As this is written, votes are being counted, with likelihood of a Biden victory. Predictably Trump claims to be the victim of “unfairness,” by the media, the system. A man who was born into a life of wealth and privilege, and who benefits from the Electoral College that awards victory to loser of the popular vote, deserves no sympathy for complaints of “it isn’t fair.” Trump has twice lost the popular vote. If he loses the Electoral College, it’s due to his own multiple inadequacies and unwise — no, disastrous — decisions. First off, Trump was grossly unprepared, mentally and temperamentally unfit for the toughest job in the world that requires teamwork with the assistance of competent people. The “I, alone, can fix it” claim was a warning of what was to come. Instead of appointing knowledgeable men and women who believe in the missions of their departments, he appointed sycophants, too many of whom exhibited incompetence, and just plain corruption.

An exception was appointment of the scholarly Marine General, James Mattis, as Secretary of Defense. Mattis advised that if the State Department gets cut, “then I need to buy more ammunition.” He advised Trump to honor the Iran Nuclear Deal. Trump scrapped it instead. This, along with other incidents, led to the loss of Trump’s best appointee. A successful president encourages advisors to render their best advice, and gives them space to do so. A room full of sycophants afraid of losing their jobs in return for unwelcome advice is a surefire formula for disaster. A successful president is the leader of a team effort, another area in which Trump has absolutely no experience. Even the most over-paid Fortune 500 CEO has had earlier experience of working with co-workers and reporting to superiors on his/ her way to the top. In contrast, Trump was born at the top, had no experience working with equals, and having to report to nobody other than his tyrant father. He could always negotiate from a position of financial strength, stiff his contractors, declare bankruptcy in case of failure, and be bailed out by a combination of laws written to favor his ilk, and who knows who else. This is poor preparation for a presidency for which cooperation is needed from team members and adversaries to satisfy numerous constituencies. “I, alone, can fix it,” is a sign of sheer ignorance. Nevertheless, with these screaming inadequacies, Trump defied the odds. He had inherited a strong economy from President Obama. It wasn’t perfect and wasn’t working for everybody, but GDP and employment were growing at a steady rate, and financial markets were strong. The economy was given a bump, actually a sugar high, with the 2017 tax bill that most economists, with the exception of a few, including Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro, believed to be bad economic policy. But as Trump’s term progressed, in the eyes of the media and the public, the economy that he inherited from Obama became “Trump’s economy.” In spite of all the bumps in the road, including surviving impeachment, thanks to the obsequious Republican-controlled Senate, Trump was sailing along. The high marks the public gave him on the economy would be his route to reelection, never mind the endless controversy on which Trump thrived. Critics had long worried about how Trump would react should a real crisis occur. So far, none had — until early 2020. The coronavirus, and Trump’s reaction to it, revealed the fatal flaw that, as of this writing, may lead to Trump’s defeat.

Whether it’s for musicians, athletes, farmers, students, or business persons, life is characterized by decisions involving short run costs and sacrifice necessary to obtain long term gains. Being born at the top, inheriting his wealth, surviving numerous bankruptcies whether though lax laws or unknown benefactors, and surviving impeachment with the aid of fawning sycophants in the Senate, Trump has never had to sacrifice short run costs for success, nor pay the price for failure — until COVID-19. At first it seemed benign. Just call it a Democratic and media hoax. Sure, he “took action,” a temporary ban on travel from China. But that was easy — absolutely no political cost to him, actually a political benefit through feigning action. He publicly insisted the virus would go away. But his recently revealed conversations with Bob Woodward indicated that he knew how dangerous this virus could be. And here’s where his inability to understand short term sacrifice for long term gain comes into play. The economy, whether he was solely responsible for it or not, was his strong suit — the dominant theme on which he would base his reelection. A rational president who understood the concept of short-term sacrifice for long term gain would, how

ever reluctantly and knowing the risk, have paid the possible political price for doing whatever was necessary to shut down that virus before it raised hell with the economy. Take the advice of the experts in the field; wear masks, social distance, even shut down businesses for a short time. Work with governors and mayors of all cities to get this thing under control. Would there be a political price in the short run? Yes, but if the virus would have been controlled he could have claimed success in working with mayors and governors, and he could have thanked the public and the business community for protecting public health and saving the economy. But first, he would have to have paid that price to save the economy and increase the probability of his reelection. For this exercise of sacrificing short term costs for long term gains, Trump had neither the temperament nor the experience. He failed to be “President of all the people.” Trump might defy the odds and win once again. But if not, it was the final flaw that cost him reelection.

 — John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays in the Monroe Times.