Exciting times!
Last week I wrote about Malcolm and my platonic love for him. Now it’s time to turn our attention to the Don.
From having zero interest in the political landscape other than being a mad fan of House of Cards (killer show by the way)… Now I’m a crazy fan of the US Presidential race.
Donald Trump’s tilt at the Republican nomination and the US presidency is giving everything a shake and I can’t stop watching.
Republicans can’t handle his brash, bombastic style. Democrats hate the idea of rich people in power. Ferals hate his clean shiny suits (of is it just that he’s clean?). The Occupy Wall St Movement hates him because he actually owns a fair chunk of Wall Street.
Everyone hates him. Everyone, that is, except the voting public. He’s leading the race for the Republican nomination and my bet is that’s he’s going all the way to the White House.
And no one understands why. No one can explain why this rude, arrogant big-haired buffoon is so popular.
But I know why.
Want to know the secret..?
Trump is a genius.
Sounds ridiculous right? But hear me out.
It might sound strange to lump Trump in the same basket with DaVinci, Gallileo and Elton John. But Trump does have a talent that approaches genius.
And that talent is negotiation.
Remember Trump literally wrote the book on Negotiation. It’s called ‘The Art of the Deal.’ He is a master of persuasion.
And if you look at his presidential run as a negotiation rather than a campaign, then his mastery becomes obvious. Let me spell it out for you.
The first point is on Trump’s character and style. People wondered if he would change his “big buffoon” style for politics. He didn’t. He didn’t budge an inch.
Why not? Especially when literally everyone in the media was saying that the OTT Trump style wouldn’t fly with the voting public..?
Because Trump knows that it doesn’t matter. If people think he’s a fool, great. Let them. It’s a classic play in negotiation. Under-sell yourself and the other party let’s their guard down. They stop resisting you and start humouring you.
But a good sales-person has you there. Once you start humouring them, you’re listening. Once you’re listening you find there’s actually a lot of things you agree with. Actually, maybe I do need a new dishwasher.
And once you agree with someone, you tend to like them. Suddenly “rude and obnoxious” becomes “honest and authentic”. 250 million Americans are currently in the middle of this transition.
And because Trump has spent a lifetime cultivating an over the top style, he can go to town with it. He can say whatever he wants, create media story after media story, and it’s all part of his rude-to-honest transition.
And that’s why his ‘style’ hasn’t changed. It’s central to Trumps success. It always has been.
And while certain aspects of Trump’s style are funny, his brand association with success, wealth and power are rock solid. They’re untouchable. The Trump brand has “winner” written all over it. That has been years in the making.
Think about the reality TV show, ‘The Apprentice”. In this competition, waning-star celebrities had to squabble, connive and even beg for the right to what? To be Trump’s apprentice.
The most ‘successful’ and popular people in America had to fight to be Trump’s lackey? That’s genius. In the American public’s mind, Trump is already the boss. He’s the boss of all bosses.
‘The Apprentice’ wasn’t an accident.
And a lot of people also think he doesn’t have the smarts to be President. But right now he’s schooling us in media manipulation. He is incredibly quick on his feet… if you know what to look for.
For example, someone tried to embarrass him by asking him if he knew who the leader of Hamas was, or the leader of Hezbollah was. It was a blunt attempt to make him look stupid.
Most politicians would get defensive and try to fudge it.
Not Trump.
I’ll know when I need to know. And when I do I’ll know more about it that you do, and believe me, it won’t take long.
Boom.
This is the CEO answer. The CEO doesn’t need to know everything. That’s not his job. His job is to lead and make decisions.
Suddenly the only people looking down at Trump are the people who actually know who the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah are. And how many of them do you think there are in America? 5? Everyone else just think’s he’s the boss.
Or what about this one? Someone asked Trump what he thought about the Pope’s comments that corruption was endemic in capitalism.
Trump saw this for the trap that it was. Either he disagrees with the Pope, and there’s no points there, or how says there’s a problem with capitalism – the system that made guys like him rich. It’s lose / lose.
And so what does he do?
He says, “What I would tell the pope is that ISIS is coming to get him, and they have plans to take the Vatican.”
Wow.
It doesn’t matter that this has almost nothing to do with the question. The image of ISIS taking the Vatican is so vivid, so exciting, that’s it’s going to be the only thing to stick in people’s minds. At the same time, it says Trump is alert to the dangers. He’s on to it.
Boss answer, Donald.
