ANALYSIS | 5 great lessons I learned about Trump in 5 years

Trump's last hours as president 2:37

(CNN) -

The first big thing I wrote about Donald Trump was wrong.

The date of the article was June 17, 2015. The headline was "Why No One Should Take Donald Trump Seriously - Very Simple Graphic."

And the argument was simple: Trump, who had officially entered the 2016 race the day before, was deeply unpopular with the Republican base, especially for being viewed as contrary to the rest of the Republican camp.

And therefore it had zero chance of being a factor in the competition, much less of winning.

Less than two months later, I was forced to admit that I was wrong.

(The headline for that article, published on August 4, 2015, was "Wow, I was wrong about Donald Trump. Here's why").

Explaining where I was wrong, I wrote:

Why did I miss the appeal of Donald Trump so much?

To put it simply: I have NEVER EVER seen a total change in how people perceive a candidate who is as well known as Trump.

And much less a total change in such a short period.

I based my conclusion that Trump would never be a relevant actor in the fight of the Republican primaries fight on the ideas that once people 1) know you and 2) don't like you, you cannot change those twin realities much.

That was 100% true.

Until Donald Trump proved that (and that I) was wrong.

Thus began my five-year odyssey writing and thinking about Donald Trump, first as a presidential candidate and then as the 45th president of the United States.

Over the years, I learned a few things about who this man was… and who he was not.

Below are my thoughts on this radical president.

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1. There is no "other" Trump.

There is no Trump 2.0.

There is no "new page"

Remember how Trump occasionally promised during the campaign that his rude and crude behavior would change if and when he was elected president?

"I will be so presidential that they will be very bored," he promised in April 2016. "You will say: Can't you have a little more energy?"

That, of course, was ridiculous.

Despite all the talk in the early days of his presidency that around the corner there would be a turnaround and he would act as president or change in the next speech, that was never, ever going to happen.

Trump had been the braggart all his life, well, jerk.

If anything, the 2016 electoral victory confirmed that acting the way he did was his path to success.

Why would you change your behavior after the greatest success of your life?

The truth is, and always has been, that there is no more Trump than Trump.

It only has one speed, one gear.

He is not capable of any kind of major personality change, nor was he ever interested in one.

2. Trump

was

never

playing three-dimensional chess

Trump's utterly staggering victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 - against polls, money, message, and every other metric that had traditionally predicted who the winners and losers were - led to a persistent belief for much of his early years in office. that it was operating at a different (and higher) strategic level than the rest of the political world and especially the media.

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  Trump's legacy will take years to purge from the American psyche

What became clear as his presidency progressed was that assuming that Trump was operating from some intricate project or strategic plan was totally and completely wrong.

There was no great plan.

It was just Trump acting and, more often, reacting to the news of the day.

Which, of course, Trump told us all from the front pages of "The Art of the Deal":

“Most people are surprised by the way I work.

I do it in a very relaxed way.

I don't carry a briefcase.

I try not to schedule too many meetings.

I leave the door open.

You cannot be imaginative or enterprising if you have too much structure.

I prefer to come to work every day and see what happens ».

In the words of Maya Angelou: When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

There is no plan.

There never was.

It was just Trump coming to work and seeing "what comes up."

3. It was always about him and only him

To run for president you must have a very healthy ego.

You have to believe that among the 330 million Americans, you are uniquely qualified to represent them.

Right?

But most people, after being elected, or, ideally, before that, understand that the office of president is less about you and your own personal interests and more about the American people and what is best for them.

That never happened to Trump.

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At the beginning of his term, there were questions about whether this unusual president would abide by the rules of the presidency or twist them in his favor.

It turns out that he not only twisted the rules, he broke them.

From his repeated assertions about "my generals" and "my army" to his frustrations that the Justice Department would not act as his personal police force and law firm, Trump repeatedly demonstrated that he viewed the presidency as a vehicle to reward his own. friends and punish your enemies.

Point.

4. He's a bully

In the early days of his presidency, I wrestled with how best to understand Trump as a person and as president.

But then it occurred to me: He was just a bully.

Throughout his life, he had used his celebrity, his money, and his power to get what he wanted from those with fewer inherent advantages.

He had simply worked his way to where he wanted to go and had never worried about who was left behind.

The idea of ​​Trump as a bully was solidified for me in 2017 when, at a NATO summit in Brussels, Trump simply shoved Dusko Marković, the leader of Montenegro, out of his way as he walked forward in a photoshoot.

Trump almost certainly had no idea who Marković was.

He just wanted to be in the center of the picture because he was president of the United States, yes, but also because he was Donald Trump.

So he pushed whoever he needed aside to get there and didn't think twice.

Unfortunately, when you give a natural bully a job as prominent and powerful as the presidency of the United States, bad things happen.

Like Charlottesville.

And like January 6, 2021.

5. Eventually turns against everyone

Loyalty is a one-way street for Trump.

He expects absolute loyalty from those around him, but shows little in return.

And he inevitably turns against everyone, even those who sacrificed their careers (and personal reputations) for him.

The list is huge.

Here are a select few names: Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Cohen, Steve Bannon, John Kelly, James Mattis, Rex Tillerson, John Bolton, Anthony Scaramucci, Jeff Sessions, Brian Kemp, Bill Barr, Kirstjen Nielsen, Gary Cohn, HR McMaster, Tom Bossert.

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And while he often rolled his eyes at the apparent exaggeration in "Never Trump" critic Rick Wilson's claim that "everything Trump touches dies," there is truth to the sentiment.

Many of the people who came closest to Trump have been the most destroyed (in terms of reputation).

Giuliani has gone from being the mayor of the United States to a savage conspiracy theorist.

Christie transformed from a governor taking over to a Trump lackey.

Trump seems to have a poisoning effect on reputations, and when he turns against you (and he always does), his only goal is to search and destroy.

Donald trump