Michael Goodwin: Trump recklessly accepting a plane from Qatar is the type of unnecessary risk that could ruin his presidency
Over the years, numerous studies, speeches and books have focused on a phenomenon known as self-sabotage.The subjects are highly successful people who throw it all away by behaving recklessly when they get to the top of the heap.Think Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.Overconfidence, boredom and an insatiable quest for power are among the reasons commonly identified as explanations for the destructive cycle.Comes now Donald Trump, who is behaving in ways that risk his name being added to the list of the notoriously foolhardy.In his case, the mystery would be why Trump appears willing to ruin a perfectly good presidency by engaging in financial dealings that are suspect and unnecessary.His success, his legacy, the MAGA movement and America’s place in the world all hang in the balance.The backdrop is unique: Trump’s comeback victory for a second term after surviving a would-be assassin’s bullet and four politically driven prosecutions is already the stuff of legend.Despite a few hiccups, he has pulled off one of the best starts to a second term by fulfilling big campaign promises.His success in closing the border within weeks stands by itself as of one of the greatest and fastest achievements in modern American history.Similarly, his knack for getting big business leaders to invest trillions of dollars in the US are down payments on his pledge to add millions of good-paying jobs while cementing America’s economy as the unchallenged world leader.Trump is also taking on the far left over its cultural dominance with hot-button issues, including the size and cost of government and the roles of race, religion and the transgender movement in business, schools and sports.
His defunding of NPR and PBS is a bold stroke that no other president would dare take.On the global stage, he’s fashioning a record as a committed peacemaker, one that might finally win him the Nobel Peace Prize he should have won for the historic Abraham Accords.Add to this impressive list the fa...