And then what did he do yesterday? He says he’s boycotting Fox news.
Fox news! How does a Republican candidate say he’s not going to go on Fox? Who has the balls to do that?
Trump does.
He knows that he’s a media machine. And if Fox won’t toe the line, they’re cut off.
And even if you don’t like him, what do you think about someone with the balls and power to boss Fox News around?
Total boss.
The Trump strategy is so deep that most people don’t know what’s happening.
Everyone thought the Trump run was going to be a joke. That he would stumble from one gaff to the next. But as far as I can see, he hasn’t stumbled once. And the longer it goes on, the more that people find they actually agree with Trump on a few things.
Actually, everything he says makes sense.
Actually, I really quite like his honest and authentic style.
Actually, Go The Donald!!
I have no idea if President Trump will be good for America or the world. It could be a disaster.
But right now, Trump is giving us a master-class in negotiation and persuasion.
And the most amazing thing about it? Almost nobody realises.
That’s genius.
Anyone else falling in love with the Donald?
You reckon Donald will go all the way?
Do you love him or hate him?
hi jon..great article..’the don’..yes trump might even get a knighthood..then there will two sir donalds. great name too..he will trump them lol. cheerio, ron
apart from needing a billion or so to get obama into office, politics is a pretty shallow pond,
western govt.s have inherited money machines, and managed to give away their countries wealth, power and security,
that’s as much a miracle as much as Sth Korea rising from a bare bomb cratered rock with no natural resources to a world power,
I’d like to see the free market applied to the US presidency, if you’re willing to spend a billion for a shot at it, how about paying 2 billion for a guaranteed position, everything still has to go thru congress, but you get to take selfies in the presidential bathroom
haha, this is about as serious as he deserves. unfortunately, the world deserves and needs better.
Only in AMERICA… where guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger can be Governor, Sylvester Stallone, Hulk Hogan and Donald Trump want to and can be President…. But then we had Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot as Prime Ministers….. So actually it’s not so silly and good luck to the Don !!!!!
In Australia, basically we elect Party members; the winning party rules the roost; those elected choose their Cabinet leader, who then chooses the Cabinet members. The problem is that the “Main” Ministers so elected see themselves as “President”, not “First Among Equals”.
Rudd & Abbott shared the problem of being very good as leaders in opposition, but had no wind in their sails when they had to change tack and come up with effective, far sighted policies, not just undoing the predecessor’s ideological projects, but for steering the Nation, preparing it for running into the oncoming storm. The Libs were still acting like an Opposition, right up until last Monday. Hopefully, with a new helmsman on the tiller, they can govern for the future with some honest foresight. I for one will not be holding my breath. The upcoming election will put paid to any honesty!
You hit the mail on the head Jon, “Trump makes sense”, he calls it as he sees it! Politics lacks common sense as it is more about doing & saying whatever you have to to stay in power. The common person is graving for decisions that make sense in politics, hence his popularity. As the saying goes, “Common sense is no longer common!” We have an under supply & Trump is selling it.
Elton John? Genius, along the same lines as da Vinci and Galileo? And Trump??? Hmmmmm….
+1… I have a bit of respect for Jon and his commentary. A spoonful of it was taken out when he said plugged in Elton John there!! 🙁
Intersting analysis.Trump is certainly dominatiing the
news coverage over all other candidates. He is the master of the short news cycle and the 30 second sound bight.
I love ‘the Donald’. I went to a National Achievers Conference in Melbourne. Donald Trump said if some guy pushes you then you push the bastard back, or they won’t respect you. I have never forgotten it because he was right. He is an excellent businessman and a visionary. Why can’t we run our country like a business? If more leaders ran their countries like a business they might just actually get somewhere because it always comes down to the bottom line, whether you like it or not. There is no hiding from it. Mr Trump doesn’t take prisoners and he doesn’t put up with bullshit. Donald has the balls to call it as it is, not how the Feds want the public to believe how it is. I hope he gets it. Wow – what a ride that will be!
Sorry BN, the ‘tit for tat’ mentality is Neanderthal, not genius. Rich/famous people get away with a lot of crap that a normal sane person would be whooped for. I really hope you are not leading your life with that.
Donald McTrump rules! The fast food giant should name a nicely styled burger after him and they’ll sell like hotcakes!
Agree he is entertaining and smarter than what people think. He is clearly a much stronger leader than the other GOP candidates. My only concern is his negative stance on climate change, considering the US has strong influence in leading the way with emissions reduction.
