When Donald trump threw his billionaire, businessman hat into the ring as the Republican candidate for the presidency all that time ago, swathes of Americans jumped on the Trump bandwagon. The arch communicator sold the public the view that the US could be run like a huge corporation. He was a hugely successful businessman after all. What could possibly go wrong?
10 weeks in office
After 10 weeks in office, the cracks are already showing in the Trump administration. It is abundantly clear to all but his most loyal followers that the president has but the vaguest notion of how to govern a country.
As a businessman, he was voted in on the 'get things done' ticket. Exactly how was vaguer. His health care bill has been shelved before even reaching the first hurdle, his attempts to prevent travel to the US from most Muslim countries have been held up repeatedly by the courts. These are the same courts that Trump threatened with the somewhat curious threat of 'See you in court'.
His popularity is crashing
At the current polls, Trump's popularity rating is the lowest of any president, ever. He is certainly less popular than Obama at virtually any point in his predecessor's tenure. It took unemployment to reach 10% for Obama to reach the level Trump is at currently with unemployment at 4.7%. And yet, Trump seems blissfully unaware, still blustering along, claiming that he never realised politics would be 'such great fun.
There seems little chance that this will change as the presidency lurches from one disaster to another. Trump has misunderstood the demands of the post and as a consequence has failed to appoint the majority of his administration. He has appointed only 20 and nominated another 40 out of over 500 posts required to fill his government.
Bizarrely he has appointed his own son-in-law to a senior post with no political background whatsoever.
The business of government
As CEO of his own company Trump had absolute control and has historically been used to getting his own way. If someone didn't do as expected they could be fired and replaced. If a business deal fell through then move on to the next.
Money was no object to pushing his objectives through smoothly and cutting through red tape. He is finding the weight of office and bureaucracy frustrating and this is manifested through his endless stream of tweets blaming everyone but himself.
What comes next?
There is little doubt that Trump cannot continue on his chaotic and frenetic ride for his whole four years in office. He will need to either come into line with the bureaucratic demands of Congress and accept that he cannot run the USA as a vast business and learn quickly to accept the same veto's and hold-ups that affect all presidents or he will burn himself out and resign or face impeachment.
