President Trump: Reality Star embarks on Season 3

If you've been looking for an insight into Donald Trump that you cannot get from his loyal friends on Fox News of his detractors on MSNBC we have an insider who understands this President and his Administration. Our guide to the Trump brain is none other than Omarosa, the former Celebrity Apprentice star. Omarosa said Trump is a reality star and this is the start of Season 3.

Omarosa Manigault had great insights into how Reality TV keeps a show rocking for Season 3.
At the beginning of Season 3, the Hero often becomes the Heel.

A Heel is another term for villain. Trump may make himself a Heel for Season 3 so he can magically transform into a Hero for Season 4 and the 2020 election.

All this seemed farfetched until I heard Trump skewer John McCain, recently deceased Senator from Arizona and Vietnam War POW and war hero. Why attack Senator McCain? No good reason unless you want to keep your name at the top of the newsfeed.

Trump does know how change and movement keeps the Reality TV show fresh and alive. The whole notion of choosing Hero or Heel is very reminiscent of Vince McMahon and the WWE. Wrestlers decide in the locker room much of what will happen that night in the ring. They prepare themselves for the body slams and the folded metal chairs exploding against their foreheads.

The WWE kind of control and planning appeals to Trump's sense of the benefits of controlling the message.

Omarosa showed a talent for survival on Celebrity Apprentice. Donald Trump was impressed enough to carry her to the White Office. She bucked and complained when it was time for her to go. She demonstrated and ego and narcissism approaching the superhuman self-love of her mentor Mr. Trump. It takes one to know one.

Recognize the Trump election as America choosing Trump TV over Hillary TV. He definitely had media mastery over Hillary. Barack Obama snuck up on Hillary and defeated her partly because Barack was more watchable than Hillary.

Trump is a bare knuckles brawler who prefers election fights over governing. As President he has elevated his family's financial gains over the country's welfare. He has been consistent in his self-aggrandizement.

And now we get to look forward to the nicknames! Who will be the next Low Energy Jeb Bush... etc.? Elizabeth Warren struggles from under the Pocahontas label and may not escape it. Trump not only creates his own brand, he brands others and they continue to feel the sting for years afterward. Just like pro wrestling-- it's raw and over the top with good guys, bad guys and lots of trash talk.

And we keep watching.

Trump versus The Great War (1914-18)

Donald Trump has conveyed a great respect for military men, except John McCain, and stressed the importance of a strong military to maintaining American hegemony. He speaks proudly of a bigger button and America’s unfathomed ability to strike our enemies.

Trump attended New York Military Academy and graduated in 1964.  His record with the draft board is well documented:

While in college from 1964 to 1968, Trump obtained four student deferments from serving in the military…. In October 1968, he was given a medical deferment which he later attributed to spurs in both heels and classified as 1-Y, "unqualified for duty except in the case of a national emergency."

Trump seemed inspired by the thought of surrounding himself with generals—savored the nickname “Mad Dog” applied to Marine General James  Mattis and made him Secretary of Defense.

Trump made John Kelly, another retired Marine general, the White House Chief of Staff. Kelly, reportedly, has reached the end of the line. Soon he will move through the spinning revolving door for cabinet members. Kelly seems rock-ribbed and stone jawed and had some success in reining in the President. 

Maybe military generals are not so much fun when you have to work with them in real life. 

Piers Morgan appeared on Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s daybreak television program on MSNBC. Piers was a winner on Celebrity Apprentice and claimed to spend upwards of 100 hours around the conference table with Donald Trump. Piers observed that demonstrating respect for “Mr. Trump” was essential to succeeding as a contestant on the show. Trump looked favorably on those who accorded him a measure of success. That need may have been intensified by Trump’s reputation as hustler as much as a businessman. Respect matters more to the insecure more than anything else.

The question remains why did Trump falter in Europe at the Centennial celebration for the ending of World War, fought between 1914-1918. Emmanuel Macron represented France honorably at the dais. Angela Merkel joined them, though German soldiers fought against the Allies from the other side of No Man’s Land. Vladimir Putin represented Russia and Canada’s Justin Trudeau made the important gathering.

One pundit suggested Trump didn’t like going where he is not liked—Macron, Merkel and Trudeau have also suffered the slings and arrows of the mighty Donald.

But Donald Trump looked to be in a daze. Maybe the military gravesite and rainy conditions did not suit his preferences. The decision to no-go the ceremony caused shockwaves. The image of innocent lives cut short, infantrymen ordered to head out of the trenches through the razor wire and directly into enemy fire has been burned in our psyches. Mustard gas maimed and killed in a manner we seem unable to exorcize. Like now, technology leapfrogged ahead of man’s consciousness. We were unable to control the demons we had created from steel and chemicals, hot flying lead bringing down good men and ending lives before their human potential could barely be tapped.

Trump has been criticized for a lack of intellectual curiosity. He took a misstep this time—underestimating the world’s fascination for a war mainly recalled for the unusual outbreak with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and its terrible toll. Just the name, World War I, evokes thoughts of cannon fodder and human folly. By acknowledging this past, even 100 years later, we acknowledge the existence of our sins. In this battle The Great War (1914-1918) defeated Donald Trump’s political and public relations talents.

Piers Morgan made another observation on Morning Joe,commenting on Emmanuel Macron’s relative success in dealing with Donald Trump. Macron, said Morgan, shows respect for the office of President of the United States but does not hesitate to criticize policy. Macron stated that nationalism was the opposite of patriotism during the ceremonies, drawing Trump’s ire no doubt. But Macron gave Trump credit and that is always a smart policy, with friends and foes alike.