There’s no doubt about it. Being president of the United States is a full-time all-consuming job—perhaps one of the toughest on the planet. Time management is crucial. Prioritization is front and center. Surrounding yourself with competent advisors with relevant experience is key to successfully implementing the myriad tasks at hand.
So given the enormity of this responsibility, let’s take an honest assessment, if you were president, would you anticipate finding time to:
Golf, on average, once every five days, frequently at distant golf courses which require flights, motorcades, security, and logistical maneuvers. (Last weekend Trump flew to his Bedminster course and was scheduled to golf Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.)
Pave over the rose garden. Tear down the East Wing to build an excessively large ballroom. Add your name or photo to an array of government properties, commercial products, National Park passes, currency, and a new fleet of battleships.
Change the color of the water in the reflecting pool to “American Flag Blue,” keeping in mind that the reflecting pool was originally tinted a neutral gray to serve as a quiet unobtrusive mirror that absorbed light in a way that created the illusion of great depth and signified the historical gravity of the site.
Decide to hold an Ultimate Fighting Championship series on the White House lawn which involves constructing a temporary 15,000 pound six-foot wire-mesh fenced fighting cage, a massive towering red, white, and blue steel arch structure used to light the arena, and a temporary 4,000 to 5,000 seat arena surrounding the cage, plus massive viewing screens at the nearby Ellipse Park to accommodate up to 85,000 additional fans.
Redesign the public golf courses in D.C. which will result in significant legal and environmental challenges and concerns about course affordability and access.
Accept a luxury Boeing 747 from Qatar’s leaders for conversion into a new Air Force One, featuring larger more luxurious accommodations at a taxpayer cost exceeding $300 million which you can take with you when you leave the White House.
Transform the Oval Office and other reception areas with heavy gold and gilded décor, including gold-trimmed doorways, and gold-painted decorative seals on the ceiling. Place gilded urns on the fireplace mantel, along with some gold cherubs. Add accessories including gold drink coasters, a gilded-stamped paperweight, and gold eagle figurines.
Employ conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer as an unofficial advisor to alert you to officials who are disloyal and help you write off-the-wall social media posts that include AI generated photos frequently mocking former presidents and your enemies that you can post at 2 a.m.
Create a tariff program that caused unease and instability in countries across the world and alienated many of our allies.
Tell the public you don’t have time to attend your son’s wedding given there is “a little something called a war in Iran taking up your time” but somehow find time to fit in a flight to NYC to attend a Knicks game.
The phrase “form over substance” means prioritizing the outward appearance of a situation rather than its true meaning or intent. It is used to criticize situations where things may look good superficially but lack real value or meaning. In essence, it means focusing on optics rather than impact.
The truly sad fact about this state of affairs is not only the superficial focus of this president, but the resulting implication that his time is not spent on the pithy issues of the day such as pressing domestic and economic concerns like the rising cost of living, childcare, and housing affordability. Everyday problems for everyday families remained unaddressed.
The Hollywood legend W.C. Fields once wrote, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” America, we have a problem.
P.S. Dear readers, I highly recommend reading the newly published Elizabeth Strout novel The Things We Never Say. It reviews the perils of today’s political environment. It is also a beautifully written heartbreaking story.
15 Responses
Let us not forget one of his more recent admissions of total lack of empathy: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation”
James, great point. Thanks for writing.
Right on!
And now he keeps bringing up the election he says was stolen – maybe as an excuse to steal one or two himself.
Willard, Agree!
The question is: does any of this matter? I think the MAGA calculus is that it doesn’t. But we might be at the inflection point we all thought we would reach long ago. This level of grift and corruption is so glaring that even his hard core supporters are starting to feel in the pit of their stomachs. And if they can do it in Hungary and Albania, it can happen here. Brava Maria.
Sara, thanks for writing. As my mom used to say, it’s way past time to wake up and smell the coffee.
Perhaps the only silver lining to the very dark cloud characterizing Trump’s superfluous activities is that they keep him from doing more serious damage. Hopefully things like his redesign of the Oval Office into a lookalike of a House of Ill Repute keep him from starting any more Iran-type wars that roil the entire globe, depriving people of health care, sentencing millions to death due to his reductions in foreign aid, and destroying our democracy.
Wilson, thanks for writing. It’s all so sad. How pathetic is it that at this point we want him to amuse himself with crazy stuff so he doesn’t focus on what’s really important.
Thanks Maria for your continuing diligence cataloguing Trump’s egregious misbehavior. You might add his fraudulent settlement granting immunity from tax audit or liability for himself and his family. I endorse your recommendation of Elizabeth Strout’s latest.
J. T. thanks for reading my article. Also good point about adding the seemingly never-ending family grift. Also thanks for your support of the new Strout novel. I can’t stop thinking about it.
Don’t forget that hundreds of days of golf at our expense, constantly thinking about his last lost election, constantly thinking about who to take revenge on next, constantly thinking about the next scam (like the last one where he pocketed $59 million for a gold trump cell phone that was never produced) does require him to sleep everywhere he goes (even while attending game 3 of NBA finals).
Trump is simply a vile disgusting individual with no regard for anyone but himself.
Bob, thanks for writing. Heaven help us!
All these remarkably gross examples of Trump’s abuse of power, amoral personal character, thievery, sexual predator behavior bigotry, racism and the entire panoply of degeneracy, incompetence and corruption remains perfectly all right with millions of his supporters.
Frankly, that reality is more serious than Trump’s personal depravity. How can we not question the judgment and morality of millions of rank and file Republicans – for years to come? After Trump 45, I was amazed that the party would even nominate him. Republicans do apparently believe Trump is the only person capable of making America great again. Why would anyone trust those voters, even to support American democracy? How can that be ignored, underestimated or dismissed? How can our Republican family members, neighbors, friends possibly demand respect when they support such a vile human being. Or that there is no one else in the party who can save America?
Today, ironically, Trump called Senate nominee Graham Platner of Maine a “thug” and a “pig”. November’s election will test whether American patriots will elect more Republican zombies or a majority of people will rise up and save our democratic republic. I will be voting Democrat with this in mind,
Mickey, you make an excellent point–What were the voters thinking? It smacks of following the pied piper in blind support, no matter the consequences.