The Unusual Genius of Donald Trump

The Unusual Genius of Donald Trump
President Donald Trump addresses a "Make America Great Again" campaign rally at Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon, Georgia on Nov. 4, 2018. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
David Prentice
11/14/2018
Updated:
11/15/2018
Commentary

In 2015, a non-politician came down an escalator in New York, declaring his intent to seek the office of the presidency and promptly upset the status quo of the Republican Party.

Donald Trump promptly upset the entire media with his comments about illegal immigration from Mexico. For days, they reported his comments as racist, and for days, much like every day since, they misquoted and misreported what he actually said.

It was the beginning of a political phenomenon that may change America for years, perhaps decades, but we just didn’t know it yet. Most people watched and gawked in disbelief, with many making jokes. The entire Republican establishment recoiled in horror, Jeb Bush and his family being at the front of that line. Bush had more than $100 million to spend, and he had taken the mantle of establishment favorite.

Trump proceeded to destroy the favorite and the entire field of what was advertised as the strongest group of candidates that had sought the GOP nomination. How did he do it?

Let me tell you a secret: President Donald Trump is brilliant—an unusual kind of brilliant.

Unlike Winston Churchill, he can’t out-debate you with his fierce oratory. Unlike Ted Cruz, he won’t blow you away with his uncanny knowledge of policy, and the minutiae of it. And unlike Ronald Reagan, he won’t necessarily turn a famous phrase like “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

He’s actually very good at all of the above—much better than he’s given credit for. But it’s a quality beyond all of that that is unique to him and his life experience. Above all else, Trump is a man of incredible accomplishment. A man of action.

Above all else, he knows how to get things done, and done in a way that demonstrates excellence. He knows how to accomplish a goal—that is, to win. Tangible, visible goals, seen in complicated, extraordinary buildings found in difficult cities to build in.

Before He Was President

Trump is known for his unconventional, outside-the-box thinking—developed from his early business days—to achieve his goals. These skills were sharpened through the rough-and-tumble construction market of New York City. He bought and sold real estate there, and later took those skills to other states, and even other countries.

He’s always been extremely successful with his construction projects, building on-time and under-budget in the toughest markets. Likewise, he has always been a capable negotiator, learning well the art of public relations.

Oddly enough, he developed another successful career in a totally different arena, with one of the highest-rated reality TV shows ever, “The Apprentice.” These diverse skills and successes made him a billionaire.

That may not sound like much, that our current president is a man of accomplishment. But compare that to Barack Obama, who never really succeeded in any area of his life other than to be elected to public office.

Even in office, Obama never had any clear positive success or accomplishment in the legislative world. They passed Obamacare, and a massive stimulus, but neither of these could be considered as successes. And those were his best. It shouldn’t be such a surprise that Obama’s positive accomplishments as president are less than few.

In addition, consider this fact: At this point in his presidency, Trump has faced well over 90 percent negative coverage by our media. At this point in his presidency, Obama had over 90 percent favorable coverage. Yet, Trump has a more favorable rating among voters at the same time in their respective presidencies.

Actually, that’s a shocking reality. No wonder the media is so angry all the time.

Economic Success

Coming back to the unusual genius of Trump, I want to point out the difference between his ability to focus on a goal, and the ability of his predecessor, specifically concerning the economy. Obama simply talked about the economy, pretended it was improving during his entire eight years, yet averaged an anemic 2 percent annual growth, the worst for an administration in 70 years.

Trump came in, set a goal, and pursued it with specific solutions. And suddenly, economic triumph.

Obama fostered the weakest recovery of any post-World War II president. Trump reversed the economic doldrums of the Obama years with specific plans to deal with regulations, tax cuts, energy policy, repatriation of corporate money, and trade renegotiation. Now, the economy is booming across the board. People’s wages are up, their hopes are up, and their living standards are up.

Yet, Trump continues to be misquoted and vilified by our leftist media—92 percent negative coverage during a miraculous recovery. No matter, he is simply continuing his program of making America great. He is doing what he promised, winning for the country. And it’s because of his unique skill set at accomplishing tangible goals.

Of all his accomplishments since the election, and they are legion, the economy was the most important. It was the key to everything else. It was a major priority, as he promised. He knew that without a robust change, America couldn’t return to greatness. As an entrepreneur, he wanted to see the conditions as he remembered them as a young man—a land of opportunity, a land where you could succeed, a land where everyone could participate in the American dream.

His accomplishment with the economy is most remarkable when you comprehend the amount of opposition he has faced—opposition from his own party, as well as opposition from an extremist, radicalized Democratic Party and its vanguard, the leftist mainstream media. The economy is on pace to grow at over a 3 percent annual rate for the first time in a decade. Experts from the opposition all claimed it couldn’t be done again. We were never supposed to have this kind of robust growth again, they said.

Here’s Obama’s negative position on this in December 2016: “He’s gonna bring all these jobs back. Well, how exactly are you gonna do that? What are you gonna do? There’s no answer to it. He just says, ‘I’m gonna negotiate a better deal.’ Well, how exactly are you going to negotiate that? What magic wand do you have? And usually, the answer is, he doesn’t have an answer.”

In the end, Obama will be remembered for those buffoonish statements that should humiliate him through time and space, even more than that famous crease in his pants. An empty suit, with empty words on a teleprompter.

And here we are. And yes, it’s really booming. The stock market, growth, wages, business strength—the whole nine yards.

Trump offered Americans the economic vision early on, with a reminder that we were once great, and could be again—a vision for real economic hope, grounded in past free-market principles. He then implemented his plan.

A Rising Tide

John F. Kennedy coined the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats,” meaning a good economy is good for everyone. The tide is high again, and it appears the engine of prosperity called-free market capitalism is going to bring us even higher. Try as she might, Nancy Pelosi won’t be able to dismantle this tide. It’s got a long way to go.

The leftist media wants you to think Trump is stupid, mean-spirited, and filled with malice. So they don’t report about this new economic miracle and what it is doing for citizens of all races and stations. They don’t acknowledge it. After all, how could such a buffoon cause this to happen?

If the media would stop this charade of putting Trump in the negative light of their partisan lens, they might become the journalists they are supposed to be. If these oh, so intelligent pundits and commentators would look around them, they would see the high tide happening, and the good things it is bringing the American people. As I said, this is just the beginning, we should be enjoying this boom for many years.

The man who knows how to set goals sought to bring this about. The man who knows how to get things done, got it done. The unusual genius struck again.

And he’s not finished. Take heart, the man of accomplishment is far from finished. I don’t care if he sometimes has a brusque manner, or if he’s not your style, or he has some mean tweets. His push on the economy has worked for the entire nation.

All boats are being lifted. Including yours.

David Prentice is a writer and novelist from the Midwest. His articles have appeared in the American Thinker.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.