Stepping down would make an impression. Huge.
18
So you are saying that Trump is a petty and selfish and unintelligent and immoral man with no real beliefs who does everything he does with the sole goal of getting attention and approval.
Who knew?
15
Yes, the economic narrative. 16 billion in farm handouts, failed dealmaker.
9
America sees itself as the leader of the free world. I wonder why. Unable to remove a president who already as a candidate presented himself as incompetent and untrustworthy. With no clue of his lack of competence and unable to build a functioning administration around him. I do hope America in going forward will invest in free education so the electorate can do better when it comes to vetting candidates for Congress and the presidency. Keep them in good health too (Medicare for all?), the learning will go easier. Best of luck to you.
12
Other presidents have goals. Other presidents have issues they want to work on. They want to improve the country (not that they always have the right idea how, IMO). If they succeed in that, they’re glad to accomplish their goals. Whether it’s “big” is an afterthought.
To Trump, the praise and admiration is the whole point.
6
If he really wants to accomplish something big, he could abdicate his throne. For a day, he would be the most popular he’s been since “The Apprentice”. There would be such a cheer. It would be the best cheer. It would be a cheer like no one has ever heard.
16
“No, we’re not moving on anything,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re going very slowly in one way because we want to make sure it’s right.”
A snail moves faster than this president.
5
@Barbara
Except when it's to promote something toxic, corrupt, or dangerous to children and other living things. Then he moves quite fast.
It's perfectly clear that Putin/NRA gave him $30 million back when. They have him in their pocket.
4
"What will make me look superior to everyone else?" "What will make me loved by 'Real Americans?"
"What will make me and my family the most money?"
These are the ONLY questions that run through the mind of Donald Trump. To assert otherwise is obtuse or naive.
5
If Trump truly wants to do something 'Big' and patriotic he would resign his presidency. But let's not get our hope's up as Trump is anything but patriotic. He took the oath of office but in truth his only allegiance is to his self interest. Our fear should be that if Trump were to do something 'Big' that it would be a disaster. A war with Iran comes to mind. We can only hope that we aren't confronted with a real international crisis as Trump would be totally inept to deal with it as evidenced by his many failures on lesser issues.
5
If President Trump wants to do something very big and guarantee his place in history, he should resign the Presidency. Instant fame.
7
Something BIG would be his resignation.
7
Trump is doomed. He's going to lose BOTH the actual vote AND the Electoral College next year and both civil and criminal court actions will soon follow.
And contrary to the fears some have that his ever shrinking "base" will react with outrage and violence, his supporters will simply fade away as more and more of them will insist that they "never really liked that guy" and that "I knew he was a phony from the beginning."
There's nothing the average low-information voter dislikes more than a "loser."
5
Hey Donald: First, start by revealing your tax returns. It's so obvious that you have something you feel compelled to hide from public view.
4
He wants to do something big? Maybe he should try stepping down.
6
Hey NY Times, playing along and pretending that this guy will do ANYTHING on guns is ridiculous. You are normalizing and helping him with his reelection campaign. Shame on you. He is simply running out the clock. He has ZERO intention of doing anything, he could care less about gun violence. I'm considering canceling my subscription.
3
Isolated by his own decaying pathology is it any wonder this man is falling apart at the seams?
4
@S Butler
Great imagery!
Enough of the Presidential Apprentice Show. HE is a cosmic Joke, upon us ALL.
2020. Bigly.
6
Donald J Trump zigs and zags.
In Mideastern affairs he’s hit numerous snags.
Can anyone trust he’ll do as he says?
It’s time to get rid of this dupe of a Prez!
Congress, I plead - you must do your part
To rein this guy in before any wars start.
18
Unfortunately, the “something big” our President wants to accomplish, has nothing to do with the betterment of daily life for the average American, or making progress on any of the many critical issues facing our nation and the rest of the world. Our President processes his every decision through a filter of how it will look for him in the eyes of his ever dwindling base. In other words, President Donald Trump’s one and only decision making criteria, is the impact his decision will have on the public ratings of the reality TV show which passes for a Presidential Administration in the United States.
