LETTER FROM WASHINGTON
SIMON BARBER: Donald Trump wears vengeance on his sleeve
The gravity of his office has yet to endow him with the slightest hint of gravitas that might help obscure his transparent and exploitable character flaws, writes Simon Barber
Donald Trump has been president for just under a week. So far, he has shown every intention of serving as the US’s CEO in precisely the manner he campaigned for the job. The gravity of his office has yet to endow him with the slightest hint of gravitas that might help obscure his transparent and exploitable character flaws. The man is a flaming narcissist. The original Narcissus fell so deeply in love with his own reflection in a pool of water that he lost his balance, tumbled in and drowned. When Trump tumbles, he may take his country, even the world, down with him. His easily bruised vanity is far more worrying than his autocratic instincts. He is boorish and unlettered, crawling with resentments and selfishly, not strategically, vengeful. Vengeance, not vision, fired his bid for the presidency if you believe Omarosa Manigault, who worked with him for many years on his Apprentice series of reality-TV shows and who is now, remarkably, on his White House staff. In an interview in 20...
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