Watching Trump...

I watched Donald Trump being interviewed on 60 Minutes to get a better idea of who he really is and what we can expect from him in the next four years.

The one big thing that I came away with after watching the show was that neither he nor his family EVER expected to win. They believed the polls just like everyone else in America and were certain they would lose just like the polls predicted; they were genuinely shocked that they won.

The other impression that I came away with after the interview and which I have always believed was that Trump said on the campaign trail anything and everything that his followers wanted to hear no matter if what he was saying was absolutely unrealistic or flat out lies.

During the primary campaign Trump said he could shoot somebody on Main Street and the people would still love him and follow him and he was right. Once he learned what these people wanted to hear, he was off to the races and there was no stopping him; he just didn’t realize how many supporters he really had. He knew he had the white trash but he did not realize the many educated and well to do people were also in his camp.

It also became clear (to me) that the campaign rhetoric he used and the things he promised may not actually be how he really thinks and may not even be how he will act. I feel he realizes that he had to say certain things in a certain way to get elected and now that he has been elected, reality has to be considered.

Now this does not mean he will not try to do the things he promised but maybe in a “different” way.

He has already said that he will not appoint a special prosecutor to put Hillary in jail. He has also said that he may not repeal Obamacare but maybe just fix it. Same goes for NAFTA; he will renegotiate some aspects of the deal.

Saturday Night Live has been spoofing Trump on its show every week and I think some of those spoofs are right on. Yesterday they had him googling ISIS and talking to a general wanting to know his secret plan to defeat ISIS which he obviously knows nothing about. The spoof continued with Trump reversing himself on all his promises.

Trump does not know much about any specific issue but it will be interesting to see if he will make an effort to learn. As a businessman he delegated much of the work needed to run his businesses. As president he will have to rely on the people he appoints to run the government and that is why everyone is watching who he appoints.

His children are playing a major role in his transition team and may continue to play keys roles in the government which will be interesting. He is having trouble divorcing himself from his businesses and this may prove to be problematic as conflicts of interests arise and the Constitution is violated. His charitable organization has already admitted to using donated money for their own benefit.

The most interesting part about Trump (to me) is his continuous use of Twitter at all hours of the day and his childish temperament especially when criticized. This in itself will make him the most un-presidential president in our history.

BUT on a positive note; maybe the country needed a good kick in the ass to shake things up or at least to show all of us how divided we really are and that politics as usual will no longer work and should not work; we need a new approach to politics.