49
@Michael Smith
To be honest, Michael, I think your comment would have been 100% correct had it been written the day he entered the Republican ring of presidential candidates. Today, I think we have to admit he has learned a few things and maybe, just maybe, one of those things might EVENTUALLY (lets not hold our breaths) turn out to be valuable for the US, the Americas, Western Civilization, and, dare I say it?, human life at large.
@Michael Smith I wish what you say wasn't true, but it is.
We can declare war in a week but can’t enact gun control in two months or two years.
15
@Anonymously The 'white house' knows that delay works in their favor. So many things are vying for attention daily that the public's attention is drawn to new topics that 'blot out' last month's outrage(s).
3
If he wants to accomplish something big, something that will have a real impact on America, he should come out strong for gun safety legislation, calling out the Democratic bill languishing in the Senate as not nearly enough to make a difference.
Call for a ban on assault weapons and a fund to pay gun owners a premium for the ones already out there. He would make history, which seems to be what he is trying for.
8
You give him too much credit by assuming he's doing any thinking at all.
22
If Mr. Trump wast to do something meaningful and decisive, why not resign? If it is not too much to ask, I would like him to take Mr. Pence with him.
15
@Rebecca
If Mr. Trump wants to do something meaningful and decisive, why not resign?
1
“No, we’re not moving on anything,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re going very slowly in one way because we want to make sure it’s right"
Don't tell me this vile iconoclast is learning something. Oh no, it's just more on how to avoid getting captured 'on tape' with his pants on fire.
5
He donned his empty suit and wracked his empty brain until it was sore.
What can I do? Oh, what can I do? He repeatedly repeated.
Yes, what is an empty vessel to do?
16
President Trump said that he wants to go "very slowly" on gun control proposal. I guest that his proposals will be ready on January 19, 2021 or on January 19 2025, if he got re-elected in 2020.
7
One aspect of being intellectually lazy is not being able to effectively assess the diverse opinions given by various advisers on issues of concern. Without the willingness to digest background information he has to accept the judgments of others resulting in distrust and vascillation regarding the implementation of policy...
15
When will these useless and dangerous people be removed from our Whitehouse? How much longer will we tolerate this destruction and the degradation of our country by an illegitimately "elected" president?
12
@Sandra Garratt A little over 11 months now.
2
What Trump wants to accomplish is four more years of doing nothing constructive - just being president. And he'll probably pull it off. While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, he secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bull rings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants. If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world. In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is important and what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for dirty tricks and destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
4
@RLB - Trump hasn't gained any new supporters and he's turned off many of the people who voted for him in 2016.
1
He wants to accomplish something big and be certain it "plays" well? How about his turn for "Dancing With the Stars?" I'm sure it will get rave reviews from "The Base."
16
I don't understand how Senator McConnell is so easily able to abdicate his authority and responsibilities as Senate Majority Leader. When he repeatedly claims to be waiting for confirmation that President Trump will be on board with any bill that he passes, he effectively removes any power that he or any of the other 49 elected Senator's have (Democrat or Republican).
22
@Chris
McConnell has made it very clear that the US Senate no longer serves any purpose other than to rubber stamp Trump's self serving initiatives. The US in effect has become a monarchy and our king is mad. It is hard to see how this can end well for the country or the world.
15
It's the other 99 senators, the fifty states have two senators each.
1
No one is watching and celebrating this presidential dithering more than Iran, which with its allies just pulled off something that would have been unthinkable under Obama, Clinton or the two Bushes: a massive air strike against Saudi Arabia with no counterstrike from the US. Not even a single red flare. The genie is out of the bottle. Iran gets a nuclear arsenal and as a bonus, the ability to smash the western shores of the Persian Gulf with impunity. Courtesy a man who ran for president as a lark and wasn't prepared for the possibility of winning. I don't like Trump but I don't like this scenario either. Does anyone have some comforting words?
