The Trump enigma

Donald Trump is an enigma wrapped inside the mystery of why so many potential Republican primary voters, including evangelicals, support him.

If he were just a successful businessman like 2012 nominee Mitt Romney or former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he would have a plausible candidacy. But that is only half of what he is, and it may not even be half. The rest of him is self-promoting entertainer.

A friend of mine who is connected in the world of celebrities and New York multi-millionaires has met Trump several times. He reports that Trump is always just as you see him, always boosting himself and his accomplishments—his buildings and golf courses—in the grandest superlatives. It’s always all about the Donald.

In his campaign speeches, he talks mostly about how high he is in the polls and how poorly everyone else is doing in comparison. It is as though popularity were an end in itself, as though it were all about dominating the headlines.

It is tempting to think that he entered the race just to boost his brand. Anyone with only that objective would be surprised by success as apparently Trump was at first. He told The Wall Street Journal, “I had no idea I would do this well this fast.” Candidates who believe in themselves, as the other 16 do, fully expect it. He spoke of his campaign in relation to his larger marketing empire: “The first two weeks were very bad for my brand.” But overall, the White House run has been, he said, “very good for the brand.”

But Trump doesn’t enter contests to lose. To join the pack and later drop out after having made your splash would not be winning, and it’s hard to imagine he didn’t enter to win. And yet where is the campaign team? Where are the policy advisors? Where is even the most general substance in his own policy thinking? On foreign policy he assures us, “I will be so good at the military, your head will spin.” On dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is attempting to retake Eastern Europe and displace us in the Middle East, he says, “I would talk to him, I would get along with him.” Would that sort of pitch elicit “You’re hired!” in the Trump organization? Yet a third of likely Republican primary voters are ready to give him the top job.

After what he thought was his mistreatment at the first debate on Fox News, Trump spoke as though participating in the event had been a favor to the network with nothing in it for him. “When I came out there, you know—what am I doing? I’m not getting paid for this.” He still views himself as a commodity, not as an aspiring public servant. He viewed the second debate on CNN as wasted personal revenue potential: “They should all pay me for this. I’m doing this for nothing.” So he floated the idea of showing up on the condition that the network give $10 million to charity. As a professional deal-making self-promoter, it’s just the way he thinks.

In his opening statement for the 1992 vice-presidential debate, Ross Perot’s running mate, Adm. James Stockdale, asked, “Who am I? Why am I here?” More voters would be wise to ask Donald Trump the same question at this point.