Adam, Trump knows that climate change is a loser. The US is spending $billions on it already and nothing has changed nor likely to change. Millions of Americans who froze through the coldest winter in 100 years last winter know it also, So who do you think they are going to vote for?
Negative stance on climate change? That’s his biggest strength! I’d vote for him on that basis alone!
Yes, Go the Don………..People were very concerned when Reagan became President “What an actor as a president?”………… Yet look at the fine job he did in that role. In fact he is more well known now for his politics than for his acting.
I think the same will be said for Donald should he win the presidency. Non -politicians make better politicians cause they cut through the BS. They are not in it for the game, they have reached the pinnacle of whatever they were in before entering politics and they are there to achieve a specific result. They walk the talk , not talk and talk…………. A breath of fresh air for the voting republic.
If the USA wants an exciting future without baggage, there’s no question about it, Don’s the man.
Perfectly put !
He doesn’t get my vote, a position I came to pretty quickly despite respecting his ”genius” and having only flimsy, fleeting glimpses of his media appearances. He’s a racist shit, and an unethical operator, using others to slander Obama (this is at least indicative of deeply held views on ”worth”), and is obsessed with a $$ based version of success. Nothing wrong with $$ if they are teamed up, as part of the equation, with a whole bunch of other things essential to the survival of us and our world. But a boss of anything that requires a thorough understanding of ”public goodd” as well as boss-ness, needs a different set of values underpinning the smarts this tricky and devious operator obviously has.
John Giaan, your ‘gloves off’ writing style sails a similar course to the mouth of the great Don…. mentally stimulating … enjoy it very much.
I have heard an interesting theory though … let’s wait and see how long The Don lasts before pulling out of the race altogether. My sources suggest that he will entertain us right to the very end … until the bulk of the other candidates pull out leaving Jeb Bush and a couple others. For reasons that only his creative mind can manifest, he will quietly and respectfully pull out of the race leaving the american public with little choice other than another Bush in the oval office.
Sounded quite far fetched to me too when I first heard it but what were the odds of father and son winning presidency in the first place … now baby brother wants a turn and we know they are major shareholders of an arms manufacturing company benefiting the most from wars that they have created. After the idea sank in, it didn’t sound so unrealistic to have another bush in the office.
I pray for the poor american public as they still think they live in a democracy and that their votes actually count for something. I understand there is a major economic war coming and rumours of the death of the US dollar but I pray they don’t decide to create further wealth by creating another war.
I could be way off the mark …my wife calls me a conspiracy theorist and doesn’t want to listen to my rants anymore … I guess time will tell… I hope I’m wrong … I too believe a successful businessman would make a better president than any of the smooth talking clowns American and Australia have had in the last couple decades since I started paying attention. This also explains my enthusiasm for having Mr Turnbull as our new leader. Here’s hoping the powers that be let him be our leader and not just another puppet.
In the meantime, I will keep reading and praying.
Sorry to disappoint you, Turnbull is just another Globalalist, worked for Goldman Sachs, put into power and immediately starts talking about gender equality and respect for women, and is pro gay, something Abbott was not. UN Agenda 2030 global goals just signed 25/9/2015, right after he is placed in as a puppet to steer the country where they want. Doesn’t matter who you vote for, the higher ups will just place who they want in the job. Don’t be blind sheeple.
Spot on Steve. The P.M. is only a message boy. Anyone who can’t talk without laughing or has squinty eyes, can’t ever be trusted.
I wish I was an American for a day just so as I could vote yes. Ahaha
Hilarious as satire, I suppose. This ‘genius’ is rich because of DADDY’s money, and is worth half what he claims to be and a great deal less than he would be if he had been an actual good businessman. He is a ‘genius’ only at working the bankruptcy laws to his advantage. As for his horrific ignorance of current events, political leaders, political situations, and government procedures, only a column like this one could try to spin that as an advantage. Fine to love “TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT: THE REALITY SHOW” for a while but it’s already a very, very old, tired, outworn schtick.
You need to take politics less seriously… It’ll make you happier.
Why, because most intelligent people in this country see national governance as a cheezy reality show? That’s the reason we’re in the shape we’re in.
John you are over impressed by technique. The real issue in electing a senior politician is character. What’s his integrity like?
It doesn’t matter what we think here in Australia. Donald will be the next President. Add to that that he is fun to watch.