9
@Christopher Haslett My only comforting words are that Election Day, Nov 3, 2020 is only 411 days away.
He an empty man.
Only someone with no soul, no heart, and no mind could be in the position of awesome power that is the Presidency of the United States, and, three years in, have no idea what to do with it.
37
@Pat
He and his family are raking in tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars - he knows exactly he's doing as president, for himself that is.
1
Surprise, surprise! When the Electoral College elects a man with little intelligence or knowledge, a history of poor business decisions (e.g., five bankruptcies and over $1 billion in losses over a decade), a history of fraudulent and unethical behavior (e.g., Trump University, Trump Foundation, Trump Soho project, birtherism), incessant lying, and what appears to be a malignant narcissistic personality disorder compounded by possible signs of early dementia, this is what happens. He is utterly unqualified and is a danger to us all, as is the complicit, supine Republican Party which refuses to pull the plug on his disastrous efforts to pretend to be a president.
68
The Electoral College was supposed to be a stopgap against the failures of mass popular democratic decisions, of the madness of crowds and “amateurs” deciding the fate of the white male privilege. Our electoral system is neither democratic nor a fail safe against corrupting forces. And being neither the electoral college has shown itself as a failure threatening the legitimacy and health of our republic.
2
Without reading the article , first thing comes to mind: how do we expect this man to upset his 30M dollars campaign donors , same as Russian , Saudis and NRA , he now has to fulfill promises, sick because the system is made that way , for the right & left alike.
5
No good deed goes unpunished...Trump is looking more like Jimmy Carter all the time!
@Charlie Comparing Trump to Jimmy Carter is a true insult of Carter. Please refrain from doing so!
16
You're making a mistake born of your lack of subtlety:
Trump wants to be known for doing "something big, the biggest", he doesn't know or care what, and he doesn't want to have to actually do anything.
If you guys would just leave him alone for a minute...
Its The Way of the Donald, and its the path he has ambled down all his life long.
4
Pity the poor ( rich) Gulf states who thought they had bought protection and convinced themselves that Trump was the ultimate chump who would fight for them whenever they wanted. Then reality uncomfortably intervened.
7
Try having just one normal, routine day as President of the United States, without melodrama, conflict, bombast, empty braggadocio.
Just one. Just one day actually be a genuine statesman of substance.
Pick a day, any day. Make it a....Tuesday.
Just. One. Day.
That would be an astounding accomplishment for this tiny little man, the man who would be king.
19
Without a "producer", and a "director", this reality-tv bad performer is lost. A man whose only saving grace is being born to a wealthy man and can't even dress himself as a dignified grown up took on one of the hardest jobs in the world and now his incompetence and stupidity is on display for the whole world to see. A cringe-inducing, bad comedy.
25
The biggest and best thing he could do would be to resign the presidency; he has turned it into a righting ball of corruption and incompetence.
6
@Rodger Parsons: McConnell said that if Trump supports resigning the presidency, he will put it on the floor for a vote in the Senate.
2
I have a suggestion, resign.
4
@Frank Travaline I have a better idea: prison for all of them.
1
We're told that malignant narcissism personality disorder is an incurable mental illness, so it would be a huge accomplishment for him to fund a study of the crippling disease.
6
It is hard for someone who only has "core whims," as has been said, to come down somewhere. Additionally, as someone who never, ever takes responsibility for anything going wrong, Mr. Trump can never have truly faithful advisors for long. Inevitably he must blame them for things going south. They all know this, so those who hang in there the longest will have self involved goals which stand neither Trump nor the country in good stead.
9
At 82, a long- retired Family Therapist and Lutheran Pastor, I am, mostly,
deeply Saddened....to see our "Great" Country in the throes of the "indecision" of one man whose Ego maintains the control of the Oval
Office. Meanwhile, it seems that other National Leaders and characters
will choose to play with and To that frail ego, sometimes, for their Own
selfish interests. I, for one (clearly insignificant) citizen, tire of simply
Waiting for the next Book to come out with the "wisdom" of another
Analysis. I, cynically, wonder Where our National Leadership resides. If not in the White House or the sleeping Republican Party or scrambling Democrats...are we, the People, waiting for another Trump Family member? Sometimes the sanest reaction to an insane situation...is Insanity. We, the People, are most to be Pitied.
