Trump Is A Mixed Bag

  By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

 

Lots of us began to follow Donald Trump's presidential trajectory when he and Melania came down the escalator at the Trump Tower in New York City.  Would he be a meteor or shooting star, and disappear from the political universe?  Would he tire, and lose interest and the story line, as he went tirelessly from one campaign rally to the next nationwide?

Some of us are Independents, which is the largest voting bloc in American politics.  Some have even worked on Capitol Hill, and are not naive with respect to what goes on in official Washington.[2]  Surely Trump would stumble along the way, or his speeches would become mundane and less ordered or coherent, as he traveled on.  But they never did.

He was magnificent, and garnered new fans: the "Make America Great Again" (or simply "MAGA") faithful.  They propelled him to victory in 2014.  Comatose Joe Biden "intervened" in 2020.  And Trump was victorious last year.  What a ride!  The only thing close was Richard Nixon's presidential victories after mob boss Sam Giancana rigged the elections in Chicago and West Virginia, and gave the totally-corrupt John F. Kennedy the presidency in 1960.[3]

One does not learn the ways of Washington overnight: the good, the bad and the ugly.  It is truly half of America's "Sodom and Gomorrah," with the other half being Hollywood.[4]  While Trump was never naive, it took him a while to learn the ways and nuances of Washington.  By last November, it seemed that he had mastered them like few individuals in America's history.

Has his victory unraveled, and is he on a downward slope, both politically and physically?[5]  For a man who reportedly sleeps only three hours a night, and eats fattening foods, the physical toll can be enormous.  He's a human being, not "Superman."  And yes, he narrowly escaped an assassin's bullet, and has been blessed far beyond what most "mere mortals" ever experience.

He is decidedly overweight, and has launched massive changes to government, which rival those of Franklin D. Roosevelt in terms of their breadth and complexities.  His tariffs alone defy understanding, in terms of their long-run effects.  Does he really have anyone in his inner circle who challenges him?  Perhaps we will only know that when they leave his presidency and write their memoirs.

What is his "Achilles' Heel" (or Heels)?  The ones that come to mind easily are his arrogance, and the fact that the Democrats will rise again—how high is anyone's guess.  Their despicable judges are challenging him at every turn.  And then there's California’s Gavin Newsom who fancies himself as America's next President, and other ego-driven contenders.

Aside from the complexities of Trump's tariffs and other policies, his support for the Apartheid state of Israel and its butcher Netanyahu, and Ukraine with its comedian leader Zelenskyy, run headlong into his pledge to keep us out of foreign wars.[6]  Also, the ability to wage World War III defies the experiences of the past.

The possibility of EMP Attacks and exotic weaponry throw war-making challenges into a cocked hat.  Artificial Intelligence (or AI), and massive crippling weaponry, make the war (or wars) of the future into something that is barely comprehensible—even by those of us who have served in our military at The Pentagon, and at the highest levels of our national government.[7]

 

 

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© 2025, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/  He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service).  Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business.  He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at [email protected]

[2]  See, e.g., https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ ("Accomplishments")

[3]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/john-f-kennedy-the-most-despicable-president-in-american-history/ ("John F. Kennedy: The Most Despicable President In American History")

[4]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2025/01/18/sodom-and-gomorrah-revisited/ ("Sodom And Gomorrah Revisited")

[5]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/28/trumps-descent/ ("Trump’s Descent"); see also the comments beneath the article.

[6]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/j-streets-jeremy-ben-ami-engages-in-cowardly-censorship/ ("J Street's Jeremy Ben-Ami Engages In Cowardly Censorship"); see also the comments beneath the article.

[7]  See supra n.2; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ ("EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive") and https://www.newsmax.com/politics/golden-dome-trump-test/2025/08/01/id/1220931/ ("First Golden Dome Test Set for Late 2028")