Trump Has Virtually No Leadership Skills And No One Thinks He's Doing A Good Job But White, Home-Schooled Evangelicals

Donald Trump by Nancy Ohanian

Yesterday, reporting for the Washington Post, Jonathan O'Connell, Ann Marimow and Carol Leonnig wrote that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave the House Democrats the OK to move forward with their emoluments law suit against Trump. The suit is very clear: Trump's private business violates the Constitution’s ban on gifts or payments from foreign governments. Trump is sure to have Barr appeal, since it would allow Democrats to examine incriminating records from the Trump Organization that have been kept hidden. The Post's team reported that the judge's 48 page decision refused Trump's request to dismiss the case and rejected Trump’s narrow definition of emoluments, finding it "unpersuasive and inconsistent." The judge noted that without seeking permission from Congress, Trump "has received payments for hotel rooms and events from foreign governments, as well as licensing fees paid by foreign governments for his show The Apprentice and intellectual property rights from China." This is headed to the Supreme Court, which Trump feels will protect him regardless of the law.

Meanwhile CNN reported last night that Trump's "all-out refusal to cooperate with the House Democratic investigations have some Democrats questioning whether Trump's blatant disregard for congressional oversight is yet another kind of obstruction of justice that could rise to the level of 'high crimes and misdemeanors.'" Is impeachment back on the table?

In the midst of all that-- and the daily turmoil and chaos that is the Trump Regime-- Frances Bridges sought to answer the questions-- what makes a good leader and why is Trump such a bad one? "One can not help but notice any time a leadership expert or scholar discusses the characteristics and habits of a good leader in any capacity," she wrote, "it brings the shortcomings of the current president into stark relief. Leadership experts in business and academia have discussed and debated the tenets, values and character of great leaders throughout history, and agree that the best among them possess a handful values and qualities that are imperative to outstanding leadership-- and that the current president does not have any of them. Below are a list of integral leadership qualities Trump does not embody:"

He Refuses To Accept Criticism

Numerous leadership experts find that one of the most important aspects of good leadership is accepting criticism. Leaders who surround themselves with honest brokers who give candid feedback they listen to make better decisions and are better leaders than the ones who do not.

...In contrast, one does not need to look farther than Trump's twitter account to see how poorly he handles criticism. Back in February he unleashed a twitter tirade against Cliff Sims, a former aide whose book, Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days In The White House, is a critical account of his time in the administration. The President claims he was inconsequential and that he barely knew him, but he still warranted a response from the President of the United States.

He unleashed a twitter rant against the FBI and CIA, because the intelligence they gathered did not support his positions on Iran and North Korea. It is by far the first time Trump has attacked the U.S. intelligence community and members of his own administration on twitter. Instead of gathering and contemplating more information, and considering the substance of the criticism, he is defensive, bombastic, quick to blame others and punch down with his rash,  jeering tweets, and crude, witless insults. He does not exhibit the humility, self-awareness or the sense of humor to accept criticism and better himself.

He Refuses To Evaluate Errors And Changes Course When Presented With New Information

...Trump does not thoroughly evaluate any of his policy decisions outside of what he believes is in his political interest. The foremost example of this is when he pulled out of the Paris Agreement, which endangers not only the country but the world as the impact of climate change continues to escalate in the U.S., with increased wildfires, floods and hurricanes. In October of last year, the U.N. scientific panel released a report that found a strong risk of crisis, it "describes a world of worsening food shortages and wildfires, and a mass die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040." In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change is real, and carbon emissions caused by man are partially responsible, that he would reward the financial interests of his political base at the expense of the country and the rest of the world is unconscionable, and just one example of how he serves his political interests above all else, and doesn't change or reconsider his opinions or objectives when all evidence states the contrary.

He Does Not Do What Is Right In The Long Term, He Succumbs To Short Term Pressures

...From the early days of his administration, Trump has made incredibly unpopular decisions: the Muslim travel ban, pulling out of the Paris Agreement, unraveling DACA, pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, campaigning to build a wall at the southern border, banning transgender individuals from the military, pulling out of Syria, etc. Trump's decisions and often racist, misogynistic, xenophobic rhetoric have deepened an already stark political divide in the country- not only is he not a molder of consensus, he creates and fuels division. His actions are politically motivated, and are dictated by election cycles and not by a long-term vision or strategy, or the best interest of the country.

He Doesn't Take Care Of His People

...It would be logical to conclude by reading the news around the chaos and record-setting turnover in this administration that Trump does not care about the people who work for him. Trump is quick to yell, upbraid and hold his staff accountable for his own mistakes. One example was Trump's treatment of his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions. After Sessions recused himself from overseeing the independent counsel's investigation into Russian interference during the election, Trump disparaged him publicly time and time again hoping he would resign because he was incensed Sessions recused himself. He did not have the nerve to fire him, so he kept embarrassing him hoping he would resign. Trump finally asked for Sessions' resignation in November 2018, nearly two years after the special counsel's investigation started. Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis resigned in response to Trump's plan to pull troops out of Syria and his treatment of U.S. allies, and Trump initially thanked him for his service, tweeting he had "retired with distinction," but he did not read the resignation letter. When Mattis' resignation letter was released and the media interpreted it as a rebuke of Trump, the president forced him out two months before his stated day of departure. There are countless examples of Trump abusing his staff, and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported that his family is not excluded from that.

He Has No Empathy

Doris Kearns Goodwin also discusses empathy in Leadership In Turbulent Times and how Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon Johnson, Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt all had it, and needed it to face the significant challenges they all faced during their respective presidencies. Kearns Goodwin writes that Lincoln and Johnson were born with is because they grew up poor, but that the Roosevelts had to acquire it in adulthood as they formed friendships outside their social class, and learn it through their life experiences.

Trump's lack of empathy is on full display, most especially after the death of Senator John McCain, who he taunted for being a POW during the Vietnam War during the presidential campaign and  continues to taunt, jeer and disparage months after his death from a malignant brain tumor. Trump lashes out at McCain randomly, for everything from his class placement at the Naval Academy to voting against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act though he has passed. Trump has also championed the family separation policy at the border (though he now denies that, and insists it was an existing policy) and only rescinded it under enormous pressure from both political parties. His inability to understand other perspectives and appreciate the experiences and expertise of others made him a poor businessman and it makes him a bad leader and president.

The most recent Morning Consult poll, done for Politico, asks registered voters of they approve or disapprove of the job Trump is doing. Just 39% approval, while a staggering 57% disapprove (45% strongly). Trump is underwater in every age demographic, but especially among voters between 18 and 29, where his approval is 23% and his disapproval 66%. Among Independent voters his approval is 32% and his disapproval is 58%. Even among the only people he caters to-- white people-- he is underwater. 44% of whites approve, while 51% disapprove. His only real support is from the single most ignorant, backward demographic group in America: evangelicals-- 53% approve and 43% disapprove.