2016 June 2^nd

There is a limited consensus among the morning commentariate that Donald Trump does not really want to be President of the United States. This otherwise apparently intelligent candidate is now doing a great deal to alienate the general election voter he will need to win the Presidency. Trump has recently made disparaging remarks about the Governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, who also chairs the Republican Governor’s Conference, and is one of the country’s most prominent Latinas. His remarks were elicited because Governor Martinez didn’t come to one of his rallies. Now there is thin-skinned and there is shooting yourself in the foot; which one this is, is quite obvious.

The judge who unsealed some of the documents in the “Trump U.“ fraud case he has now called a “Mexican.” The fact that the man was born in Indiana doesn’t trouble Trump, but it will reinforce Latinos’ antagonism toward him. If you wanted to put impediments in the way of your candidacy this is exactly how you’d do it.

Then Trump calls an ABC reporter a “sleazebag” to his face at a rally. This just carries forward a general fury Trump has shown toward the press. If he wants better press coverage this not the way to get it.

He seems willing to tell obvious lies about his positions on various important international issues. He is on record as claiming that South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia should be encouraged to develop their own nuclear arsenals. This position is consistent with his view that we should let our allies take on more of their own defense; but it contradicts this country’s long established policy of restricting the proliferation of nuclear weapons. If his position on this issue weren’t bad enough Trump now denies that he has said any such thing. He claims the press has misrepresented his position. Unfortunately, his push for proliferation and his denial of it less than a week later can now be played back to back.

This morning a CNN reporter on hearing this contradiction claimed that Trump had every right to change his mind. He didn’t “change his mind,” he lied about what he had previously said; that isn’t the same thing. He insists that he never said what the cameras clearly record him as saying.

He has support among foreign leaders, but only from a couple: The heads of government in Russia and North Korea are all for him. What a shame that foreign leaders cannot legally contribute money to our election candidates. I’m sure that if they could, Trump would be there with his hand out.

The commentariate could be right, maybe Trump really just wants the “thrill of the crowds and the smell of the (hairspray).” Those with connections to Trump insiders insist the family is trying desperately to get Trump to turn the corner and start being Presidential. It’s a hard sell because his hostility to all who do not come to worship him has paid off handsomely, so why change now? He has a point. If he doesn’t change he’ll never win the Presidency and he must know that. My guess is that he doesn’t care. If he becomes President the worshipful crowds will disappear and if he misbehaves he will be impeached. What 70-year-old billionaire needs that?