In recent months, whenever I turn on the news or read the newspaper, I learn about people in high-level government positions exhibiting a frightening level of incompetence.
Here’s what experts say are signs of such incompetence.
In the Workplace: Poor decision making and adaptability; avoiding responsibility and accountability; failing to learn from mistakes; regularly producing unacceptable results; poor communication skills; repeatedly missing deadlines; inability to accept criticism; difficulty supporting others; inability to be a collaborator; frequently lying when explaining unsatisfactory outcomes.
In Personal Relationships: Lack of empathy, poor communication, shifting blame.
General Indicators: Difficulty recognizing people and places; lack of self-awareness; fear of failure; negative attitude–a tendency to be critical of others; talking more than listening.
Our current Commander-in-Chief checks every box. He makes reckless and irresponsible statements with alarming frequency. He blames others for his failures, even if he was president when the alleged incidents occurred. He changes his mind constantly. He moves deadlines up and then extends them. His off-the-cuff comments are frequently incoherent, crude, and rude. Last week he indicated that the Declaration of Independence was written around the time of the Civil War. He has shown a blatant disrespect for the rule of law and our system of checks and balances. And perhaps most importantly, he is consistently and significantly damaging America’s position in the world.
When campaigning, Trump promised to end “forever wars” and bring about peace. He said he would end the war between Ukraine and Russia on Day One. Recently he said, “It may be better to let Ukraine and Russia fight for a while.”
In his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran, an agreement two years in the making. In doing so, he ignored the advice of our allies who urged him to build on the agreement. Last Saturday, American planes and submarines struck three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran. Trump declared the attack a “spectacular military success.” It is the biggest Western military action against Iran since 1979.
Here is a quote from Trump’s most recent inauguration speech: “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end—and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”
The cardinal rule for building a high-performance organization is hiring a well-qualified, experienced, and capable team. Great leaders hire the smartest people they can find. Trump’s cabinet could easily get the award for the most incompetent cabinet in American history.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem could not define the meaning of habeas corpus.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that Americans wouldn’t mind missing Social Security checks from time to time.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—where do I begin—the Signal group chat, mass firings, walking back his remarks about Ukraine in Brussels, his ill-fated effort to send thousands of detained migrants to Guantanamo Bay—these misdeeds are only the start of a very long list.
HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. fires the entire Vaccine Advisory Board and begins replacing its members with bona fide vaccine deniers; swims with his grandchildren in dangerously polluted Rock Creek Park waters; and just last weekend, his Secret Service force was spotted waiting for him outside his tanning booth. What?
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blames former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for every mishap (and there have been many) that happens under his watch even though he was the one who fired approximately 400 FAA workers.
Ambassador to France Charles Kushner, a man with no previous diplomatic experience, was previously convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering.
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Oz has been a tireless promotor of alternative and complementary medicinal cures that true medical experts have proven false time and time again.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is rapidly becoming regular fodder for late-night comedians because of her ability to deflect serious questions with ludicrous statements. My favorite is when she talks about the sacrifices successful businessman Trump has made to serve his country. Let’s not forget that Trump has filed for bankruptcy six times.
Before being reelected President, it was questionable whether Trump would be able to produce the cash necessary to pay for his court convictions. Some reports estimate that Trump’s net worth has increased $2.9 billion since he was reelected president. Melania alone will net $28 million from the film Amazon plans to make about her life. No other President in the history of our country has pumped the grift machine like Trump. Yet Leavitt wants us to thank him for his sacrifices. You can’t make this stuff up.
Albert Einstein once wrote, “Incompetence is the true crisis.” Truer words have not been spoken. And when you couple greed, grift, and a contempt for the rule of law to that true crisis of incompetence, it adds up to quite the sorry state of affairs.
Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. She is currently on the Board of Chesapeake Music. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.
Jim Bachman says
There should be no surprise here. This was visible from the outset. It should also not be a surprise by the headline today: “Trump administration scrambles to rehire key federal workers after DOGE firings.”
They will probably try to keep a low profile on this but that is a hopeless expectation.
Good luck to anyone who expects to reach someone at the Social Security Adminstration. SSA has been instructed to take down any information related to call waiting times or service levels.
Wilson Dean says
Besides the fact that they provide cult-worshiping loyalty to him, perhaps the only reason Trump picked this band of mental midgets for his Cabinet is that he wanted people to think of him as the “smartest person in the room.” That phrase meant something in the days of Clinton and Obama when they were surrounded by highly intelligent, strategic-thinking Cabinet members. Now, not so much…
Maria Grant says
Wilson, thanks for writing. If Trump is the smartest person in the room, we are truly in a heap of trouble.
Michael Pullen says
Not to mention Thomas Fugate, the 22 year old Heritage Foundation intern with no counter-terrorism experience, who Trump recently appointed to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office responsible for preventing domestic terrorism and targeted violence. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/3450581/who-is-thomas-fugate-22-year-old-dhs-counterterrorism-hub/
Fugate has no experience or other qualifications to perform this job. He is a recent college graduate whose resume includes working in a grocery store and landscaping when he was 17.
The person he replaced was a veteran with 20 years experience in counter-terrorism.
DHS defended Trump’s appointment of Fugate, saying Fugate’s office “plays an insignificant and ineffective role” within the larger department.” What?
The administration is removing experienced leadership, then recruiting and deliberately installing gross incompetence.
The administration is also encouraging domestic violence, pardoning convicted criminals convicted of assaulting law enforcement while rioting at the Capitol.
On February 27, 1933, a fire destroyed much of the building of Germany’s parliament, the Reichstag. Hitler said that the Reichstag fire “was just the beginning” and that “There will be no mercy now. Anyone standing in our way will be cut down.”
