Of course, there was never going to be a Trump presidency. Any more than there will be a Trump Tower Tampa.
But Donald Trump–given his renown and wealth and given the current crop of Republican presidential pretenders–could have stayed in the hunt a lot longer. Had he not, well, trumped himself.
Put it this way, when the essence of your identity is universal name recognition and success in building stuff, that’s a formidable candidate-leg up in a society that worships achievement and fame. But why not let your acolytes and minions do the touting?
Why not let lionizers remind the electorate through the media how wealthy you are? And let others underscore how crafty and much bigger than life you are? When you are a brand name, there’s no need to directly remind anyone of anything in a continuously-connected, celebrity-crazed culture.
And why risk trivializing yourself by taking birther cheap shots at President Barack Obama? What billionaire mogul would want to be seen as a sideshow carnival barker?
But why ask why? Trump is Trump. He apparently listens to no one; he only consults his id. He doesn’t do classy or modest or self-deprecating. There was no way he could outsource his customized message: “I’m Trump and nobody else is.”
Imagine, however, if this were what Trump had been saying instead of trafficking in “Apprentice” shilling and thinly-veiled racist, ad hominen attacks on Obama: “Look, you know me. I make things happen. I dictate results. America is second to no one and needs to act like it. Before we go any further, anyone have a problem with that? Good.
“We need to balance our books. We need to reward entrepreneurs. We need to marginalize government. We need to kick some energy butt. We need to protect our borders and worry more about the security of this country than illegal-immigrant hurt feelings.
“And, yeah, somebody needs to stand up to the Chinese. I can play that game. And I always play to win.
“And somebody needs to put oily Arab pseudo allies on notice. I can play the bad cop too. The war on terror? Think about it. What do we get from Pakistan, who basically created the Taliban, for our billions in aid? What’s good for Pakistan is not my concern. What’s good for America is the only concern that matters. We’ve got better uses for those billions right here at home.
“So, let’s not pretend that any of this overseas absurdity actually makes sense. Only to those wedded to a dysfunctional status quo. What’s in our own bottom-line interest in all that should matter to us. Nobody can stop the USA; we can only stop ourselves. Well, not on my watch!”
Of course, simplistic mantras, pandering rhetoric and glib talking points can only get you so far. (Although, arguably, much too far.) And before long the public would be inevitably reminded that Trump has long since morphed from real estate developer to flamboyantly arrogant huckster and highly-paid licensor who pockets fees for a living–regardless of tempests tossed in his wake.
No, the Oval Office doesn’t need further branding.
In the end, Trump bowed out gracelessly, still marketing his TV show and further reminding everyone that it was never about coming to the aid of his country. It was about center stage. It was about Trump, the Towering Ego. In the process, he underscored what he had ironically embodied: This country doesn’t need an apprentice president.