Run Into a Brick Wall

Donald Trump probably imagined being president would be easier than this.

As a property tycoon, he was used to everyone dancing to his tune and to staff carrying out his orders – sometimes with more or less gentle insistence. And now this: After not even three weeks at the levers of power, he has wreaked dizzying chaos.

Inflammatory speeches and hurdles in the Senate confirmations of highly contentious cabinet secretaries, with the vote of the vice president tipping the scales in one case, are just one example of pushback and protest. Resistance is everywhere: from the hostile media to the – according to Trump – “political” judiciary; information leaks within the White House which bear witness to confusion; the opposition at the barricades; affronted allies abroad; malice and scorn across the globe and poisonous hatchet jobs.

In one speech, the president snorted with rage. Has nearly all the world conspired against Trump – or is it not more like the other way around? No other U.S. president has managed to antagonize so many people in such a short space of time. That is a result that Trump can credit to himself alone. A newcomer who ran for president in order to turn Washington upside down has, unrestrained and against all warnings, with ludicrous speed, an inexperienced team and inadequate preparation, run crashing into a brick wall – and now heads are pounding.