thoughts on Trump's (complicated) personalilty/character...

I wrote this to a friend last night (on the occasion of the White House posting the "two kings" reference to Trump's appearance with King Charles) and thought it was worth sharing. My friend despises and fears Trump and tends to reduce him a two-dimensional caricature. (I see Trump as a mess in terms of style, a very mixed bag in terms of policy/substance, and a complicated/fascinating person.)

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Back to your Trump question last night, he clearly loves to troll opponents, esp. the elites, self-righteous, hypocrites, etc.

How much of Trump is hard-core NYC, being a businessman, being an entertainer? Surely, good chunks. A (good) sociologist or psychologist would say it's complicated-- and he's complicated.

I also have to try to square my guesses about his personality, character, and acuity with what other non-fans / objective folks have said about meeting with him in-person-- e.g., Bill Maher. You remember Maher's response to meeting with him months ago, right? Fascinating!

Bottom line: I don't know, except that it's complex and he's from a really different world than me. A bit of a tangent on a question I ask often: Is it easier to talk with / relate to someone of the same race and a (very) different economic class OR a different race and the same economic class? Punchline: we over-rate race and under-rate the importance of class.

Ironically, one of his (political/market) gifts is being able to relate relatively well to working class folks-- from rhetoric and trolling elites to the remarkable McD's/garbage truck moves during the campaign. Really, it's amazing. (See also: Reagan, Clinton, and Bush II to a lesser extent. Compare/contrast to Kamala, Hillary, Bush I, Carter.) Especially, how does one raised in immense wealth in Manhattan get there?! Maybe it goes back to his father's background and influence-- or some other factor. In any case, it's surprising and noteworthy.