"As He Sees Fit"

What does the President see?

It may be time for a little perspective-taking.

This week, in response to growing concern about military strikes in the waters off Venezuela, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the President has the power to take military action “as he sees fit” to defend the United States.

As he sees fit.

For me, the concern in that phases is not whether he has the authority or power. That is a political and legal question. My question is more basic. It is whether he has the judgment, capacity, experience and character to apply to the task.

How does this President “see fit”? What does he bring to that task? What intellectual, emotional, and experiential lenses guide his judgment?

Psychologists evaluate these factors daily in student assessments, court evaluations, and in developmental literature. We look at them historically, behaviorally, and through state/trait personality assessment. In the President’s case, public records and personal history provide plenty of data.

Intellectual/Business:

DJT’s intellectual capacity has never been judged as extraordinary. His school grades, reported SAT scores, college acceptance record and faculty reports place him solidly average by estimate, and his unwillingness to offer any official data suggests nothing to contradict that.

But average IQ is not fatal to leadership. Intelligence is supported by many factors: effort, diligence and the willingness to surround yourself with intellects brighter than your own, as many Presidents have done. But DJT is a poor reader, a disinterested learner, and views loyalty, not intellectual rigor, as the top quality in those who serve with him.

In his business life, he had a talent for marketing, but he thrived on being a risk taker: a speculator who used other people’s money and saw bankruptcy as a strategy; an impulsive, take-no-prisoners negotiator who sued people rather than pay bills he could avoid. Throw the dice, win the roll, or beat the competition by any means necessary.

Not much in this realm recommends him to lead a country.

Emotional/Developmental:

Most estimates of DJT’s emotional development are far more problematic. His emotional expression ranges from explosive to overcontrolling when frustrated, toddler to middle school behaviors generally, with denial, avoidance, and blaming other as defenses.

Socially, he chose to be a playboy, a serial philanderer, proud of his sexual exploits and uninterested in deep intimacy. Relationships appear transactional, without evidence of a capacity for empathy or emotional reciprocity. Affection is a one-way street. He wants it, needs, it, demands it from others, with a childish ferocity that blinds him even when he is being mocked by false praise.

DJT lives in the moment, with little capacity for delaying gratification, building trust, or collaborating toward long term goals. It is hard to underestimate how limiting this deficit is, and how many people have made the mistake of crediting him with a mature ego, hoping they could engage him in the things that make most people tick.

Characterological:

Much has been written about DJT’s narcissism, and I will not repeat it here. But narcissism comes in many forms, and extraordinary leaders often have more than their fair share of inflated self-regard, arguably essential for their ambition. What separates them is not how much they love their reflection, but how accurately they can see it as mirror, how self-aware they are that, genius or not, they impact others in ways that matter and should matter. A well-developed ethical compass, genuine concern for outcomes, and personal high standards counter the worst aspects of high- functioning narcissists. When these are absent, when there is no adult ego to rein in the distortions, to hear the cautions around you, power can become a cruel, self-indulgent and dangerous exercise that wreaks havoc in its wake. Narcissism combined with profound emotional immaturity is a leadership nightmare.

Trait/State:

Intelligence, emotional capacity, and characterological structure are the bones of the psychic skeleton. They form a structure that persists reliably over time. At its best in DJT’s lifetime, that skeleton was fundamentally unsuited to the demands of leadership.

But now we look at an almost 80- year- old man who is getting tired, whose physical strength is waning, and mental capacity is more questionable every day. Playing the role of the hero is getting harder, and he can never accept decline with grace.

We see the increasing pressure of issues that won’t go away: the Epstein files, the legal rulings, the increasing anger from his own voters who gave him a crown so he would give them relief. Their rage is beginning to boil.

I keep seeing the men hanging onto the boat.

What did DJT see?

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