Man with a Plan

 

Man with a Plan

A Street-Fighting Real Estate Developer with Raw Ambition & No Moral Compass

Driven by decades of “whatever it takes” real estate developer chops, with a Machiavellian lawyer-tutor, Roy Cohn (himself in constant conflict with the legal system, pictured above with Trump), Donald John Trump tended to draw a straight line towards whatever he wanted… eschewing subtle back-and-forth meandering as deals evolve… and charging forward like an enraged bull, without moral limits, to win. As the Trump University debacle and Trump’s criminal conviction for filing false documents with the State of New York and several banks evidence, Donald Trump is hardly invincible or even a master of the art of the deal, but his braggadocio as a man who constantly defeats Chinese players… well, not exactly true. In Trump world, there are almost no win-wins, just a loser and a winner. For example:

“It began when a group of Hong Kong billionaires, including one who has been called the Donald Trump of China, helped rescue Mr. Trump from the verge of bankruptcy by investing in one of his properties in Manhattan… But when his Hong Kong partners sold the property without his support, Mr. Trump waged a bitter, long-shot legal battle against them [that began in the 1990s]. And far from winning his share of the Bank of America building, according to court documents, he had to settle for it after losing in court. In the end, Mr. Trump’s alliance and eventual rivalry with some of Hong Kong’s richest men proved to be a tale of Mr. Trump at the extremes. It showcased his unflagging confidence in his ability to turn a bad financial situation around. But it also underscored his willingness to destroy a fruitful relationship with aggressive litigation.” New York Times, 5/30/16 Simply put: Trump lost most of his stake and clearly lost control of some of the most valuable real estate in Manhattan. He used his standard “go-to” tactics of delay, filing aggressive cross-complaints with great sound bites, riling up in the press, but he was up against Chinese real estate mavens who had greater chops, more staying power… and whole lot more money than did Trump.

Trump is hardly the master of finesse. And as his approval ratings sink – the only category where his marks are strong, unfortunately: “The one policy area where Trump received majority approval was LGBTQ policy, with an average of 54% support and 33% opposition.” Miami Hearld, February 27th. But like many authoritarian strongmen, Trump’s dirtiest efforts have been shoved into what seems to me a parallel to Mafia “enforcers” and henchmen: DOGE and Elon Musk. Trump’s history of throwing even those closest to him under the bus might not end well for Musk… except Musk’s billions represent the potential of a staggering counterpunch. In Trump world, there are almost no win-wins, just a loser and a winner.

Trump and the MAGA GOP hold Hungarian autocratic PM Viktor Orbán in especially high regard. Orbán’s ability to transition a representative democracy into his private autocratic fiefdom appears to be the model for Trump’s implementation of Project 2025. He’s been able to rope former liberal-leaning mega-corporations into a humiliating self-preservation mode, now funding Trump’s political agenda (including the cost of his inauguration), killing DEI initiatives and openly groveling at the President’s feet. His latest Orbán-like foray against his “enemy of the people” liberal media, has pushed traditional mainstream media out of the White House press pool in favor of Trump-friendly reportage that holds MAGA values and touts Trump’s political invincibility. Standard play for every modern autocrat in the world. His minions are also pressing courts to reverse the requirement of showing “actual malice” (established in the 1964 Supreme Court case of New York Times vs Sullivan) when suing the press for defamation. All of these efforts, if sustained by his seemingly puppet Supreme Court, represent a de facto repeal of the free speech and free press provisions of the First Amendment.

As reported by Lee Moran in the February 27th issue of the Huffington Post, “And ‘the genius of what he did, seen from a diabolical authoritarian perspective, is that he targeted Republicans as well as Democrats,’ [according to Ruth Ben-Ghiat , author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present]… Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, went after his own then-Vice President Mike Pence, and what it showed, ‘from an authoritarian perspective, is that no one was off-limits,’ said Ben-Ghiat… Republicans were calling their family members, they thought they were going to die that day, and then they have had to kind of forget that trauma and publicly debase themselves by popping up and saying, ‘Yes, we’re here for you, leader,’’ she added. Authoritarianism ‘doesn’t only require you to betray others, it requires you to lose your own conscience,’ she said.” Total loyalty or death!

As Democrats love to point out, Trump, Musk and Trump’s obviously unqualified appointees implementing the Project 2025 agenda, page by page, are a failed “clown car” of idealogues out of touch with the majority of Americans. But are they? Or does it even matter? Even if our purportedly “independent judicial system” actually defends the Constitution – and you can see Trump’s power by skipping over a federal appellate court and going directly to his Trump-configured Supreme Court to fight one of the many temporary restraining orders against Musk/Trump spending freezes (even on congressionally-approved legislation) for a decision – what happens when dictator Trump orders his phalanx of loyalist-appointees to ignore a lawful judicial order? Merely a constitutional crisis? Or an end to the republic itself? Or will federal courts purposely avoid rulings that would inflame Trump? Throw in a few death threats to federal judges and prosecutors for good measure.

Reading the explanations from Trump’s spokespeople for each of these policies, I see a litany of total fabrications, false statistics and a vituperative slam to anyone who disagrees with their “logic.” I also see the rise of “emperor’s new clothes” syndrome, combined with a massive head-in-the-sand response from elected Republicans who reverse their private statements to go to “whatever Trump wants” support. Americans seem to have an unholy belief that “billionaires always know what they’re talking about,” but in my experience with billionaires, with occasional exceptions, is that they too believe that their success translates into success in everything they touch. Not my experience in my years as a major Hollywood dealmaker.

But as evidenced in their fumbling abilities to deal with ordinary issues that face most of us, consistent Trumps’ and Musk’s dramatic lack of a shred of empathy, they all believe their success is about “everything.” Yet as I watch Musk fumble in his axe-to-the-whole system, he almost seems to resemble an autistic savant (here, perhaps a genius, at math and engineering), incompetent at everything outside his core competency). Trump’s expertise, a no-holds-barred real estate developer, does not seem to reflect an ability to appreciate the lives of the majority of his own constituents.

I’m Peter Dekom, even if the Trump/Musk approach is a fumbling, bumbling clown car, if they manage to impose their clearly defined autocracy where opposition is not tolerated, then it really does not matter; we will be governed by brutal, insensitive clowns.