3
Our resident "President" does not know enough to Care or care enough
to Know.
4
“Keep America Great.”
Needs a lot more work.
3
"Figuring out where Mr. Trump will end up, the person said, is like trying to figure out what number the roulette ball will land on."
And this is, of course, no way, to run the government that is supposed to be the United States of America. But given our present circumstances, this is what we are stuck with until, at the soonest, 2021. It's way past too late to lament that he is unprincipled, inexperienced and indecisive; these character traits were on full display when he was a candidate. We have what we have.
But when a president is as at sea as Donald Trump is, a man without direction or purpose whose running an administration--in the broadest sense of the word here--then we have no opportunities for stability, leave alone progress.
Much worse, to my mind, is that he has no advisers who have seminal ideas that can move the country forward. He has surrounded himself with a Cabinet of utter obeisance and inutility. No one who works for him will--or can--present something fresh and positive with which he can snatch up and run, something exciting that can bring about something solid and reasonably workable.
But Donald Trump is stuck in a small place, one in which he has lived all his life. His life begins and ends with himself; outside of that, there is a void. And nothing can fill it because nothing can enter.
32
If he wants to make really “yuuuge” big-league news and be remembered in the history books, he could confess, apologize and resign.
It might even buy him some leniency considerations from SDNY and NYAG.
12
The picture painted by this article is of anyone but a “stable genius.”
It is of a person without a single redeeming quality, lost in the flotsam of a revolving door staff where nearly everyone is “acting” in more ways than just title.
Trump is so far over his head with the legal walls closing in that we are entering a very dangerous time.
16
Here’s a suggestion for the grand finale of your reality show presidency Donald—resign. Your new series can be From the White House to the Big House. Ratings will be through the roof. More people will watch than attended Obama’s inauguration. It will be a first and hopefully, never to be repeated.
11
Trump has two overarching policy objectives,
stay out of jail and make money off the Presidency.
Other than that, he's a blank slate.
32
@Blue in Green
And undo anything Obama did.
6
This is what happens when you have a president that doesn’t read, has no interest in the learning about the methods of presidents before him and has no concern for the country or people he serves.
He’s just here for the money.
21
He's clearly in over his head. He vacillates on infrastructure, health care, background checks, guns, vaping, or any other example of good governance he wants to always be remembered for. But he is so confused he cannot distinguish his best advantage from his clearest and most present danger. The only thing he knows for sure is that he has got to get re-elected. He supports background checks but as soon as the the NRA calls he changes his mind faster than you can say $15 million. He knows nothing about basic econ 101 or he would realize tariffs are lose lose, and that capital follows the cheapest labor (overseas) or that we have a trace deficit because the U.S. consumes more than it produces. He doesn't understand that socialism is when government controls the means of production or he wouldn't think he can order companies to leave China or go after car companies for "colluding" to build cleaner cars. He denies climate change in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary and calls the most trusted news sources in the world the enemy of the people. He's leaning towards another tax cut for the rich, and despises immigrants, liberals, California, etc etc ad infinitum.
I think he got elected because his supporters hate the intransigence of Washington politics and said you know what? We're gonna send you Donald J Trump and just sit back and laugh watch while you squirm. I can only hope that even they have had enough of him by next November.
22
@qiaohan - He got elected because of bigotry and willful ignorance.
3
This article is surreal. It uses recognizable rhetoric to frame its points - policy, priorities, process, advisors - while the man being analyzed has no truck with any of it.
Trump wants to “do something big” because he wants to be seen as someone who does big things and for no other reason. No policies or priorities exist.
