How Is It That No One Understands Trump Yet?

Not a day goes by without me seeing a headline or a post or an article or even a comment about Trump and thinking to myself, “I just don’t understand.” And I really don’t understand him. He has been famous for at least forty years now. He’s “written” books, hosted TV shows, and been president. I’ll grant that I’ve never read his books or watched his TV shows, but I’m pretty politically aware and read the news regularly and still have no understanding.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just me. I mean, who am I? Just some schmo who shares his thoughts with you from time to time. I have no special training in psychology or politics with which to understand him. But it’s not just me. It seems like no one understands him.

A whole bunch of people think they understand Trump. They’ll tell you all about him every chance they get. He’s a liar. He’s a narcissist. He’s a bully. He’s a pedophile. He’s a rapist. He’s a convicted felon. He’s a bigot, a racist, a homophobe, a misogynist, and a xenophobe. He’s stupid, selfish, greedy, bombastic, prideful, pathetic, and vain. He has bad taste and bad hair. He has small hands. Oh, and let’s not forget that he’s a fascist, a wannabe dictator, and Putin’s lapdog. Granting all that and more, it doesn’t bring us any closer to understanding him.

Labelling is only the smallest part of understanding. To really understand someone, we have to go deeper. In the past forty years, we have barely scratched the surface of Trump. We need to know what motivates him. What are his goals? How does he plan to achieve those goals? And, most importantly, if we did understand him, we would be able to develop a coherent and effective strategy to counter him. No one seems close to that yet. Heck, we don’t even know how or why Trump has such a hold over the Republican party. How did so many “never-Trumpers” become supporters?

We desperately need to figure out Trump. This isn’t just an intellectual exercise. It’s not to satisfy my, or anyone else’s, curiosity. Every day Trump crosses a line that seemed inviolable ten years ago. We need that coherent and effective strategy immediately.

I wish I could do more, but as I said at the beginning, I just don’t understand him myself. Because of that, I don’t know what I can or should do. And I’m afraid no one else does either.