The next day, a decree suspended the rights of all German citizens, allowing them to be “preventatively detained” by the police.
Today in the United States masked, armed men are whisking people off the streets into vans. and The administration is deporting American citizens to maximum security Salvadorian prisons. Federal agents and the Justice Department are denying, the constitutional right of persons in America to challenge unlawful detention by the government, habeas corpus.
Incompetence comes at a price. Today it is the liberty and freedom of some. This is a direct attack on American principles enshrined in the Constitution and laid out in the Declaration of Independence.
Domestic terrorism has been used effectively by authoritarian regimes to consolidate power. Thomas Fugate is not the person a competent administration would appoint to leadership to prevent domestic terrorism.
Incompetence comes at a price, but this administration is willing to pay.
Maria Grant says
Michael, you make several excellent points. I too read that the administration said that Fugate’s position was inconsequential. Pretty unbelievable when juxtaposed with the decades of experience former people had in that position. And you are right. We will all pay a price for this incompetence. Thank you for writing.
Michael Davis says
Ms. Grant, I’m writing this at 6:30 p.m. and I am surprised all the MAGAs in Tablot County have not rained vitriol upon you. The entire Talbot Republican Committee is probably locked and loaded, eager to take down any Libtard, or whatever they call progressives these days.
Trump is a brilliant person. EVERYTHING he says is right. He knows more than generals, the entire US government security establishment, he is the only smart president we’ve ever had (Per JD Vance, all the others are stupid), he’s the best negotiator in the world, he made peace between India and Pakistan which no other human could do, he created peace in the Middle East, which no one could do, he fixed the Ukraine/Russian war in less than a day before he even took office, and Inflation has never been lower. And on the local front, he’s Saved the Bay and cut all funding for it at the same time. A genius.
I could go on, but there is not enough room here to list all the great things he’s done. Google the Talbot Republican Committee to get a full list of his accomplishments. I’m sure those folks are sharpening their knives to attack nonbelievers.
Thank you for your contributions concerning the stupid people in Trump’s administration. I think it was P.T. Barnum that said something to the effect that no one was ever unsuccessful under estimating the intelligence of the American public.
Maria Grant says
Michael, thanks for writing. I would think it’s getting harder and harder to defend this administration but you are right. Many will. Love your P.T. Barnum reference.
HR Worthington says
I Googled it, because I was wondering if they actually did list Trump’s accomplishments. That would have been funnier than the No Kings bit. I was hoping to be greatly amused…but, alas, they did not. It is mostly ineffectual Republican aphorisms like: “Preserve and support freedom” There are also a few laughable self-contradictions such as: “Efficient and Responsive Government” and “Affordable Taxes”
It appears that they are just as statist as you fellows are, perhaps we should just get it over with and have them merge. My gardening programs on TV are more entertaining and less tiresome than all the manufactured outrage.
Anyway, in terms of taxonomy, a “progressive” is someone who lacks the ability to reason critically and subscribes to the gospel of envy. A “libtard” is a progressive who takes 20 minutes to write a paltry 200 words. I believe those are the most up to date definitions, but I have not checked. -HR
Nancy S. Larson says
Thank you, Maria!!!!!!
Maria Grant says
Nancy, thank you for writing!
HR Worthington says
I don’t recall similar observations being made by you lot of the prior administration. People have silently acquiesced over Biden’s own incompetence which was perniciously (albeit poorly) hidden from view by a Pretorian Guard, and if you don’t believe me there are books being written about it by former staffers.
The Economist, a paper which I would not consider to be a MAGA-journal, published an interesting article in the latest issue “Why many blue states are poorly run”. They note that in Democratically controlled areas: “Politics often seems to be more about sharing the loot between special-interest groups than about serving the public.” And further: “The Economist’s analysis of zip-code-level data shows that Americans typically move to districts governed by the same party as the one they left. But when they do cross partisan lines, they are significantly more likely to move from a Democratic-governed area to a Republican one than the reverse. Democrats are anxious about what this might mean at the ballot box.”
So, if you wish to avoid Republican incompetence in the future, you would be well-advised to call out transparent incompetence in your own party first. Given the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the disastrous war in the Ukraine and disastrous 8% inflation, Trump has a fair bit more to go before we can declare him the winner of “the award for the most incompetent cabinet in American history.” -HR
Maria Grant says
HR, thanks for writing. I have also read that many people are leaving California and NY because of the high cost of living and a desire for quieter, calmer lifestyles. Many have moved to fairly liberal cities in red states–for example, Austin, TX. Time will tell what that means in terms of red and blue states. It’s interesting that you make no mention of Trump increasing the national debt by more than $8 trillion dollars, giving significant tax breaks to the uber wealthy, and denying Covid was an epidemic for months in his first term. And it appears just this week, he exaggerated the results of bombing Iranian nuclear facilities. Clearly truth to power is a concept foreign to him.
Michael Pullen says
You are certainly entitled to express your opinions. For one, I’m perfectly content to allow voters to choose for themselves.
In my view, the incompetence on display in this administration is only eclipsed by the corruption. The grifting, open bribery and sale of access is beyond anything this country has ever experienced. Sad.
Anne C Stalfort says
Nope. I declare Trump the overwhelming winner of the worst cabinet picks in the history of the United States.
Sebastian Canizares says
Not only is President Trump dangerously unmoored, but he consistently reveals a stunning lack of understanding of U.S. history. The only precedent he seems to follow is Andrew Jackson’s patronage system—stacking the executive branch with TV personalities, conspiracy theorists, and loyalists whose only qualification is their devotion to him. Maria Grant’s editorial is a much-needed spotlight on this decline, serving as a powerful example of the press fulfilling its role as the fourth branch of government in an era of media manipulation and suppression.