomo. He thought that the firing of Cuomo would stop the Russian thing. He told that to the press. He told that to the Russians in person.

NOT FIRING SESSIONS AND ACCEPTING A SPECIAL COUNSEL
The current AG should have been appointed as soon as Sessions recused himself. It had to be the AG's job to run the investigations of Flynn, Manafort and others. The alternative was a Special Counsel.

So Trump had two opportunities to avoid the investigations.

I'm not so sure. The fact that the best action to take at those points were obstructing a federal investigation seems to hint that the actual problem started a bit earlier.

 

[KCfromNC]

It's commonly known Trump hasn't been indicted.

Yep, so far none of the indictments of Trump employees which mention Individual 1 have unredacted criminal charges against him.

If we had known this 3 years ago, would that have been a reason to support his presidential campaign? Seems like a pretty weak defense to me.

 

[KCfromNC]

To be blunt, US voters choose our presidents.

Not in 2016.

 

[mark46]

Not in 2016.

Here we go again.

We have the Electoral College.

If we elected based on a national popular vote, we do NOT know who would have won in 2016. The campaign would have been very different. There would have been much more campaigning in solidly red and solidly blue states, and much more campaigning in large states.

 

[mark46]

Agreed.

I am talking about Trump's 2 biggest mistakes, not when he started making mistakes.

I'm not so sure. The fact that the best action to take at those points were obstructing a federal investigation seems to hint that the actual problem started a bit earlier.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

You are the company you keep.

Does that mean Trump has been in the same kind of movies as Stormy Daniels has been in?!

 

[mark46]

Does that mean Trump has been in the same kind of movies as Stormy Daniels has been in?!

what a truly revolting image

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Does that mean Trump has been in the same kind of movies as Stormy Daniels has been in?!

Even worse... He's been on Wrestlemania!

 

[DaisyDay]

But, I don't think that it is reasonable to fault Trump for a poor choice of personnel.

Why ever not? He's in charge, supposedly.

 

[DaisyDay]

None of which has anything to do with Trump, does it? Not according to the article you linked us to.

From the article:

...Prosecutors from Mueller’s team have said Manafort’s interactions in 2016 with Konstantin Kilimnik, an alleged Russian intelligence operative, are a central focus of their inquiries....

Jackson said Manafort had been caught lying repeatedly about his interactions with Kilimnik, which she said went to the “undisputed core” of Mueller’s search for any “links and/or coordination” between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.

That has quite a bit to do with Donald unless, of course, you think his campaign had nothing to do with him.

 

[dgiharris]

Here we go again.

We have the Electoral College.

If we elected based on a national popular vote, we do NOT know who would have won in 2016. The campaign would have been very different. There would have been much more campaigning in solidly red and solidly blue states, and much more campaigning in large states.

For the record, I abhor Trump...

But with that being said, Trump won 2016 fair and square.

We have the Electoral College exactly for this reason. Without the Electoral College, we could never be a united republic of States. Without the electoral college, the smaller states and rural areas would have no power. Without the electoral college, all politicians would ever do is cater to big population centers like LA, NY, Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, etc...

The fact that Trump won in 2016 believe it or not is proof that the Electoral College works as intended.

And it pains me to say that. It really does.

 

[mark46]

Yes, winning the majority of the Electoral College is winning the presidency fair and square. The issue of the investigations is to prevent foreign countries from trying to influence future elections, and to punish those who criminally cooperated with the Russian effort to influence the 2016 election.

For the record, I abhor Trump...

But with that being said, Trump won 2016 fair and square.

We have the Electoral College exactly for this reason. Without the Electoral College, we could never be a united republic of States. Without the electoral college, the smaller states and rural areas would have no power. Without the electoral college, all politicians would ever do is cater to big population centers like LA, NY, Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, etc...

The fact that Trump won in 2016 believe it or not is proof that the Electoral College works as intended.

And it pains me to say that. It really does.

 

[dgiharris]

Yes, winning the majority of the Electoral College is winning the presidency fair and square. The issue of the investigations is to prevent foreign countries from trying to influence future elections, and to punish those who criminally cooperated with the Russian effort to influence the 2016 election.

Oh,

I completely agree he needs to be investigated. Absolutely. No argument there.

Just saying it is a red herring to keep bringing up that he didn't win in 2016 because he didn't win the popular vote.