Trump doesn’t care if children die by gun violence or vaping. As he said, that is only a concern for people with a young son, like Melania. He will do nothing to upset his base. Often that means doing nothing. Quite often.
Using normal categories to discuss this presidency is like using a sharpie to fix a weather map. You’ll never figure out where the hurricane will make landfall.
15
The kitschy campaign slogans of 2016- mainly lock her up and get Mexico to pay for the wall have all been used up. Drain the swamp anyone? Now that doesn’t seem very fitting either with the Air Force golfing and gassing up in Scotland. How about reduce that deficit. Well in nearly three years I believe its gone through the roof. Think? I know it has. How about Trump being the most environmental president? Tell that to California or easing up on Obama’s tough stance in clean water or areas set aside as national parks like Bears Ears. And lastly there is the economy in general and that pesky easy to win trade war with China. It seems to me the only thing Trump accomplished so far is a lot of golf, thousands of Tweets and many staff either fired (usually by Tweet) it quit. Maybe sir you should too.
5
'Trump has made clear he wants to accomplish something big'.
Let us hope it's not a nuclear war.
6
This president has already done something big. He has made updating our Constitution more urgent.
The claims of a near-imperial presidency, the way legislation abdicates power to rule-making agencies, the electoral college, federalism- he has revealed our progress as a nation has outstripped our founding document in so many areas that even timely Supreme Court decisions can’t cure these uncertainties. Indeed, the very process of selecting justices has devolved to the point of uncertainty, lack of confidence.
These problems have been coming on for years. This president has magnified them, made them, real. That’s, big.
6
I hope he never decides on what his "big thing" is because, based on his demonstrated total lack of judgment, it will be a monumental disaster for the country. We are having a difficult enough time dealing with his long series of disastrous "little things".
5
Many Presidents were helped by wives who could offer meaningful counsel. This is not the case here.
8
The politicians’ wives that make a real difference are the ones where the office holder and the spouse had experiences in other political offices and military spaces other than jumping straight into the highest echelons of Washington. I would submit in particular Laura Bush ( Tx Statehouse), Eleanor Roosevelt (NY Statehouse ), Martha Washington (American Revolution) and especially Abigail Adams ( Paris and London embassies ) who is considered the Founding Mother of our nation. Mélania has no contextual advantages whatsoever.
6
@Rich - Agreed. Trophy wives who marry jerks for money and a green card aren't a very good source of substantive ideas.
6
Once, there was a Trump who both thought and acted big. Not necessarily well but big in terms of Trump Tower, other projects, Atlantic City and trying to own a professional football team. Rather than a corporate identity capturing a zeitgeist or a value, his surname was his brand because it was always about him. Later, he retreated to the label alone and tried to burnish it and convince others to slap it on projects for a licensing fee - be it a hotel or a tv show or a product made in China. Now, he realizes that the architecture, construction and financing of a policy is a lot different than finagling a loan from a greedy banker in Germany or hoodwinking a gullible hotel developer in Panama.
8
I predict Trump will take the lead on gun control, strongly advocating for universal background checks, safety mechanisms, bans on large magazines, et.al. — AFTER the election. Doing so before the election would only lose him votes.
Trump’s moral compass is obviously broken. Thus, his attempts at a big signature accomplishment will always be for the wrong reasons. His entire life is littered with big wrongs, never big rights. Examples- consistently hiring/exploiting illegal immigrants at his company, not paying his desperate construction workers from Eastern Europe, cheating American kids out of millions of $s at his Trump “university,” using his charity “foundation” as a tax dodge until he was caught, instigating Charlottesville & racial hatreds, and of course, obstructing justice. No wonder Trump doesn’t know how to do a big good accomplishment correctly. With a president like Trump, who needs enemies?!
37
With no platform other than a border wall, envisioned by a life’s work in real estate, we see the folly that a “businessman” brings to the presidency.
Recall that George W. Bush was to be our “first M.B.A. president”.
Where did that get us?
41
It took time however his lack of qualifications, leadership skills, teamwork and personality have made it impossible to be a effective president.
