Does Trump Know What He's Doing?

[GlobeSoc]

Is he competent?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

No.

[Devout Centrist]

Let's dispel with this fiction that Donald Trump doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing.

[ag]

He is not competent, but he knows very well what he is doing.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Let's dispel with this fiction that T***p doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing.

[The_Doctor]

Yes and no. Largely no.

The no is clear at this point. He thinks he's been elected to "deliver results" to his shareholders. He's a reality star and has never been a politician before. This is evident in that he and his team have no idea that politics is a process of building support within your electorate, the federal agencies, and Congress, and so on for your agenda. They routinely leave Republican members of Congress in the dark. They initiate executive orders, without involving the federal agencies. There's no trial balloon, before the executive order, no scouting out of opinions, none of the traditional legwork that goes into unveiling a major executive order like the immigration one.

Additionally, the refusal to exclude green card visa holders from the immigration ban is a clear example. His stakeholders in the Homeland Security Department told him it was a bad idea. He listened to people who had never been involved in politics before (Bannon) and radicals on the fringe (Miller) and he overrode Homeland Security.

Trump's inexperience is clearly showing, in his rapid fire fusillade of executive orders and igniting controversies. It's one thing to do strategic controversies, it's another to make rookie mistakes. Once again, this is why you DON'T elect people who have no government service or political experience (unless they were famous generals, in which case it comes with the job description) to the Presidency.

And on top of all this, he goes into this with a very weak playing hand. He lost the popular vote by the third widest margin for a winning candidate, his approval ratings are roughly tied, and he's the President but at this rate, his political skills of governing are subpar. Most Republicans ran ahead of him in their districts too.

Does he know what he is doing in a very broad sense? Sure. He gets there's anger in America and he knows he can tap into it and did tap into it to win. His problem is 100% that he is riding the tiger without an idea if the tiger is going to continue letting him ride it without eating him.

[Xing]

He is not competent, but he knows very well what he is doing.

[Tartarus Sauce]

I honestly don't think he knows much if anything about actual issues or how government works. And he surrounds himself with people as erratic as him. That's the problem.

This

[Meclazine for Israel]

Trump is as cunning as a sh**thouse rat.

[America Needs R'hllor]

He knows what he's doing in regards to the media and his lies, and on the issues, he knows what he wants to be doing in general lines. But other than that? Utterly incompetent.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Is he competent?

At being a con-man, troll, and professional celebrity? Absolutely.

As any sort of executive, much less President of the United States?

[publicunofficial]

No, but his advisors do.

[Mr. Morden]

He knows what his impulses are, but if "know what he's doing" implies that he thinks anything through, then no, I don't think so.

[Confused Democrat]

No, he doesn't know what he's doing. How can anyone possibly expect a man who has never held political office before to competently run an entire branch of our government.  

I doubt he even reads the executive orders that he signs. Trump has absolutely no depth of policy knowledge whatsoever and will lean on Kushner, Bannon, and Flynn whenever he has to make an executive decision. Trump is completely devoid of substance and he only speaks in platitudes. Just take a look at any serious interview he's done. He flounders whenever he's pushed on the details and to explain himself because he doesn't really know what he's talking about. He's out of his depth.

He won't consult scientists when it comes to scientific issues, he won't consult economists when it comes to the economy, he wont consult experts in general when it comes to the fields they're experts in. He'll just rely on his inner circle.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I honestly don't think he knows much if anything about actual issues or how government works. And he surrounds himself with people as erratic as him. That's the problem.

Donald Trump believes that making "tough" decisions make you look tough and manly. Men are gonna admire and worship you for that, women will want to sleep with you. He's deluding himself.

[Hermit For Peace]

I honestly don't think he knows much if anything about actual issues or how government works. And he surrounds himself with people as erratic as him. That's the problem.

Donald Trump believes that making "tough" decisions make you look tough and manly. Men are gonna admire and worship you for that, women will want to sleep with you. He's deluding himself.

The thing, though, is that many guys think like this. So it's not just a problem with Trump.

So perhaps thanks to him, we are seeing this "belief" for the blindness that it is and can finally discard it as a society.

[Hermit For Peace]

No, he doesn't know what he's doing. How can anyone possibly expect a man who has never held political office before to competently run an entire branch of our government.  

I doubt he even reads the executive orders that he signs. Trump has absolutely no depth of policy knowledge whatsoever and will lean on Kushner, Bannon, and Flynn whenever he has to make an executive decision. Trump is completely devoid of substance and he only speaks in platitudes. Just take a look at any serious interview he's done. He flounders whenever he's pushed on the details and to explain himself because he doesn't really know what he's talking about. He's out of his depth.

He won't consult scientists when it comes to scientific issues, he won't consult economists when it comes to the economy, he wont consult experts in general when it comes to the fields they're experts in. He'll just rely on his inner circle.

Evidently his backers and the people who voted for him thought this. They didn't seem to care when they voted for him. In fact, it made Trump more attractive to them. You know, the "anti" establishment candidate....yeah right....with his billionaire buddies and cabinet members.

Clean the swamp, and put in there more swamp members, just new ones.

[Frodo]

I doubt it.  Remember how we all jested about how George W. Bush was Dick Cheney's puppet, when in reality we learned later it was all an act to make him seem more relateable to the GOP base?  Well apparently Donald Trump is genuinely an idiot.  It's his advisors (and occasionally Fox News hosts) who are manipulating him.  Most of the time, anyways (that tiff over crowds being a crowning exception).

[Suburbia]

Donald Trump won the election. Period. Of course he knows what he is doing. Period.

[The_Doctor]

Trump runs his own show and picks his own advisors. He's always done this in the private sector. It's not anyone else who is manipulating him. He would hate that perception and very much insists on granular control of day to day events. If he could humanly possibly, he would read every political board to read the discontent and respond individually to them. Including this one.

Bannon didn't do anything he wouldn't have.

[Person Man]

He is not competent, but he knows very well what he is doing.

[Middle-aged Europe]

As it turns out, Donald Trump apparently tries to run the government like he did with his business empire. And apparently, running a business is a bit like running a dictatorship. So even though it isn't fully intentional, he's trying to run the United States like a dictatorship in practice. Problem is, the United States isn't a dictatorship. Hence his attempts at governing are failing.

[Deblano]

Let's dispel with this fiction that T***p doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing.

[PeteB]

He has absolutely no clue.  As I said before the election, being savvy in the entertainment industry or your own real estate business is no guarantee that you could lead a large public corporation, much less the largest economy of the world.  Of course, if he showed a desire to learn and apply systematic plans and processes that may be different, but he is too old to change, especially after winning the election on a platform he believes he is implementing.

But that was to be expected.  He clearly showed time and again that he would not change, was too lazy to learn and too egocentric to listen to anyone other than sycophants.  However his street smarts and cunning should not be underestimated.  What he does know is that now is the time he will have the least resistance, and he is trying to capitalize on that to pass some of the more controversial policies as well as stirring the pot of public opinion.  Unfortunately for him, all that will do is it will fast forward the GOP acceptance of the fact that they have to impeach him.

[Mr. Morden]

I think Bob Wright gets it exactly right in this ~2.5 minute video clip:

http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/45005?in=28:48&out=31:07

Trump’s an “insult comic”, and those are his instincts.  And that just happened to suit the present “anti-political correctness” mood of the times.  His instincts have served him well, but it’s not like he’s executing some kind of master plan, or that he thinks more than one step ahead.

This story, on Trump’s immaturity, which I posted when it came out, also speaks to this point:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/trump-aides-cant-stop-blabbing-about-how-hes-a-madman.html