I am the State

Donald Trump is stuck in a mindset.  He acts like the presidency makes him the owner of a sole proprietorship.

The United States is not the Trump Company.

News stories and commentaries are reporting on what has long been obvious.  Donald Trump loves to be flattered.  He doesn't hide it.

This is not breaking news.  It has been obvious from the first days we saw him at rallies doing speeches in New Hampshire.  His warm up speakers build him up, the crowd showers him with adoration, he is in sync with their praise, he leaves the stage pumped up with joy.  America will be great.  Donald Trump is great here and now.   This is part of his appeal.  Donald Trump is enjoying campaigning, while for Hillary it was a misery and a grind, a job to do toward a goal.  For Trump, the rally was the goal.

This cast of mind has consequences in the real world outside "mere" politics.  Trump's behavior this past week reveals that he conflates the personal and the state.  We are on good terms with Russia because Putin appears to like and respect him, personally.   Putin doesn't criticize Trump so they must not be carrying on an open war with Ukraine, or at least the US must not observe the obvious.   

And this week, the trigger for the stories about Trump and flattery, Putin and Trump speak nicely; they must not have meddled in the election.

The Washington Post reports on how Trump responds to questions about Russian interference,

"'I asked him again." Trump said after what he described as several brief, informal chats with Putin in Danang, Vietnam, where they were attending a regional conference.  'you can only ask so many times. . .  He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election.  He did not do what they are saying he did.  I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. . . I think he's very insulted, if you want to know the truth.'"

Don't insult Putin by questioning his word.  It is personal.

Meanwhile, the news was full of stories of flattery and pageantry in east Asia, the presumed goal to soften up Trump, and therefore the US, in our trade negotiations.  We are withdrawing from multilateral trade deals; Japan and China are stepping in.  From their point of view, they are assuming leadership in the face of the vacuum, and leadership is good.

They get it: offer banquets, military parades, and over the top gushing.  Trump is magnificent, and they say so aloud.

Trump hearing from his team

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "When you play golf with someone not just once, but for two times, the person must be your favorite guy."   South Korean president gushes, "I believe it has not been one year yet, your time in office, but you are already making great progress on making America great again, as you have promised on the campaign trail."

Trump stays quiet on issues of journalistic freedom and allows a press briefing with no questions allowed.  Don't insult the Chinese.

How much flattery is enough?  Apparently, it takes a great deal.  The June Cabinet meeting consisted of Trump going around the table, eliciting praise from each and every senior staff person.  Foreign diplomats watched and learned.  In the greater scheme of things, great banquets are inexpensive, and talk, smiles, and affirmations are free.

King Louis XIV--the Sun King

Does any of this matter?   Trump is head of state.  

Gushing over Trump is a way of communicating friendly intention to the USA, right?   What is the problem with that?

Trump says as much himself, criticizing "haters and fools" who are skeptical of improved relations with Russia.   Democrats are pushing a false story.   "It's a shame because people will die from it," he said.   Moreover, the well known Harvard political scientist, Richard Neustadt argued the same thing in a standard text on the presidency: "What is good for the President is good for the country, and vice versa."

The notion has not not stood up well to the test of history.

The political interests of the president are different from the interests of the country as a whole.  Presidents, most especially Trump, want to be adored.  They want to concentrate power in themselves.  Presidents, most especially Trump, want the federal bureaucracy to serve the president's interests, not a broader public interest as defined in the legislation that established them.  They want the media to be their advocate, not a watchdog.  They want adoring crowds, not protesters.

Trump is unusual among presidents of the past hundred years in displaying his contempt for those other power centers, and he has a base of voters who support him in that contempt.  Trump governs to maintain the support of that base, and he is successful.  He has his 40% for sure, and maybe much more when the next election rolls around.

The problem is that presidents are not monarchs.  The president is not the state.  This is a constitutional democracy and the interests of the whole nation are embodied in the entire suite of people and institutions who share power--House, Senate, Judiciary, States, local governments, civic institutions, religious institutions, individuals--not in the one office.

I conclude this post with the famous official portrait of King Louis XIV of France, the one for whom the quotation "L'etat c'est moi" is attributed.  The painting depicts an figure that is ridiculous to modern eyes: the hair, the robes, the cane, the hose, the posture.  What was he thinking?  At the time it was thought splendid.  Monarchical.


The modern eye knows not to grant power to someone who looks and presents himself like this today.  It would be dangerous. He looks silly, a precious, self indulgent dandy, a laughable character in a costume drama.

Louis XIV wasn't France.    He was a man, and a particularly vain one, with a goal of national greatness for France, pursued by constant wars with all of Europe.  

Presidents share power, whether they want to or not.