18
It is obvious that trump was an incapable businessman, hence his many bankruptcies, and his impulsiveness to require adulation and applause. His lack of any directness , he might as well give our quasi-president McConnell the pulpit. But McConnell is too smart to want to be anyone's target but it is so obvious that he is the hand behind the throne. Trump is made even more foolish since he thinks the American people will be deceived again by theatrics. His plan is to enrich himself and his loyal acolytes who stand behind the scene. Hopefully the middle America will awaken to their peril and realize that they are being deceived and awaken to the fact that his appeal to bigotry is that they are his tools.
7
Trump is good at nothing. He is Gil Gunderson from the Simpsons, personified. His only saving grace: being born to a wealthy man, and that was thanks to his mother's deeds.
6
The problem with the Trump base & the GOP base before they became the same thing is being comprised of a coalition of groups of one issue constituents—gun rights supporters; anti-abortion and Christian sharia law advocates; small government climate change deniers; keep America pure activists. Losing any one said groups and the base crumbles. Add to this fixation on his personal and family wealth puts him in intolerable position.
He would like to do one “good” thing that is also “big,” but knows this will turn some Fox News or talk radio anchor speaking for one of the issues against him. Almost could make one feel sorry for his predicament.
12
Indecision and confusion define the paralysis of this administration. The businessman-turned-president is clueless about government, policies and how to run the country. Many important posts in his administration are headed by "acting" officials. Wishy-washy to the core and utterly without substance, he's far more comfortable governing by tweets than in compromising.
The art of dealmaking has completely eluded him. And his style of governance is why the Republican Party is adrift and rudderless. Incompetence starts at the top and the president is the face of the GOP. He and Senator McConnell are the swamp that is swallowing Washington.
53
"Mr. Trump has made clear he wants to accomplish something big,"
I have an idea for the President to do something really big. Resign the office of President.
He'll make 65% of the country ecstatic.
103
@cherrylog754 How about Medicare for All? Or limiting semi-automatic gun sales? How about this novel and diplomatic idea; A treaty to halt nuclear proliferation in Iran for 10 to 15 years? Or more stringent emission controls?
5
His sole impetus is to look good, to have big ‘wins.’ Is helping the people, all the people, of the United States, even on the list?
20
@Greg Barisonb Wouldnt helping "the people... of the United States" be a big enough "win" ? (not criticising YOU, just floating an idea the president could consider....)
1
Mr. Trump is apparently focusing on his chances for a second term. He is showing signs of being torn between his natural tendency to jump to action and what might be his political advisers’ caution as the 2020 elections approach. In doing so, he shows a weakness and inability to make decisions and hold to them as has been the case during his entire presidency. The country is tiring of Trump’s whipsaw politics and may very well abandon him as a failed experiment.
20
"Despite wanting to give the impression that he is decisive"
If you tweet it, it is no dream.
6
Axelrod nailed it: How can you make critical decisions or strong policies when you have no principles other than egoism? Trump has no moral sense of right or wrong to guide decisions; he is narrowly focused on his dwindling hard-core base, and even a no-brainer policy like background checks gets stymied by one telephone conversation with LaPierre. Trump yet may opt for some grand form of military action, as Presidents tend to do when in domestic straits, but that contradicts his stated aversion to overseas entanglements. He's becoming desperate, and if the 2020 polls shift dramatically against him, he's going to become increasingly frightened. There's no way out for Trump, but as he flails witlessly as next November approaches, so does his unpredictability. Critical times, these next 13 months.
74
@peterheron
Axelrod says - "On some things, he has strong opinions, but on many things, he doesn’t. If you don’t have some core organizing principles, other than your own political well-being, it’s easy to get lost.”
He has no strong opinions on anything! He has no core! It's not even his political well being that matters to him.
He's lost because he is a fraud. The emperor has no clothes.
8
This article only confirms my belief that this isn't really a presidency but a popularity contest. He's just blowing around in the wind. First one direction and then another.
18