Trump Worries Me

            President Trump’s decisions are becoming increasingly worrisome. His supporters have been willing to put up with his impulsive and often nasty tweets, not to mention revelations about his past sexual escapades. That’s because he was making sound decisions in appointing conservative justices, reversing Obama’s suffocating regulatory excesses, and leading the way on energy, defense, and tax reform. Unfortunately, his over-sized ego and delusional belief in his deal-making ability, coupled with his dreadful personnel management and shallow understanding of economics, are threatening to alienate even his most die-hard supporters.

            Last week the President lost his Communications Director Hope Hicks, policy advisor Reed Cordish, and press aide Josh Raffel. That’s after staff secretary Rob Porter was forced to resign the week before. And let’s not forget the departures of Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer, Dina Powell, Michael Flynn, and Tom Price, all key players in Trump’s administration. Most notably, one figure who has not left is Attorney General Jeff Sessions, despite being repeatedly berated and publicly insulted by the President. This doesn’t speak well for Trump’s ability to retain good people and manage the few loyal supporters he has left.

            Last week the President also held meetings to discuss school security after the horrendous massacre in Parkland, Florida. He called the meetings ostensibly to listen, but they ended up a platform for Trump’s questionable ideas on gun control that alienated Republican congressmen and the NRA. Worse, his proposal to seize guns was absolutely contrary to the Second Amendment and repugnant to every law-abiding gun owner in the country.

            Finally, the President said he would impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum, proving once again that he hasn’t a clue when it comes to the benefits of free trade. If he goes through with this harebrained idea, it will invite retaliation from other countries, cause the value of the dollar to plunge, increase the price of imports, and boost inflation. Trump doesn’t even seem to be aware that these higher tariffs will likely result in job loss in every American industry that relies on imported metals. The reaction from Congress and business leaders to Trump’s announcement was instantaneous and uniformly negative. The stock market plunged, settling at a loss of 420 points by the end of trading, down more than a 10% since its all-time high on January 26, barely a month ago.

            So much for Donald Trump’s recent rise in popularity polls.